Victory Investment

Archive for March, 2011

It’s darn near impossible to open a newspaper today without at least one headline referencing financial fraud and abuse.  Frankly, the sad existence of financial criminals, whose incomprehensible greed and deceit should be labeled financial terrorism makes me sick to my stomach.  As the financial world shakes out its demons amidst a global meltdown, more
and more financial shenanigans are likely to come to light. The Bernard Madoff scheme has revealed that no investor is exempt, whether you are rich or super rich, whether you are a charity or even if you are in the “not-so-rich” column-everyone is fair game for these perpetrators.   Who is going to protect you?  It’s quite clear that federal regulators like the SEC have been asleep at the switch.  So who is an investor to trust?  How can you assure yourself that you are not a sitting duck?

There is no shortage of fresh financial scandals in the pages of the Wall Street Journal lately.  Perhaps the most visible has been the ponzi plot of Bernard Madoff and his wealthy “feeder” friends.  While the true cost of this elaborate heist may take years to uncover, the estimate of the impact hovers at over billion.  Then we have Allen Stanford, the Texas Financier who may have swindled about 50,000 investors out of US billion, give or take, using high, fixed rate CD’s.  The overwhelming majority of Stanford’s funds disappeared into a “black box” controlled by Stanford and his CFO, James Davis.  With a “black box model” the manager is essentially saying “trust us, we know what we are doing”. And in the latest allegation of financial fraud, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, hedge fund manager Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh stand accused of misappropriating over 0 million of investors’ cash and using it to fund their lavish lifestyles and rich man’s hobbies.  

On Wall Street, there’s no such thing as easy money or risk-less investments. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  As the CFA Institute reveals, one of the red flags in the Madoff affair is that reported performance was too consistently good.  Other popular, Internet based investment scams purport to use ultra-safe “prime bank” financial
instruments from the world’s largest banks. Rewards without clear risk simply do not exist.  Here are some other clues that should have sent investors running the other direction:

The advisor who gave the investment advice and executed trades also held custody of the account (more will follow in the next paragraph on why this is important).

Madoff’s website described a sophisticated system for trading securities, but did not describe a process for managing
client assets Paying fines without admitting guilt are an unusual characteristic of the financial services industry (Madoff) Multiple complaints by regulatory agencies have been filed Account information is not transparent or difficult to obtain (ie. No online access) Statements appear doctored or printed in-house without the ability to audit account positions from an independent party

As a financial advisor, please heed my suggestion-never do business with a financial professional who does not separate the brokerage custody function from the advice function. More importantly, if you do not know what the advisor is buying on your behalf, find out. This lack of transparency, or “black box model” of investing is one my biggest reservations about
investing in hedge funds. I suspect that many investors are going to start asking many more questions of their managers and might be much less tolerant of black box managers in the future.

The first tip in safeguarding your assets is to do your due diligence by visiting the websites of the regulatory agencies that govern the advisor’s business.  Investors should get in the habit of visiting both the FINRA and SEC websites to review the firm’s and the advisor’s compliance history.

Next, understand the investment strategy.  If you don’t know what you are buying, then don’t buy it.  The nature of the risks involved can vary widely and should be well understood. Buying investments for the sake of their perceived complexity may sound sexy or alluring, but may not be a wise use of your dollars.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. One of the red flags in the Madoff affair is that reported performance was too consistently good.  Perfect positive returns simply do not exist.  Returns will vary year to year, some by drastic variations.  Also, be sure to match investment strategy to reported performance.   In the case of Stanford, CD rates being offered were
paying obscenely high rates.  Risk and reward are directly related.  By definition, CD’s are on the low risk to (almost) no-risk side of the spectrum.  Something just did not jive there.

Be wary of “sure things”.  Legitimate investment professionals do not promise sure bets. Financial scams often begin with the allure of inviting only a “select group of people” to participate in such “crafty investment opportunities”. Do your
homework about what, if any, regulatory oversight exists with regard to the investment products being suggested to you.  For example, mutual funds, stocks and exchange traded funds are heavily regulated, while hedge funds and certain offshore investments are significantly less regulated.

Finally, you should consider limiting your exposure to any one investment.  No more than ten percent of your assets should be invested in a single fund.  Despite recent market volatility and the increased short term correlation of global assets, diversification is one of the most fundamental and enduring investment principles.

