Prius Next On The Recall List

Feb 8th

Posted by Investor in Financial News

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Toyota Prius (ZVW30)

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With so many cars being recalled by Toyota, it makes you wonder how they passed quality control.  Toyota vehicles were known for quality and they held their value well.  I think that Toyota owners will still stick with Toyota through the recalls.

Toyota President apologizes… again, calls situation a “crisis” *UPDATE

Fifteen days after Toyota announced a recall of 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. for sticking accelerator pedals, the company’s president and grandson of its founder made a formal apology at an evening news conference in Japan on Friday night (early morning EST). Akio Toyoda has been largely silent during the last two weeks as his company struggles to contain the fallout from recalls affecting over nine million vehicles on multiple continents. The only other time he’s spoken on record was during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last Friday when he told a Japanese interviewer, “I am deeply sorry.” What’s the reason for today’s remarks? Toyoda told the audience of press, “”I came out here today because I would not want our customers to spend the weekend wondering whether their cars are safe.”

The company president also announced that a committee would be created to look at Toyota’s quality issues and address them going forward, something his predecessor, Katsuake Watanabe, also did back in 2006. Finally, in regards to braking issues with the 2010 Prius revealed yesterday, Toyoda said the company would soon announce how it plans to address them. Despite reports coming out of Japan to the contrary, there has been no official confirmation from Toyota that the new Prius will be recalled. Both the Japanese and U.S. governments have also opened investigations on the Prius and Toyota has pledged its cooperation.

We also learned yesterday of brake issues in the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Mercury Milan Hybrid after Consumer Reports experienced a sudden loss of braking power in a Fusion Hybrid and contacted the automaker. The issue sounds similar to what some owners are experiencing in the 2010 Prius, though we’ve only heard of this one instance and Ford has already responded with a TSB to repair the issue with a software upgrade.    –more

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Forex Straddle Trades

Feb 5th

Posted by Investor in Forex Trading

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In FOREX, the straddle trade is a simple  yet popular strategy that can be applied in different scenarios from news to the weekend.  I found a few videos that explain the strategies in different ways.

This first one is called the power straddle which is used to straddle the news.


This next video is for weekend straddle trades.  This is one my brother loves to use on the GBP/JPY.

There is a lot of risk in a straddle trade because of widening spreads so be sure to practice for a while before you take the trade live.  When you do start live only trade the smalls lot available a few times before you increase your lot size to match your money management.

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ADP Employment Report: They’re Hiring Again!

Feb 4th

Posted by Investor in Financial News

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Automatic Data Processing, LLC

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Who would have thought that a loss of 22,000 jobs last month was good news.  The good news is that it is the smallest job loss in two years and midsized companies had a net increase of 9,000 jobs.  Are we on the road to recovery? Too soon to tell, but this is a step in the right direction.

ADP employment report: Midsize firms start hiring again

After leading the charge in laying off workers during most of the recession, they added a net 9,000 workers last month, the ADP National Employment Report said Wednesday. That’s the first employment growth among companies with 50 to 499 workers in two years.

Overall, the economy still lost 22,000 jobs between December and January, according to the ADP report. But that was the smallest decline since February 2008.

“Growth of overall private employment is on the verge of turning positive,”Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, said in a release. The company puts out the monthly report, based on private payroll data, in partnership with Automatic Data Processing. On Friday, the US Labor Department will release the official unemployment figures for January.

Midsized businesses still have a long way to go. They have lost nearly 3.2 million since the recession began, according to ADP. Nationally, these firms employ more than 42 million Americans, far more than large companies (17.8 million) and nearly as many as small businesses (48 million).    –more

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Toyota Motor Company Falls 16%, Boosts Ford

Feb 3rd

Posted by Investor in Financial News

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ToyotaThe Toyota recall has drastically hurt business for them, but helps boost business for other car manufacturers. The question now is, will Toyota be able to recover from the all the bad press surrounding the recall?  I think so.

Toyota Motor Company falls 16%, FoMoCo up 25%

How do you know if a recall has affected your sales? If you find yourself below the Chrysler Group in sales performance. That’s exactly what happened to Toyota Motor Company in January 2010, as the early effects of its sticking pedal recall sank sales 16 percent versus the same month last year. And the recall was only announced on January 21, directly affecting only about a third of the month’s selling days. We’ll be watching closely to see if Toyota can recover those lost sales in February, which may depend on the outcome of two House hearings scheduled to investigate how its recalls have been handled.

Ford Motor Company, meanwhile, continues to ride a wave of positive press and industry accolades to higher sales. Its group rose sales some 25 percent last month to beat all auto-making companies. Sales for the Ford brand itself rose 26 percent by volume alone. General Motors also has something to smile about, as Chevrolet roared back with sales up 36 percent and sales overall (including non-core brands that are still clearing out inventory) that jumped 14 percent.

