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Monday, March 22, 2010

Slim, the world's richest man

Conglomerates from mexico, Carlos Slim, who according to Forbes magazine Bill Gates shifts position and Warren Buffett as the richest person on this planet, it has shown good talent to make money from the age of 10 years. Slim got his first pesos from selling soft drinks and food for families who are immigrants from Lebanon.
 
When he entered his youth, Slim's financial knowledge is more sophisticated. He did not just make money from selling conventional items. Young Slim bought the Mexican government bonds. From there he got a valuable lesson about compound interest rate. The calculation of interest rates or call compound interest in Einstein as a great discovery in mathematics and an incredible force. Forbes also noted, Slim is the first person from developing countries at the top of the list of rich people in the world.More than half a century later, Slim is now 70-year-old has a tremendous wealth, for 53.5 billion U.S. dollars. Slim assets range from telecommunications companies, hotels, restaurants, department stores, company property, until the Bank Inbusa. Proverbial, it is difficult to live in mexico without obtaining the services of the company's Slim and profit. Not only in mexico Slim triumphed. He also has a stake in the company's United States, such as retailers Saks and the New York Times Co.
 Slim is not thin and very glad smoking is also known to have a hand "Midas". Remember the story of King Midas whose hands were always able to change things to gold valuable? So Slim. He is known to change the company's going bankrupt back up and make a profit. In 2008, Slim bought a few shares on the New York Times. At present, Warran which he received from the publishing company was worth 250 million U.S. dollars and net worth reached 80 million U.S. dollars. With that much money, means Slim control 16 percent stake in New York Times. Last week speculation that Slim would own shares of the New York Times even more. However, the media conglomerate said Rupert Murdoch, his family will not give control to others, especially from abroad.
Family

 Family environment seems very influential in the formation of personality Slim. His father, Julian Slim Haddad, a Lebanese immigrant who came to mexico early 1900s. He then opened the shop kelontongan Star Of The Orient. During the Mexican revolution. Haddad bought many properties cheaply. immigrant families were hoping for a better life than they do on their countries. Graduated from technical school, Slim real estate company founded in the mid-1960s. A decade after that, he was known by his trademark buying nearly bankrupt companies, including a tobacco company. He also bought a department store, a cafe Sanborns, a mining company, cable and tire manufacturer. When the crisis in Mexico in 1987, unlike others who panic, Slim saw it as an opportunity. When the stock slumped. Slim started buying shares cheap and sell when the stock doubled profits began to improve."We know that the crisis is always temporary. There is no difficulty that lasted for 100 years, there is always a recovery, said Slim".
Slim's wealth does not make him live with-lavish luxury. He still lives in the same house for 40 years and still driving an old mercedes. his clothes were not that expensive. Slim also rarely use the computer. He preferred to record in his book that shabby. Nevertheless, she remains surrounded by armed bodyguards. He distanced himself from a private jet, yacth, and other luxury items such as commonly in other rich people have it. Slim is a baseball fan. Everyday she liked smoking and drinking carbonated soft drinks. Mexican businessmen are also known to have a collection of works of French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. Instead, Slim is the largest collector of Rodin's work outside the French. Manage meseum daughter in mexico art.
 
 Telecommunication Companies
 
  It was only in 1990, Slim bought a telecommunications company. To luck apparently originated from the decision to buy state-owned operator, Telmex, for 1.7 billion U.S. dollars. Telmex when it was like life was not going to shrink from death. Under the management of Slim, Telmex became a profitable company and producing extraordinary pesos. When it Slim bought Telmex, he was not free from criticism and controversy. Some people say, the success he bought Telmex, which is a fixed line operator, can not be separated from the approach it with power, including President Carlos Salinas. Slim busy doing business, Slim also participated in the eradication of poverty, illiteracy, and the extent of Latin American health services. He also made projects of sports for the poor. However, so far he does not plan to donate part of his wealth to set up charitable foundations like the Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
 
"Businessman's better to do good by creating jobs and wealth through investment, rather than acting like santa claus", he said. Slim has also donated money on several occasions. January last, he gave 65 million U.S. dollars for genetic research for cancer, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease in Mexico and Latin America. "Wealth should be seen as a responsibility, not a privilege.'s Responsibility to create wealth is even better. It's like maintaining Orchid, we must provide the results to others, but not the trees." Slim said about his wealth. Currently, about 50 million of Mexico's 107 million population under the poverty line. Of the 50 million people, 19.5 million of them are very poor. They do not have the money to buy food. Hopefully Slim philosophy of "responsibility" that rich people followed over many others. The responsibility of people to have is to create an employment, not to make wealth as a "to privilege" for themselves.
 
                                  Biodata :

Carlos SlimBorn: Mexico City, January 28, 1940Father: Joseph Salim HaddadMother: Soumoya Domit Gamayel (1967), died of cancer in 1999Child: 6 peopleNationality: MexicoEducation: Universidad Nacional de Mexico Autonama


 

 
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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Futures Education

What are Commodities?