Investing in penny stocks is becoming quite a lucrative proposition. Let me explain: You invest a little bit of money, or as much as you comfortably can, but because these OTC stocks are priced so low, you can afford to buy a lot of volume. However, the secret to making a huge profit with Pink Sheet Stocks is to know how to pick the ones that are going to actually become profitable and stay away from the stinkers. Would you like to find out how to do this?

Listen, investing in stocks whether low priced ones like pink sheet stocks or regular ones is not the same as gambling or playing the lotto. You need a solid investment plan, otherwise you’ll end up throwing your money away. Without a doubt, the single best source of information is a penny stock newsletter, which by the way, are totally free and contain fantastic and up to date information. Not too bad, huh?

When you sign up to receive this type of information, you will be getting top rated tips and advice regarding the top penny stocks to watch. The services responsible for putting together this information have a proven record of picking the right stocks right before they blow up, which makes them a great pick: buy low, sell high.

Look, you can pretend to know what you are doing or worse, you can keep leaving your investing advisor in charge of your financial future, or you can actually take charge of your finances and sign up to receive penny stock alerts. This service is free, but loaded with great information that can help you get top profits in no time. Ready to take action?

There are many people who advise using gold investments as a way to hedge against uncertainty in the stock market. And there are many good points behind that argument, but there are also some downsides of owning big, heavy bars of gold. For these reasons it may be easier to just buy gold exchange traded funds.

Gold exchange funds or ETF or GETF are bought and sold online just like you would buy shares from any other type of company. You will keep these shares in a brokerage account. Though you aren’t actually buying the gold bullion, you are only buying shares of companies that invest in gold, this is a great way to buy gold without worrying about the downsides of owning gold.

Owning the physical gold coins or bullion can also be a risky proposition if you’ve got loose lips. If you tell too many people that you’ve got that gold stored in your home safe, you may just find that the wrong person will overhear and before you know it your home is robbed… or worse.

Since it can be difficult to own physical gold, for one thing if you want to sell it many buyers will want to personally inspect the gold, using EFT’s is another option.

While owning EFT’s can help you avoid many of the negatives associated with owning gold, it is not without it’s own downsides. For one thing, while physical gold can be a great long term investment, EFT’s are not. They are only short term investments, you want to buy low and sell high.

If you already have a brokerage account it’s relatively easy to get involved with buying and selling EFT’s. Just make sure that you realize that it’s just like any other stock trading and there is a real risk of losing your money.

Remember that with EFT’s you are only buying stock in a company, that means that if the company should fail your stock is worth less than the paper it was printed on, just like with any other types of stocks you may buy. You don’t actually have possession of the gold so there is still a fairly big risk.

Using EFT’s is best when you are using it as a short term investment vehicle. These aren’t the same as actually buying gold coins or gold bullion which can be an excellent recession proof long term investment strategy. When you purchase stocks in a company you have little control over the decisions that company makes and you are at the mercy of the management and board of directors which doesn’t provide you with much security…just look around to what has happened over the last couple of years.

If you’re interested in playing the market and benefitting from short term price hikes than

gold exchange traded funds may be a good option for you and your investment portfolio. If you are looking for something that can provide you with long term stability you should most likely stick to investing in actual gold, either coins or bullion, since these have value in their own right and you’re not depending on the value of a company.

One of the areas where an individual would be able to discover high profit investment possibilities is property investing. Of course finding success with this industry of investment isn’t a walk in the park since real success often requires strategy, experience and a level of knowledge which most new investors don’t possess.

To completely understand what is required from an individual with their property investing opportunity, it is vital to understand the role that strategy plays in your profit potential. When you use intelligent strategy processes when approaching your potential investment you create a great opportunity to overcome hurdles and find a profit when you are seeking the sale of your investments.

If you’re a new or old property investing person the first lesson that every one needs to embrace relates to the poor habits of blind investing strategy. Several beginners look at property investing as a simple game of buying a property at a low value, fixing it up and selling it high. Whilst this is often the simplest way to describe the investment procedure, a lot more is demanded from an individual looking to find real substantial profits. The blind investment strategy does not often account for many factors which can have an effect on the value of a property or encourage a homeowner to buy in that area.