Perhaps the single most surprising result is Kia, which for months has stood atop the sales performance charts with fellow Korean brand Hyundai and Subaru. While those two continued their winning ways, up 24 and 28 percent respectively, Kia sales remained flat. That said, there were only 24 selling days in January 2010 versus 26 in January 2009, so Kia did sell more vehicles per day in January than it did last year.    –more

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Obama Budget: Spend More To Reduce The Deficit

Feb 2nd

Posted by Investor in Financial News

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El Presidente Barry Hussein Obama - The November Socialist Revolution!When I hear the term “spending freeze” I think no more additional spending, but apparently there is a different definition used by Obama.  To him it means no additional funding to certain projects, but other programs may continue to spend.

I just don’t see how increasing spending by over $3 trillion will help cut the national debt. To me spending more money means you go deeper in debt. Does the government have a different set of mathematical rules?

The Obama Budget: Higher Taxes, Higher Spending and More Debt

President Barack Obama will submit a $3.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2011 to Congress today. One might hope that given last year’s $1.4 trillion budget deficit was an all-time high and the President promised a spending “freeze” in last week’s State of the Union, this budget might signal a change in direction from the White House. No such luck. President Obama’s new budget is full of billions of dollars in new spending for failed government programs, higher taxes on American families and businesses, and deficit spending for as far as the eye can see.

At the very least, the budget document President Obama is submitting today exposes his spending “freeze” promise for the fraud that it is. As outlined last week, the administration would halt spending increases for only a $447 billion sliver of our total budget, with a total of $15 billion to be saved. That is less than half a percent off of last year’s spending. Worse, this isn’t even an across-the-board spending freeze; it is an aggregate one. So “spending cuts” in parts of the budget are immediately channeled to others. For example, even though the federal government does not need any money for the Census next year, President Obama counts the $5 billion spent this year as a “spending cut” that can be immediately spent on other government programs, such as a16% increase in Department of Education funding, a 6.8% increase in Department of Energy funding, and increases for ineffective Health and Human Services programs like Head Start and sex education.

Given the best case scenario, the most the White House hopes to save from this supposed spending “freeze” is$15 billion. And that is easily dwarfed by just the $100 billion President Obama wants for his Economic Stimulus II plan. Then there are the tax hikes, including higher taxes on families earning more than $250,000 and a brand new tax on financial institutions to pay for the failed automobile union bailout.

And what is the end result of all of President Obama’s new taxes and spending? A record national debt. According to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the United States will post a $1.556 trillion deficit in fiscal 2010, which the Obama administration claims will be reduced to $1.267 trillion in fiscal 2011, thanks to their budget. Given this administration’s budget forecasting record, however, expect that final deficit number to go up. The Obama administration now forecasts $5.08 trillion in debt over the next five years; that is 35% more debt than they forecast just 12 months ago.

A common sense budget would move our country in a much different direction. For starters, the remaining TARP and stimulus funds should both be rescinded. Next, instead of the President’s fungible “aggregate” spending freeze, tough hard spending caps should be enacted. Finally, Congress should disclose the massive unfunded obligations of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; put those programs on long-term budgets; and enact the necessary entitlement and programmatic reforms that can keep government within those limits. –more

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Forex Strategies That Work

Feb 1st

Posted by Investor in Forex Trading

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Perspectiva índices S&P500, Nasdaq Composite, Dow Jones Transportation, Dow Jones Industrials, Nasdaq 100 y cambio Euro-DólarTrading Forex can be difficult especially with how fast the markets can move.  This article gives a little tip into how to base your trading.

Forex Trading Strategies That Work – Understanding the “Fundamentals”

By Daniel Webb

Foreign exchange (”Forex”) trading is a complicated business.  The foreign exchange trader must take into account (amongst other things) what may be called the “fundamental” factors of a country’s economy (i.e. the qualitative factors that may have a bearing on its currency’s exchange rate).  So, what are these “fundamental” factors?  They include political positions and developments (such as changes to a country’s government’s economic policy) and relevant decisions made by a country’s central bank. They also include any relevant pieces of economic news affecting the country in question.  The Forex trader needs to not only be aware of this information at an early stage, but to effectively “second guess” how the money markets will react to it.  It would probably be unwise for traders (even those with considerable market experience) to ignore these fundamental elements and to just base their market decisions on technical analyses.

Approximately three trillion dollars is traded each day on the foreign exchange market (on those days that it is operating), making it the world’s most liquid market.  FX trading is vastly different to stock trading. (For example, in the Forex market, currencies are “paired” in that when one is bought, the other is sold, and vice versa.)  As such, investors may find FX trading to be a useful means of diversifying their investment portfolios.

A number of factors make the Forex market unique (in addition to its liquidity, mentioned above).  These include the fact that the market operates 24 hours a day, 6 days a week, and that traders in the market typically generate low profit margins (when compared with other markets).

The Forex market has changed quite dramatically since participation was opened up in the 1970’s;  now, it is not just the banks, but a range of institutions and investors (both large and small) that routinely participate in the market.  If you do choose to operate in this market, you would be well advised to enroll in a reputable course to learn the nitty gritty of the complicated world of currency trading, find out about the various different ways that this could be done and to consistently apply Forex trading strategies that work.