One thing you should thoroughly understand by now is the depth and magnitude of the futures market. The industry has grown and matured, it has broadened the scope of its offerings, and it has assumed an indispensable role in our economy. Even though many people still refer to this industry as commodities, the tides are changing as more business is transacted in non-traditional commodities than ever before.
Despite the growth in non-commodity futures, no discussion of futures would be complete without a discussion of the underlying products that define this industry: commodities. In the most basic sense, commodities are loosely defined as natural resources, chemicals and physical products you can touch, taste, smell, grow, mine, consume or deliver.
Before the advent of futures trading in the United States, much of our economy was based in agriculture or providing services to agriculture. The industrial revolution, which ushered in a new era of technological efficiencies to the world, also changed our understanding of agriculture. Through advances in science and technology, farmers were able to grow or raise more products at a faster rate with less capital. Agricultural output not only kept pace with the phenomenal growth in population, but also improved our standard of living. Improved productivity changed focus to a new breed of agricultural services focusing more on storage, transportation, and distribution. Today, our economy is just as dependent on agriculture as it was 100 years ago.
In addition to agricultural products, the commodities industry also covers two other types of products: metals and energy. The most popular contracts for commodity trading cover several broad categories: metals, energy, grains, livestock, and food and fiber. Commodities are not paper assets, they are physical products that are produced and consumed at a price based on the forces of supply and demand.
Physical commodity futures prices - more than non-physical commodity futures - are determined by basic principles of economics, namely supply, demand and inflation.

Increased Demand

Commodities are the basic building blocks of economic production and therefore an essential cog in the machine of economic growth. As we work to improve the global standard of living, the demand for commodities will grow in response to the economic growth.
Consider gold, for example. As more people increase their wealth, the demand for gold increases for many different reasons. First, it is a highly coveted luxury consumer product. But just as important as being a luxury consumer product, gold is also a component in many technological products that are used everyday by millions of people around the globe. Additionally, many countries, people and organizations use gold as a standard for storing wealth. So as the standard of living increases, so does the demand for gold.
An increase in the global standard of living affects other commodities as well. Crude oil and gasoline are in greater demand as more people buy automobiles. Rice, wheat, soybeans, corn, meats, coffee, sugar, and cocoa are in greater demand as people want to improve their diets and taste the sweeter things in life.

Decreased Supply

For years, commodity prices were relatively low (prior to 2000); however, as countries around the world adopt more market-based economies, the demand for commodities is growing. The added demand increases prices, thus calling out more supply (giving people a greater incentive to produce commodities). Unfortunately, it often takes years to increase the supply of some commodities. Commodities that must be taken out of the ground (oil and metals) have the longest lead times.
In the short run, the supply isn't keeping up with the added demand. Some people view this more as an increase in demand rather than a decrease in supply, but you could say the supply is going down relative to the demand. The effect is the same as a shortage of commodities (relative to demand) and the bottom line is that prices are going up.

Inflation

During the first stage of inflation, commodity price increases are caused by an expansion of the money supply and credit. During the second stage, people begin to anticipate future declines in their currency's purchasing power, and the currency's price (relative to commodities) begins to drop faster than the supply expansion would suggest. As existing money buys less, more money is needed to buy the same quantity of commodities. More money is then printed (and easier credit is extended) to meet the ever-expanding anticipatory "need"/demand for it, reducing the currency's price and pushing commodity prices higher still.
As more countries move toward market economies, billions of new people will join the marketplace for commodities. This unprecedented demand for commodities is creating shortages while the markets' rationing tool (price) is doing its job by supplying goods to consumers who are willing and able to pay the (higher) market price. Until the supply of commodities can catch up with the added demand, commodity prices will continue to rise.
The convergence of increased demand, short supplies, and global inflation is bringing the world record commodity prices and the trends will likely continue. There will be shocks that cause hyper increase or decrease to prices but it is unlikely to affect the long-term trend of increasing commodity prices.

Contango

In a previous module, you learned that futures can trade at a premium or discount to the cash markets. In our discussion of commodities this concept takes on a deeper importance.
In general, the commodities market compensates an individual for the cost of purchasing a commodity today, storing it, and delivering it in the future.
As a result, you would ordinarily expect to see higher prices on futures with longer expirations - the commodity has to be stored longer, so you would pay a higher premium for storage costs. This is called contango. Contango occurs when the cost of longer-term contracts is greater than the cost of shorter-term contracts.
When it comes to physical commodity futures it is important to understand the factors that influence contango. The most important determinant of the price differential between two contracts with different expirations is the cost of storing the commodity over that particular length of time. As a result, markets which fully compensate an individual for carry charges–interest rates, insurance, and storage–are known as full contango markets, or full carrying charge markets.
In normal market conditions, when there is an adequate supply of the commodity, the price should be equal to the present spot (cash) prices plus contango. As you have learned previously, the contango structure of the futures market is kept intact by the ability of metals dealers and financial institutions to bring carrying charges back into line through arbitrage. If carrying charges are greater than prevailing interest rates, dealers will buy physical metal and sell futures. Conversely, if carrying charges are below prevailing interest rates, dealers will sell the physical product and buy futures.
The net effect of arbitrage in the physical commodities market is to keep carrying charges in line with interest rates. As interest rates increase commodity prices will drop. When interest rates decrease commodity prices will increase.