When you are seeking success in property investing it is essential to take on the perspective of the purchaser so as to understand how they’ll perceive your home buying opportunity. Even when your home represents the best property available to buyers, your area may be unappealing to the home owner, encouraging them to buy elsewhere.

It is essential to recognize that property investing goes far beyond the investment into a lone property since it is an investment even into the area surrounding your investment property. Look for areas which are currently growing, promising a bright future, or areas that are perfect to your intended clientele. If your property is designed around fulfilling the needs of a young couple or bachelor pad then a location next to a school will not be perfect.

A similar argument is made when your home is focused on filling the requirements of a family yet the property is miles away from schools or local shopping centers. These are all factors that your buyer would consider so its essential that you conduct the same research to increase your property investing opportunity.

When you hope to profit from the financial opportunities which are available with property investing it is vital that you incorporate effective strategy into your planning. The blind investing strategy might work on occasion, however the broad spectrum of opportunity is usually limited.

China industry, after a long period of development, has become able to produce 18 categories, more than 4500 kinds of specifications models, can basically meet the domestic market demand, with a considerable size and vitality of important industries to flourish.

2009 January-February, China’s industry total industrial output value of 31.413 billion yuan, up 13.28 percent, down 25.35 percent year on year growth rate. At the same time the whole industry achieved sales output value 29.06 billion yuan, up 12.35 percent, down 38.07 percent year on year growth rate. But in February the month of view, subject to infrastructure investment, credit growth factors such as driving, engineering machinery rebound in domestic demand to drive product sales major sub-sectors, China’s domestic market rebound. February the month to complete the engineering machinery industry 17.383 billion yuan industrial output value, an increase of 39.89%. At the same time the completion of the whole industry output value of 16.982 billion yuan sales, an increase of 42.54%.

At present, China has represented multi-functional small hydraulic excavators a small construction machinery market, the total proportion of construction machinery products, and in North America, Western Europe, Japan and other developed countries and regions in comparison, there are still a wide gap. If China’s small and medium-sized excavator and excavator sales ratio be close to or reach the level of developed countries, the Chinese mini-excavator will be very broad market prospects. As China further enhance the level of national economic development, particularly in the gradual rise in labor costs, as an alternative to manual operation of the other minor construction machinery is bound to develop rapidly.

For the industry in the development of the adjustment of product structure is the key, we should first focus on the domestic market demand, while developing in the international market competitive products. As for the original product has the advantages of market share, it is necessary to add new varieties to meet a variety of different regions and different climates working environment. In product development, we should focus on the level of the international market and domestic construction projects, and rural development needs, and do more user research and market analysis. The other is particular emphasis on engineering machinery products supporting engines and key parts of the structural adjustment and development, improve the level of component parts on the level of the product one of the keys.

Construction Machinery product demand and the growth rate and GDP, capital investment has a strong correlation with the degree of business prosperity increase in investment in fixed assets was largely synchronous positive correlation relationship. “15″ period of Chinese Construction Machinery spending an average annual amount of society’s total fixed assets of 1.9%, “Eleventh Five-year” fixed assets investment growth slowed, the market capacity expansion is relatively inadequate development of the industry will gradually become more rational. With the rapid development of China’s economy continues, the domestic construction machinery market is still a huge opportunity for business development. Among them, scraper armed, concrete machinery, mining machinery as a major force in construction machinery industry products, will remain in the market the leading position.

Investment Advisor in the “issued by China Construction Machinery Industry 2009-2012 Investment Analysis and Forecast Report” A total of 16 chapters. First introduced the international and domestic construction machinery industry, the development of profiles and market situation, and then analyzes the development of construction machinery leasing industry, and construction machinery industry product output data were accurate and detailed analysis, and then specifically describe the excavators, cranes, rollers, loaders, bulldozers, graders and other engineering machinery development. Subsequently, the report has done a import and export of construction machinery industry analysis, marketing analysis, competitive analysis and key business situation analysis, the final prediction of engineering machinery industry’s future prospects and development trends.

By Steve Kiefer

With the investment industry becoming more and more regulated, it creates an increasingly expensive proposition for investors. Firms are forced to spend large amounts of money on entire compliance departments which are staffed by people whose sole function is to keep the company above all the potential violations that are otherwise probable. This sometimes massive expense is passed on to the client/investor in the form of higher management fees and hourly rates. But there is a solution…Independent Investing.