Backwardation

The opposite of contango is backwardation, a market condition where the nearby month trades at a higher price relative to the outer months. Such a price relationship usually indicates a tightness of supply. The copper market, for instance, has been in backwardation more often than not since the 1950s.
Whether a market is in contango or backwardation, over time, as the contract approaches expiration, the futures price and cash prices will trade closer and closer to even, a process known as convergence.
The relationship between the cash market, the futures market and interest rates play an important role in the price and trend of the commodities market. It is important to understand these relationships as you make longer-term investments, especially hedges. It is also important in shorter-term trades and speculation as factors that affect the cash market or interest rates will greatly influence the shorter-term price trends.
Now that we have a basic understanding of the relationship between the cash market, interest rates and the futures market, let's go into more depth on the different types of products that constitute the commodities market. These will be broken down into three categories: Metals, Energy and Agriculture.
Fact and Figures Data Sources:
Hog data was collected from the: USDA National Agricultural Statistic Service, Meat Animals Production, Disposition and Income Report. (2005)
Cattle data was collected from the: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Meat Animals Production, Disposition and Income Report. (2007)
Corn production data was collected from: USDA Foreign Agriculture Service, Grain: World Markets and Trade Report. (2006)
Platinum, Gold, and Silver data: USGS, Mineral Industry Survey (2006)
Aluminum data: The Aluminum Association, Aluminum Statistical Review (2007)
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Thursday, March 18, 2010

BBTN STOCK (SAHAM BANK TABUNGAN NEGARA)

BBTN shares (State Savings Bank)
State Savings Bank shares with the stock code on BBTN trading yesterday closed up +90 points or an increase of + 8.3 per cent on 1170 levels. This stock broke through resistance (peak) in 1090 with a volume above average, buy signals are visible from the date of 17 March 2010. The trend also seems very interestingand support the stock price increases within a few days the future.
BBTN shares gained and potentially predicted continued strength in a short time where market conditions are also a factor supporting the price increase (in the market is very bullish conditions). There are also limits of tolerance of our losses when the price penetrated below the support (Trough) on the level of at least 1050 and 1000 (8%) amount of resistance (peak). so the stock will BBTN predicted increases in the next few days with a target price of 1300 to 1400
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Futures Education

Long Index Futures

The primary objective of the long index futures trade is to identify an index that is trending higher and buy the index's mini index futures. Once the index has reached a peak or resistance point, you offset the position by selling the contract back to the market.
Let's work through the mechanics of a long index trade.
You've done your homework and analyzed the trends on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. According to your analysis, the index has broken out of a double bottom and is starting an upward trend that you believe will move up 200 points before hitting the first reversal.
You look up the contract specifications for the Dow Jones Index futures and find out the initial margin requirements are $13,750. Recognizing this would leverage too much of your available cash, you turn to the mini-sized Dow futures contract specifications and find the initial margin requirement is $4,000.
The next thing you want to know is the tick size and the value of each tick. Again from the contract specification on the mini-sized Dow futures, you see that a tick is 1 point on the index and it is worth $5.00. This means that if the index goes up 50 points in a day, the value of that move is $250 (50 ticks * $5.)
You decide to go ahead and purchase the mini Dow futures. You place a limit order to buy 1 contract when the futures price is 11,200. Since the Dow futures are currently trading for 11,225, you may not get filled, so you may want to consider placing a market order to buy at the next available price. After looking at an intraday price chart on the Dow, you notice the market has been trading in a range between 11,200 and 11,250 for the past 3 days, so you decide to leave your limit price of 11,200.

A Couple of Hours Later

You get an email notification letting you know that you have just purchased 1 mini-sized Dow futures contract at a price of 11,200. You are now long 1 mini-sized Dow futures contract and want to protect yourself against downward price movement, so you place a stop loss order at 11,150. This way if the market drops below 11,150 your position will be offset or closed and you would suffer a 50 point or $250 loss.

The Next Couple of Days

The next couple of days of trading are touch-and-go, with the Dow dropping down into the 11,170 price range a couple of times. However, you don't let this trouble you too much. You still believe the market is poised to move higher. You have a plan and you're sticking to it.

The Third Day

The third day brings some good news! The Dow broke out above 11,250 and is moving higher - in fact, at the close it is trading right at 11,300. You are quite excited and think about selling to book your profit of 100 points or $500. You decide to keep holding onto your position; after all, your analysis was a 200-point move.

The Fourth Day

The fourth day was a complete disaster. The market dropped back down to 11,225 and you lost 75 points or $375. Frustrated and confused you seriously think about selling out now, before you lose any more. After all, there is a saying in the market that you can never go broke selling at a profit! But you have a plan and you decide to stick to it.

The Fifth Day

The fifth day finds the market back up at 11,300. You are excited again. The market has given you another opportunity to book your 100-point or $500 profit. You are seriously contemplating selling when you remember what your futures training course taught you: plan your trade and trade your plan. To console yourself, you raise your stop to 11,250. This way if the market drops again you will still get out for a profit and decide to let your trade play out a few more days.

The Sixth Day

On the sixth day you are glad you had the strength to stay in the market. The Dow goes up 75 points to 11,375 and your total gains are now 175 points or $875! Being smart, you decide to place a sell limit order for 11,400, just in case the market hits it while you are not looking.

The Seventh Day

On the seventh day you get an order confirmation that you have sold 1 mini-sized Dow futures contract for 11,400. You bought the mini-sized Dow index for 11,200 and sold it for 11,400, booking 200 points or $1,000 in profit! That is a 25% return on your initial investment of $4,000.
In all the euphoria of the moment, something keeps nagging you about the trade. All of a sudden in the middle of the night you remember what it is - you forgot to close your stop loss order. This means that you still have an active order to sell 1 mini-sized Dow futures contract at 11,250. Immediately you jump out of bed and rush over to the computer and cancel the stop order. You remember your futures training course reminding you to make sure you NEVER leave any order open that you don't want. It could be disastrous to wake up in the morning and discover you have a short position in the mini-sized Dow!