There is a growing number of people who are saying “enough” to the costliness of using a broker or an investment adviser. These people are not day traders or great risk takers. On the contrary, they are retirees, single moms, teachers, businessmen and others from all walks of life. They are tired of being passed around from one broker to another without their say so. They are fed up with seeing dismal returns while their adviser continues to charge fees and expenses in spite of poor performance.

What does a person like this need to make the move to independence? They need direction and knowhow. They need a source of information that can be quickly assimilated and implemented without the need to spend hours doing research. An independent investor can quickly become more educated about practical investment techniques and strategies than their current broker is! It would surprise people to discover how untrained a broker can be. Oh they are well trained in the art of selling but few attain any investment management skills during their tenure as a broker or even as an investment adviser.

It’s ironic, though sadly, that a person need only to pass a simple test to become an investment consultant. No prior experience is required! Just a few hours of study and the average person can pass the series 65 or series 66 test and then be registered as an investment adviser. They come from many walks of life but few step into the industry with any prior investment experience. Yet they begin to charge the unwary client a management fee almost immediately and start recommending investments to them with scarcely an idea of what they are doing. Granted there are some who have sufficient experience and knowledge to carry out such a weighty responsibility, but, alas, they are few and very far between. Chances are very good that if you enlist the services of a registered person or an IAR (investment adviser representative)you will be dealing with someone who doesn’t understand the movements of the market and who may know less about them than you do, yet you will pay them for their advice and services. Does this make sense to you? If not, becoming an in-dependent investor who follows solid investment principals should make a lot of sense.

With the entire industry in an uproar over the previous chaos that ensued in 2008 and 2009, it is no surprise that, in the aftermath of last year’s meltdown on Wall Street, Congress is on the brink of passing a sweeping overhaul of the financial regulatory system. This can only dramatically increase the costs of remaining within these coming additional compliance guidelines. In a Bloomberg Businessweek article, Arthur Brooks, president of American Enterprise Institute said in regards to the coming regulatory changes, “The free enterprise system didn’t fail us in the financial crisis. The root of the problem was government housing policy.” According to Brooks the apparant perpitrators responsible for the evaporation of trillions of dollars now want to control the victim. Interesting. When the interviewee asked if Brooks was opposed to regulation per se he responded, “No. I’m in favor of smart regulation.” (Italics mine).

It is interesting then how congress can now suppose that the fox is capable of guarding the hen house when in fact it has laid waste to the entire farm. But the answer for them is always more regulation which means more cost to do business which in turn moves the expense to you, the individual investor.

It is time to think about an alternate way to acquire the investments you seek and thus the returns they afford without having to chart your way through the expensive maze of brokers and advisers who spend the majority of their time with sales and compliance and precious little time on existing client’s portfolios. What you are paying for simply doesn’t exist if you think your hard earned money goes to buy you quality service from a professional broker or manager. As much as the regulators try to force investment professionals to put their client’s needs and desires above their own it will never happen. This is not to say that all advisers are crooks; on the contrary. Most are honest, hard-working individuals who are trying to make a living selling investments or investment advice. But that is not to say they are all good brokers. In fact, the phrase “good broker” is an oxymoron. Again I’m not attacking someone’s character here, I am merely pointing out that selling overpriced products to retirees and other non-suspecting investors, when far less expensive investments are available which will do as well or better, does not make someone’s practice good! Every time a broker sells an overpriced product (and I venture to say that all products sold for a commission are overpriced) it is not a good thing! The same holds true for an adviser who charges a fee to do basically nothing except pick a few security vehicles on behalf of someone and then collect an eternal fee for it.

So the question is “Who’s to blame?” and we can spend a lot of time spreading the guilt around because there are many who are responsible for the mess Wall Street is in today but let me ask you a different question: Who suffers the most when the system breaks down? The SEC would lament that they have lost a considerable amount of face from their failure to spot a hundred pound shark in the middle of a small swimming pool (my analogy) but egg on one’s face can be washed off. Congress cries foul about leading corporations in America imploding right under the noses of the federal watchdogs that are supposed to be monitoring them but the domino that started the landslide started with some of their own members. State regulators…well, let’s not go there right now.