Short Index Futures

The primary objective of the short index futures trade is to identify an index that is trending lower and sell the index's mini index futures. Once the index has reached a valley or support point, you offset the position by buying the contract back.
Let's work through the mechanics of a short index trade.
The Feds are expected to announce an interest rate increase of 25 basis points, which is supposed to curb inflationary pressure in the economy. The market has been trading at all-time highs for several weeks, and stocks are trading at high multiples. You expect that the rate decision by the Fed will be the catalyst to start a pullback to an intermediate support level on the S&P 500 index at 1050. The S&P is currently trading at 1128.
You understand the risks of such a setup, and you determine that you are willing to risk no more than $500 on this setup.
The first thing you do is check the contract specifications for the S&P 500 index futures. The initial margin requirement is currently $30,000 on the standard contracts. You also check the e-mini S&P futures and discover the initial margin requirement is $6,000. You decide to use the e-mini S&P 500 futures contract.
Next you check the tick size and value. The minimum fluctuation on the e-mini S&P 500 index is $0.25, which is equal to $12.50. A move of one E-mini S&P 500 futures index point is the equivalent of four ticks and would equal $50.
You decide to initiate a short in the e-mini S&P 500 index to profit from the expected downward movement. You log into your computer and enter an order to sell 1 e-mini S&P 500 index future at the current market price. Immediately you receive a confirmation that your order has been executed and you are short 1 e-mini S&P 500 index future at a price of 1128.75.
You are really concerned about risking too much money on this trade and want to make sure you do not lose more than $500. Knowing that you should use stops on every trade you make, you decide to use a buy stop order. Remember, to offset a short position you must buy a futures contract. Since there are 4 ticks per point and each tick is worth $12.50, you determine that your buy stop must be no larger than 10 index points away (10 points * 4 ticks per point * $12.50 per tick = your $500 maximum loss). You go to your computer and enter a "BUY STOP" order at 1138.75, which is 10 points away from your sell price.
You are pretty confident that if the Fed increases interest rates the S&P 500 index will drop to the 1050 point level over a 1-3 week period.
Two days later, the Fed announces a rate increase and the S&P drops 12 points. How much money did you make? Twelve index points is equal to 48 ticks (1 point equals 4 ticks) and 48 ticks are worth $600.
You are thrilled with the move and decide to follow the market with a trailing stop, so you change your buy stop order from 1138.75 to 1128.75 or your original sell price.
Over then next couple days the S&P continues to drop all the way down to 1072. You have trailed the index with buy stop that is 10 points away from the lowest point and it is currently set for 1082.
The next day is pretty volatile and you are concerned that buyers are starting to enter the market. While you are at work you get a trade confirmation that your buy stop order has been triggered and you bought 1 e-mini S&P 500 index futures at a price of 1082.
While the index did not do exactly as you had hoped, you are still thrilled with the trade. You had a plan to follow the market with a trailing buy stop to protect profits and limit upside risk. You had a target of 1050 which you did not reach, but you also had a contingency plan to protect profits and avoid loss, which was triggered.
You still made money on the trade. You initially sold the contract for 1128.75 and turned around and bought it back for 1082. The total gain on this short trade is 46 points and 3 ticks (1128.75 - 1082 = 46.75). That is a 187 total tick gain (46.75 points * 4 ticks per point = 187 ticks). Your total income on the trade is $2337.50, or a 38.9% return on investment!
Now that your short position is offset, or closed, by the trigger of your buy stop order, you carefully check for any open positions that you may have forgotten about. You don't find any, so now you can celebrate!
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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Futures Education

Index Futures

index futuresStock index futures are relative newcomers to the futures industry, but have become one of the most popular futures contracts among retail traders. Starting out in 1982, the first index futures contract tracking the Value Line Composite Index was traded on the Kansas City Board of Trade.
A stock index represents the broad market. Changes in the index reflect the price movement of many different stocks. Since it is literally impossible to deliver one share or fraction of a share of each of the underlying stocks tracked by an index, stock index futures are settled in cash.
Stock index futures do not constitute ownership of any of the underlying stock, and index futures traders cannot hold claim to any of the underlying stocks' dividends or ownership rights. For this reason, stock index futures trade can trade a discount or premium to the underlying index.
Each index represents an average value of the stocks that are listed in the index. The value of the index changes every time the price of any one of the stocks changes. The indexes vary in both their composition and method of calculation. Here are just a few of the major indexes traded by index futures traders:

Standard & Poor's 500 Index

The S&P 500 Index is a market value-weighted index of 500 large-capitalization stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq National Market System. Because the S&P is capitalization-weighted, those stocks with the most shares outstanding at the highest prices will have the most influence on the index movement. The S&P 500 index, introduced in 1957, is known as the investment industry's benchmark for measuring portfolio performance.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange introduced S&P 500 futures in 1982, and they originally traded at $500 times the cash index. As the market began to surge during the 1990s, the initial margin became too costly for many futures traders. In response, the CME decided to cut the contract's value to $250 times the index.

Nasdaq-100 Index

The Nasdaq-100 Index includes the top 100 non-financial stocks (both domestic and foreign) listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Stocks such as Microsoft, Intel, eBay, Dell, Cisco, etc. dominate the index, so it's frequently associated with the technology sector of stock investing.
Futures on the Nasdaq-100 began trading in 1996 with a value of $100 times the index. Like the S&P 500 Index, the value of the Nasdaq-100 rose dramatically during the 1990s, however, unlike the S&P, the contract value has remained the same.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an index of 30 large-cap "blue chip" stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange, accounting for about 20 percent of the market value of all U.S. equities. The index, first published in 1896, is the most widely quoted market indicator in newspapers, radio, television and electronic media throughout the world. Futures on the DJIA began trading at the Chicago Board of Trade in 1997 after heated competition between the Chicago exchanges for the rights to trade futures and options on products owned by Dow Jones & Co., which had remained reluctant to allow its name to be used in trading.
That has changed today, as the CBOT offers three different DJIA futures contracts with sizes tailored to different market participant needs. Its "big" DJIA futures contract has a value of $25 times the average, while its standard DJIA futures contract is $10 times the average, and the mini DJIA futures contract has a value of $5 times the average.