So who suffers the most? Of course you already know the answer to that question; it is the one reading this article. And so all the players mentioned thus far are going to make things better by piling more regulations onto a grossly over-regulated industry so they will feel better about their jobs but you, the consumer, will suffer more from the added expense.

It might be wise to check out an alternative solution that provides you with all the necessary guidance and investment choices you need while completely avoiding the regulatory fight that makes you and your money the casualty. For more information on this subject go to Unvesting.com

First off, what is the definition of value investing? Value investing is an investment strategy or approach where the investor buys a stock that is selling below the company’s true value, or underpriced. Value investors buy discounted stocks with the belief that the price will reflect the company’s true value in the future. Value investing goes against the herd that chases the hottest, fastest rising stocks of the moment for a longer-term ride of returns.

The most famous value investor (and richest person) in the world is , who has generated over 20% average annual returns since the 1970′s. He has prided himself on finding “good deals” on good businesses. This stock investing strategy was mostly created by one of Buffett’s teachers, Benjamin Graham. He wrote a book on value investing called The Intelligent Investor. This 600+ page book, much like a textbook, gets into the nitty gritty details of his investing strategy and how he came up with it.

- Whether it’s a company you buy products from, buys products from you, employs you, or if you just love the company, check it out. Also, if it’s in an industry that you know very well than you should look into it. You want to love the company you are going to own. It has to be GREAT, not just good or okay.

- How long has this company been around? It’s hard to value a company when it has only been in business for a year. Usually a company that has been successfully in business for 10 or 15+ years makes a good candidate. The companies must be proven, successful businesses to be considered for investment.

- Ask yourself, “Will this company be around in 10, 20, 30 years?” If you cannot see the company being around in ten years, you have no business investing in their stocks; after all, you are buying a piece of that company. Say you and three of your friends want to buy a new 00 HD-TV. Would you want to pay 0 for your stake if you thought the TV was going to die in two years? I hope not.

- What is unique about this company? Do they have some kind of competitive advantage? Are they better at some aspect of the business versus the industry? Are they the first in a market? Do they have any special patents, copyrights, or trademarks? These are the kinds of questions to answer when finding out about a company.

This article should give you something to work on for a little bit. Stock investing can be confusing and difficult. Just slow down and think of some really great companies that you’d be willing to OWN not just hold the stocks of. Remember, value investing is all about finding good, solid companies that are priced below their true value.

Stay tuned for Part II because I will be posting more on Value Investing Basics. Congratulations! You now know the groundwork that value investing in stocks is all about. Making you a better, more informed investor is my goal.

Figures released today by EIRIS, the London based non-profit sustainable investment specialists, show that the amount of money invested in Britain’s green and ethical retail funds (i.e. those funds open to the general public) reached £9.5 billion*

The £9.5 billion represents approximately three quarters of a million investors in ethical funds, up from around 200,000 investors in 1999 when around £2.4 billion was invested ethically in the UK. The last ten years has also seen the universe of UK ethical retail funds expand considerably. There are now almost 100 green and ethical funds available to UK investors – a decade ago there were just a couple of dozen.

Growing consumer interest in ethical finance is backed up by the findings of EIRIS’ recent Ipsos/MORI survey national consumer which explored post credit-crunch attitudes to ethical finance and found that 44% of the British public are interested in finding out about the ethical credentials of the next financial product or service that they buy. Three-quarters of those interested also said they are likely to take this into consideration when next buying a financial product or service.

Mark Robertson, EIRIS spokesperson said ‘2010 is a critical year for rebuilding public trust in UK financial institutions. It’s clear that increasing numbers of consumers are turning to those financial institutions which offer financial products that make money whilst making a positive difference to the world’.

‘The world is changing fast and many of the issues targeted by green and ethical investment funds such as the need to tackle ageing populations, reduce levels of obesity, address the global power shortage, tackle water scarcity and climate change are creating attractive business opportunities, which in turn are creating great investment opportunities which consumers can take advantage of’ he continued.

Growing consumer interest in issues like climate change, human rights, fairtrade and poverty is set to drive demand for green and ethical investment which will be further boosted by the recent launch of the UK’s first ever consumer website dedicated to ethical finance, YourEthicalMoney.org. This independent, non-profit website provides free advice to help anyone wanting to learn about how and where their money is invested, search for green and ethical financial products, or find out how they can help make finance more sustainable.

Source:EIRIS

* Figures based on total assets under management datat collected from UK green and ethical funds as at 31st December 2009

This article first appeared on www.naturalchoices.co.uk

Basic job of investment bankers is to provide governments as well as corporations and others with investment services that include buying, selling, trading of securities, management of assets as well as giving financial advices to the clients.
Major Banks in the Field
Bulk of investment banking in the country is carried out by five leading firms in the field those are –
Merrill Lynch;Morgan Stanley,Dean Witter;Salomon-Smith-Barney; andGoldman Sachs.While there are some middle level banks like the piper Jaffray, there are also a number of smaller banks filling the gaps for small investments. These are also the major forces those can help the aspirant candidates in their pursuit of career building as investment banker.
Career Overview
On a closer look the career of investment banker has the following characteristics.
It involves a lot of risk and a lot of work but can give a lot of satisfaction as well.Career of investment banker is not the easiest one to adopt.Entry level employees have to work long hours and have hard times.It is very difficult to start the career and make it jumpstart. But once rolling it could be highly rewarding.Requirements for Success
Some of the requirements for success in the career of investment banker are as follows –
In depth analysis is necessary for success as investor banker.Excellent capacity for negotiation is essential.Ability to calculate and therefore mastery of mathematics comes up very handy in such career.Knowledge in accounting will also be very useful for the investor.Lawyers and scientists can help out in variety of areas in respect of investment banking.Job Opportunities for Career Aspirants
Major Job opportunities for the career aspirants who desire to pursue the career of investment banker are available in the following areas in the market.
Corporate finance professional jobs in which the candidate will help out organizations to acquire funds for carrying out the day to day businesses and also assist in preparing effective business strategies.As merger and acquisition specialist the career aspirant may earn substantial amounts. Especially the prospects are very bright in merchant banking areas.Project finance; structured finance; derivatives; and trading are other fields where substantial earning could be made by the investor banker.An essential part of financial and investment services, the career of investment banker could be highly rewarding.Basic job of investment bankers is to provide governments as well as corporations and others with investment services that include buying, selling, trading of securities, management of assets as well as giving financial advices to the clients.

Recently there has been a resurgence in investing in gold and other precious medals. Since no one can predict whether or not your investments will go up or down, getting reliable and sound gold investment advice should be step number 1.

Of course, in order to make money on your gold investment you need to buy right. When buying gold you can either buy gold bars or gold coins.

Of course, when it comes to investing your ultimate goal is to make money when you sell, more money than you paid for the gold when you bought it.

To get the most out of your sale you have to consider when and to whom you will sell when the time comes. Will you sell all your gold in one batch or will you sell it off a little here and a little there? The reason you want to consider these issues now is that it can help you figure out what types of gold you should buy.

If you want to sell off your gold over time, you’re probably better off buying coins since you can sell one or all of your coins but if you had only gold bars you can’t just sell a portion of the gold bar.

Make sure that you consider your exit strategy when buying your gold. The types of coins you buy will have a lot to do with how easy they are to sell as well. All of this will need to be thought about before you start your investing career.

If possible, you should try to find a reputable local dealer. More than likely you will be spending a lot of time investing in gold. It’s always a good idea to have someone close to home who you can ask questions of and learn from.

If you either don’t have anyone close to home, or you simply don’t trust the people you find locally, you can always turn to the internet to find dealers. While it’s always important to ensure that the dealers you work with are reputable, it’s probably even more important when finding online dealers.

It can be hard to gauge the trustworthiness of someone you can’t actually talk to in person. Do a search on Google and look for testimonials.

Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help and ask questions. The best thing you can do for yourself is to take a lot of time to educate yourself. Don’t every just turn your money over to a dealer and let them make all the decisions about what type of gold is best for you to invest in. Always be an active partner in your investing.

Investing in gold can be a great way to hedge against certain economic conditions. As with all investing, the amount of success you have will be in direct proportion to the amount of knowledge you have. Take the time to get solid gold investment advice and never be afraid to ask questions.