Mini-Index Futures

In addition to the standard index futures, the exchanges have opened up index futures trading to the masses by offering smaller, miniature versions of the index futures contracts. These smaller contracts, called mini index futures, are based on the major market averages and indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100 and the Russell 2000.
Mini index futures have grown exponentially in recent years due to significantly reduced margin requirements and contract value multipliers.
One of the factors that draws so many traders to mini indexes is the remarkably low margin rates for traders who open and close their positions over the course of a single session. Day trading e-mini index futures now provides a great alternative to day trading stocks, which has become very expensive for the average retail trader who is required to have an account of at least $25,000
Mini index futures are not just for the day trader. They offer opportunities for a wide variety of trading and strategies. While regular full-size futures contracts often require exceptionally high margins for the average trader, the mini-sized versions of the same contracts can be traded for a fraction of the margin.
In addition to low margin requirements, the leverage for traders in mini index futures is quite attractive as well. With the mini Dow priced at $5 per point, for example, traders can make much more money on a 200-point move day-trading the mini-Dow than they could by trading the Diamonds, or options on the Diamonds, and they can do it with significantly less capital.
Trading mini index futures can also be a simpler and more straightforward process for many traders than trading individual stocks. This is especially true when you consider diversification. Since mini indexes track a particular stock index, you are naturally diversified over a basket of stocks. To achieve the same diversification in stock would require managing a portfolio of 20+ stocks. Traders find that specializing and focusing their trading to mini index futures leaves less room for error; your focus is on one vehicle, one set of prices, and one analysis.

Common Index Futures Trading Strategies

By now, you have probably gathered that trading futures is similar to any type of other of trading - your primary objective is to buy low and sell high. One difference with futures, however, is that it's just as common to sell short, to sell first, and then buy back later as it is to buy first, or go long. Mini index futures are no different. If you think the market index is going up, you simply establish a "long" (buy) position, and if you think index prices are going down, you initiate a "short" (sell) position.
Once you have established your futures position, you have three basic alternatives to close it out:
  • Offset your position by taking an equal but opposite position (selling if you have bought; buying if you have sold). Most futures are offset in this way. You don't have to wait until the expiration date to complete your trade–in fact, few investors do.
  • Wait until your contract expires, and then make or take cash settlement. Cash settlement is made according to a "Special Opening Quotation" (SOQ), a price calculated for each domestic stock index product. This means your account will be debited or credited, in cash, the difference between your purchase/sale price and the final settlement as determined by the SOQ. Of course, if you offset your position, this process doesn't apply.
  • "Roll" the position over from one contract expiration into the next. If you hold a long position in an expiration month, you can simultaneously sell that expiration month and buy the next expiration month (known as a "calendar spread") for an agreed-upon price differential. By transferring or "rolling" a position forward you are able to hold it for a longer period of time. For example, if you are holding a March CME E-mini futures contract, you can sell the March futures before expiration and buy a June futures, thereby expanding the timeframe of the trade.
Let's go through a couple of examples of index futures trades to make sure you understand how they work. The two most common types of trades are the long index future and the short index future.
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Ichimoku Kinko Hyo JSX

Panduan untuk Ichimoku Analisis 

Pertama-tama, kata dalam bahasa Jepang "Ichimoku" berarti "satu lirikan", "Kinko" berarti "keseimbangan / kesetimbangan dan" Hyo "berarti" tabel ", singkatnya Ichimoku Kinko berarti melihat kesetimbangan dalam sekejap. Pada dasarnya, indikator paling baik digunakan untuk menentukan tren pasar, dukungan dan resistensi dan akhirnya menghasilkan membeli / menjual sinyal.
Ichimoku Kinko Hyo terdiri dari 5 baris dan "Kumo" atau dikenal sebagai "awan" seperti kebanyakan orang menyebutnya, mereka adalah:

   
1. Tenkan-Sen (Konversi Line) - (Highest High +Lowest  Low) / 2, x selama periode (tradisional x = 9)
   
2. Kijun-Sen (Base Line) - (Highest High +Lowest  Low) / 2, y selama periode (tradisional y = 26)
   
3. Chikou Span (lagging Span) - Hari ini harga penutupan periode y diplot di belakang
   
4. Senkou Span A - (Tenkan-Sen + Kijun-Sen) / 2, merencanakan masa depan y
   
5.
Senkou Span B - (Tertinggi Terendah High + Low) / 2, selama periode z, merencanakan masa depan y (z = 52) 
 
Ruang antara Senkou Span Span A dan B Senkou dikenal sebagai Kumo atau awan.
Ichimoku Kinko Hyo yang bekerja paling baik pada kerangka waktu jangka panjang dan lebih disukai untuk digunakan pada grafik harian dan mingguan.
Aplikasi dari indikator
Untuk memulai dengan, Kumo (atau kebanyakan orang menyebutnya awan) menjadi semakin populer di antara chartists untuk mengidentifikasi area support dan resistance. Ketika harga diperdagangkan di atas Kumo, tren yang berlaku dikatakan harus bangun dan Kumo akan diperlakukan sebagai area dukungan sementara jika harga di bawah Kumo, kecenderungan dikatakan turun dan awan akan menjadi daerah perlawanan sebagai gantinya.
Jika harga di bawah Kumo (awan), garis bawah (yaitu Senkou Span A) bertindak sebagai level resistance pertama, dan garis atas (yaitu Senkou Span B) menjadi level resistance kedua.
Jika harga berada di atas awan, baris atasnya (yaitu Senkou Span A) tindakan tingkat support pertama, dan garis bawah (yaitu
Senkou Span B) menjadi tingkat support kedua.
Satu hal lagi adalah bahwa ketebalan Kumo (awan) juga menunjukkan volatilitas pasar. Lapisan tipis menyiratkan awan rendah volatilitas saat ini sementara awan tebal menyiratkan meningkatkan volatilitas.
Aplikasi dari 2 garis - Tenkan-Sen dan Kijun-Sen cukup mirip dengan studi rata-rata bergerak, membeli dan menjual sinyal yang dihasilkan ketika garis jangka pendek (Tenkan-Sen) crossover (perpotongan garis/golden cross)jangka panjang baris (Kijun-Sen).
Sebuah sinyal buy dihasilkan ketika Tenkan-menyilang di atas Sen-Sen Kijun dari bawah. Di sisi lain, sebuah sinyal jual dihasilkan ketika Tenkan-Sen salib di bawah Kijun-Sen dari atas. Namun, salah satu keuntungan yang jelas menggunakan Ichimoku Kinko di atas rata-rata bergerak crossover adalah bahwa daerah tempat Tenkan-menyilang Sen-Sen Kijun akan menentukan kekuatan relatif yang membeli / menjual sinyal.
Jika membeli sinyal (yaitu Tenkan-menyilang di atas Sen-Sen Kijun dari bawah) yang terjadi di atas Kumo (atau awan), ini akan dianggap sebagai sinyal beli sangat kuat sebagai awan yang mewakili support / wilayah perlawanan.
Demikian pula, jika sebuah sinyal menjual (Tenkan-yaitu di bawah salib Sen-Sen Kijun dari atas) terjadi di bawah awan, ini akan dianggap sebagai sinyal jual yang sangat kuat. Jika membeli / menjual sinyal terjadi di dalam Kumo (atau awan), sinyal ini akan diperlakukan seperti biasa.
Akhirnya, jika sinyal membeli terjadi di bawah awan, maka akan dilihat sebagai sinyal lemah, sementara jika terjadi sinyal jual di atas awan, itu akan dianggap sebagai sinyal yang lemah juga.
Chikou Span yang awalnya digunakan untuk menunjukkan kekuatan relatif membeli / menjual sinyal yang dihasilkan oleh Tenkan-Sen dan Kijun-Sen, jika sinyal membeli terjadi di atas Chikou Span, itu akan dianggap sebagai sinyal yang kuat dan sebaliknya. Namun, dalam pendekatan kami, kami lebih suka dan menghapus Chikou Span (yang meninggalkan bagan sedikit lebih jelas) dan hanya menggunakan 4 baris lain.
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Double Bottom Bumi Resources

BUMI RESOURCES DOUBLE BOTTOMS  PATTERNS

Double Bottoms pattern formation should be preceded by a downward trend, then formed two valleys (A and C) which ideally has the same low level as shown in the graph below. Price movements in formation like this has the potential to be a pattern Double Bottoms, but it is not clear whether it will turn into sideways or uptrend. Although in need further confirmation, trendline penetration by the price movement may be an early sign for more intensive monitoring, especially if these price increases in volume accompanied the rise, too. cursory form of Double Bottoms pattern looks like the letter W. Final confirmation as a validation of this pattern is if the closing price is above the resistance line drawn horizontally from the highest point on the top in between in the valley in the formation of Double Bottoms (B). Then the target can be measured from the breakout point on the projection of the vertical distance between the "line of support with the highest point on the valley B.

 
Summary

Bumi Resouces stock patterning Double Bottoms, where the valley is the valley's first A and C is the second valley. Then the peak B is a point of resistance to the 2445 level until 2450. then the price closed at 2500 levels, on 9 March 2010 it was breakout and valid.Target price would then be achieved at 2700 levels until 2750.
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Monday, March 8, 2010

"TOP 3 Potential Gain"

PT. Astra International (ASII). Fixed Number one.

Do not worry recall some Toyota products in the U.S. and Europe will decrease ASII shares. Because, in Indonesia Toyota products are marketed ASII still number one. Moreover, Toyota Indonesia produced material different from the U.S. and Europe, so no pangaruhnya. ASII also benefit from the diversification of business subsidiary of the majority of market share in their fields. Hence ASII target unchanged stock prices would lead to 38500-39500 per share


PT. STATE GAS Company (PGAS). Performance soared.

PGAS performance achievements during the year 2009 will soon be announced. Management is optimistic PGAS minimum net profit of Rp 5 trillion. Figures indicate that nearly 700% growth compared to year 2008sebesar Rp 633.85 billion. Realized net income was driven by increased gas production rose significantly. Achievements over the shares PGAS will fly to Rp 4800. it was also encouraged by a series of new projects ready to contribute to revenue in the future PGAS.





PT.Tambang Batu Bara Bukit Asam (PTBA). Long-term accumulation.

Oil prices continue to rise reflects the increased demand for other energy sources of coal is no exception. It certainly benefits the PTBA. No wonder the company continued to conduct a series of acquisitions of new mining sites. Two concessionaires located in Kalimantan has been held, because it accumulated shares worth PTBA for the long term. Not to mention the sentiments of performance in 2009 are believed to grow to 64% with the assumption of revenue amounting to Rp 9 trillion. This stock is ready to Rp.20000 per share.
 
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Futures Education

Interest Rate Basics

Interest rate futures serve a major role in enabling banks to neutralize or manage their price risk. Trading interest rate futures means looking at the markets with a different perspective than banks or large commercial borrowers. The only way you will be able to make use of the interest rate futures market is to exploit the system's inefficiencies. These inefficiencies happen when large hedgers, the Fed, and other major players have different motives or objectives.
Let's assume a large corporation wants to sell a big bundle of bonds but can't find any buyers. As the corporation drops the price to try and find a buyer, the bond yields increase on the bond offering - knocking the yield out of balance with the normal yield curve. Meanwhile, another company may start dumping treasuries to raise money to buy the corporate bonds. This exacerbates the rising yield and pretty soon arbitrageurs step in to get the market back in balance.
These types of wild gyrations happen in the interest rate futures market and can create volatility. These short-term gyrations can present excellent entry points into an interest rate future. As a general rule, look for opportunities to trade the long-term issues when interest rates are falling. Also, look to stay on the shorter-term side of the curve when interest rates are rising. This will tend to keep you in the direction of the trend.
Before moving on to index futures, you should understand the basic principles behind the common interest rate hedge.

The Interest Rate Hedge

Interest rate futures can be used to hedge against an existing or future interest rate move. Hedging interest rate risk is a strategy used by banks and corporations as a way to enhance profits and ensure favorable rates over the short and long term. Depending on your interest rate outlook, a futures position can generate profits to cover (or offset) the losses associated with an adverse move in interest rates.
Remember that futures are quoted in terms of price rather than interest rate. A borrower would sell futures to protect against an interest rate rise, i.e., to profit from a decrease in the futures price, and a lender would buy futures to hedge against an interest rate decline or capitalize on an increase in the futures price.
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Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Futures Education

Financial Futures

Congress has authorized futures trading in financially based commodities called financial futures. Financial futures are contracts whose underlying products are financial instruments such as U.S. Treasury bonds or the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
Like other futures, a financial futures contract represents a specific quantity of the underlying financial instrument at a market-determined price. They can be settled via cash or physical delivery, depending on the instrument. Like other futures contracts, the prices are determined by supply and demand - the supply of investment capital and the demand for a secure investment.
Today more than ever, financial markets are tied to a global framework. Money not only flows from sector to sector within the United States but from country to country as well, as investors constantly seek out investments with the highest rate of return and the lowest risk. It does not matter whether those investments are in the U.S. or China - money will flow to the place that offers the greatest return with the least amount of risk.
Financial futures are a unique breed of futures contract and face a challenge fitting the mold of a commodity when it comes to the underlying "product." Traditionally, the underlying asset is a consumable product like wheat, corn or silver. When it comes to financial futures, the underlying product is not always tangible, making it difficult to "deliver" at expiration. In some cases the underlying commodity simply changes form or ownership and in other cases it is settled in cash.

Interest Rate Futures

interest ratesThere is a saying in the financial markets that "interest rates rule the world." Debt and its corresponding interest rate touch every aspect of financial life from the cost of buying a home to the performance of the S&P 500 index.
As a general rule, when interest rates go up economic progress slows down. That means when the cost of financial notes or loans increases, there is a corresponding increase in the cost of doing business. When the cost of doing business goes up across an entire nation, profits and economic growth generally decrease. The opposite is also true, when interest rates fall, it becomes easier to do business and growth picks up.
In a sense, interest rates determine the cost of money. When you go to the bank for a loan, the banker will take an application to first determine if you are worthy of a loan, and to set an appropriate interest rate. The interest rate that you pay is part of the cost of using the bank's money. Since loans are a major ingredient to any business, the cost of money has a significant impact on the ultimate success of a business.
In the business world, profit is calculated by a simple formula: income minus expense equals profit (income - expense = profit). Interest payments fall onto the expense side of the equation. So if interest payments increase, the profitability of the business, all things being equal, drops. Similarly, if interest payments decrease, the profitability of the business will go up.
This same concept applies to the profitability of your personal finances as well. How much of your mortgage is interest payments? A drop in interest rates from 7% to 6% on a $200,000 home represents a $129 per month increase in monthly cash flow. Think of what that could do your finances. Now, think of what could happen in an economy if everyone had a $129 increase per month. The economy would grow!
Like all goods and services, interest rates are determined by supply and demand. A greater demand for money is likely to drive up the price of money, reflected in the interest rate. Demand for money depends on factors such as the nation's economic health, the level of government borrowing to support budgets, and societal perception of inflation.
A nation's central bank is the pivotal cog in setting interest rates. Since most of the country's financial institutions borrow funds from the central bank, the central bank has a great power in controlling both the supply of money and the most basic interest rate in the economy, the federal funds rate. The central bank uses interest rates to influence the economy rates are adjusted upward in an attempt to slow the economy, while rates are adjusted downward to stimulate the economy.
Commercial loans are the retail market of the lending industry. There is little if any standardization in the retail loan market - that is, retail loans are structured with varying maturity dates and interest rates are determined by the credit worthiness of the consumer.

Government Loan Market

The other side of the loan market is the government loan market. The government is one of the largest lenders and borrowers in the economy. As opposed to the retail loan market, the government loan market is highly standardized both in terms of time to maturity and interest rate. The government sets its own interest rates through the Federal Reserve System.
There are two factors common to every government loan: time, also called maturity, and interest rate, which is also called the coupon rate. Today's interest rate market is broken down into short- and long-term time frames. The short-term markets are comprised of 2-year U.S. Treasury Notes, Eurodollars, 30-day Fed Funds, and 1-month LIBOR futures. The long-term market includes the 5-year and 10-year U.S. Treasury Notes, as well as Bonds extending out to 30 years.
Before we get too deep into the analysis of the interest rate market, let's make sure we understand the underlying "commodities" that comprise the interest rate futures market.
Interest rate futures are generally based on government loan instruments. The following describes the most common interest rate futures.

Treasury Bills – 3 & 6 Months

Three- and six-month Treasury Bills are the shortest-term instruments issued by the Treasury Department. Treasury bills (or T-bills) have maturities of one year or less. T-bills do not pay interest prior to maturity; instead they are sold at a discount to the par value, where the par value is the total amount paid back to the lender at the expiration of the loan. If the par value of a 1 year T-bill is $1,000, it may be sold for $900 giving the buyer a positive yield of 11% (the loan was purchase at 900 sold for 1,000, giving the buyer a 11% ROI). Many regard Treasury bills as the least risky investment available to U.S. investors. Treasury bills are sold by single price auctions held weekly. Banks and financial institutions, especially primary dealers, are the largest purchasers of T-bills. Futures trading in T-bills has decreased dramatically recently and is not as liquid as other interest rate futures.

Treasury Notes – 2, 5 & 10 Years

Next in longevity are the Treasury notes with maturities of 2, 5 and 10 years. Treasury notes are issued in denominations of $100 to $1,000,000 and the treasury pays interest on the notes every six months. The 10-year Treasury note has become the security most frequently quoted when discussing the performance of the U.S. government-bond market and is used to convey the market's take on longer-term macroeconomic expectations.

Treasury Bonds – 10 to 30 Years

Treasury bonds are the longest-term instruments issued by the Treasury Department with maturities of 10 to 30 years. Like Treasury notes, interest on Treasury bonds is paid semiannually. The secondary market in Treasury bonds is highly liquid, so the yield on the most recent T-bond offering was commonly used as a proxy for long-term interest rates in general. This role has largely been taken over by the 10-year note, as the size and frequency of long-term bond issues declined significantly in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Eurodollar

The Eurodollar is simply a U.S. dollar that has been deposited in a bank outside the U.S., typically in London. The Eurodollar market began in the late 1950s as a way to avoid domestic banking regulations and has grown significantly since. In fact the 3-month Eurodollar is currently the most actively traded futures contract in the world.

1-Month LIBOR

One final instrument that we need to mention is the 1-month LIBOR, which uses the nominal bank deposits as its underlying "commodity." The 1-month LIBOR tracks the interest rates of the deposit of 3 million Eurodollars. This relatively new futures market provides vehicles for hedging short-term interest rate exposure, effectively filling a niche in the spectrum of interest rate risk.
One method traders use to help understand the trend of the interest rate futures market is to compare the interest rates of long-term loans (government bonds) to the interest rates of short-term loans (Eurodollars and LIBOR).

The Yield Curve

The relationship between the interest rates of short- and long-term loans is called the yield curve and interest rate traders look for a set relationship in the yield curve to help them determine the direction of future interest rates.
yield-curve.jpgIn general financial terms, an investment's yield is also called its rate of return. Generally, investments with a longer term have a higher yield. This is because lenders want to be paid for the opportunity cost of lending money. The longer the time frame the greater the opportunity cost. Investments with a shorter term generally have a smaller yield. Again, the opportunity cost of lending over a short period of time is not as great as over the long term.
If you to compare the yield of each of the previous instruments by plotting time on a horizontal axis and yield on a vertical axis, you would typically see a positive sloping line or curve. The yield on the 1-month LIBOR would be smaller than 30-year Treasury bond yields, and Treasury note yields would fall somewhere in between. The following graph shows the comparable yields of different instruments and is commonly referred to as the yield curve.
When short-term yields are above the long-term yields, the curve is described as being inverted. This phenomenon happens when investors believe that the long-term rates are about to fall sharply. In an effort to lock in high paying interest rates, they buy up bonds, pushing bond prices higher and causing yields to drop.

Bond Prices and Interest Rate Yield

Before we go further, there is an important relationship that you need to understand between the price of a bond and its yield: bond prices and bond yields are inversely correlated. When bond prices go up, yields come down. When bond prices go down, yields go up. This is important to understand because interest rate futures express the value, or price, of the underlying instruments - NOT the interest rate or yield.
If you expect interest rates to increase and want to profit from the pending move, you would want to short interest rate futures. Rates are going up: prices of bills, notes and bonds will go down. Similarly, if you expect interest rates to drop, you would buy interest rate futures.
Interest rate futures contracts are traded using a price index, which is derived by subtracting the futures' interest rate from 100.00. For instance, an interest rate of 5.00 percent translates to an index price of 95.00 (100.00 - 5.00 = 95.00).
The design of most interest rate futures contracts features a minimum price move, or "tick" of 0.01. Gains or losses can be easily calculated by taking the total movement in ticks and multiplying it by the tick value. For the first four quarterly and two serial Eurodollar and T-bill contracts, as well as all LIBOR contracts, the minimum tick is .005 and the tick value is $12.50. Thus a price move of from 95.005 to 95.01 would mean a gain of 1 tick or $12.50 for the long position and a loss of 1 tick or $12.50 for a short position.
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