The important factors that a Forex trader needs to consider when conducting a fundamental analysis of a country’s economy include that country’s GDP, employment rate, trade balance and most recent budget.  Much of this information is publicly available on the Internet.

The results of a fundamental analysis could affect a trader’s course of action in a number of ways. For example, a trader may use fundamental analysis to determine or predict the direction and extent to which a given country’s official interest rate may change. Based on this analysis, the trader may sell the country’s currency (if he/she predicts interest rates will fall), or buy the country’s currency (if he/she predicts interest rates will rise).  Indeed, large investors may take this process a step further by seeking to effectively influence the value of a country’s currency. For example, such investors could fund industrial development in a country (when that country’s currency is weak) and subsequently sell back that country’s currency at a higher rate (when the currency is strong).

In an overall sense, if a Forex trader understands how to conduct a fundamental economic analysis, he or she will be in a much better position to know when to exit an “over inflated” economy before its financial “bubble” bursts.

Learn more about Forex trading for beginner, intermediate and advanced traders and grab some free ebooks and e-courses at http://www.savvyfinancialtraders.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_Webb
http://EzineArticles.com/?Forex-Trading-Strategies-That-Work—Understanding-the-Fundamentals&id=3476230

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The Apple iPad is Released

Jan 28th

Posted by Investor in Financial News

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Apple iPad Tablet ConceptApple unveiled the iPad yesterday and there was a lot of hype surrounding the release further solidifying the fact that Apple knows how to do PR.  As for the device it is a cool piece of technology, but that is about it.  There are some fun things you can do to waste time and you can browse the Internet.  They even include a calendar.

Starting at around $500 it seems a little pricey for what it does, or should I say what it doesn’t do.  There is no camera and no phone.

Apple Introduces the iPad

Looking dapper in jeans and a black mock turtle-neck, Steve Jobs took the stage today and officially introduced his iPad to the world. As we’ve been seeing and hearing from so many rumors as of late, it appears as if the iPhone got the super-size treatment, complete with a home button.

At only half an inch thin, and sporting a 9.7″ screen, the iPad weighs in at only one and a half pounds. It’s powered by Apple’s very own chip – the A4 – ans “screams” at 1GHz. Available with 16, 32, or 64GB flash storage, and has 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. Oh, and you can run it for 10 hours (a month in standby!) while watching videos. Wow! So far, no mention of any cellular carrier connectivity.

If you’re a current iPhone user, much of the interaction with the iPad looks to be very familiar. For instance, tilting the iPad gives you portrait or landscape viewing — both orientations support a lovely full screen keyboard. It also appears that the app icons on the “home screen” change orientation too.    –more

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Berkshire Hathaway Will Enter The S&P 500

Jan 27th

Posted by Investor in Financial News

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Warren Buffett speaking to a group of students...

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This is big news as it Berkshire Hathaway will be replacing Northern Santa Fe on the S&P 500.

Buffett & Berkshire Snag S&P 500 Spot

It has been speculated that this may occur, but few were expecting this news this soon. Warren Buffett has been notified by Standard & Poor’s Indexes that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) will replace Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) in the S&P 500.

The change is still on a date to be determined.

The total float will have to be calculated out, but this will not likely be the full float nor the full market capitalization of Berkshire Hathaway that will be included in the S&P 500 Index because of the Warren Buffett and Buffett Trust stakes.

Berkshire Hathaway will also join the S&P 100 on a date to be determined. The merger is expected to be completed in February. That is what the recent stock split did for investors. We still think Buffett should consider adopting a similar stock split for the A shares, although at a smaller ratio. The B-shares closed at $68.00 today and shares rose by over 7% to $73.05 on 777,347 after-hours shares as of 5:49 PM EST.

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Broken Wing Butterfly Options Strategy

Jan 26th

Posted by Investor in Options Trading

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The broken wing butterfly is one of the best options strategies I have ever learned about. If you do it right there is very little risk and a nice profit waiting for you.

The Butterfly vs. the Broken Wing Butterfly

Take a moment to think about this. If the spread is OTM the week of expiration (or expiration day) both spreads may expire worthless. The BWB was put on for a small credit so you will be profitable by a smidgen, whereas the traditional butterfly was put on for a debit and will result in a loss.

If the stock is at the first buy strike with a week to go until expiration the butterfly is up (in this example using today’’s prices and current volatility measurements) perhaps $0.05. The BWB, however, would be up $0.55.

If the stock is at the center strike the butterfly is still only up a smidgen because of the probability that the stock will close at the “sweet spot” and the furthest OTM is decaying. The BWB, however, is now trading for roughly half of its maximum value and perhaps half of the position can be taken off and the other half be played with.

If the stock is at the bottom strike roughly the same profit and loss will occur has the stock been at the top strike (using puts). Yes, if you allow the stock/index to fall through the bottom strike with puts (or go above the top strike with calls) you run the possibility of a loss if you do not adjust the position. The good news for those wanting to trade the BWB, though, is that everyday you can look at the position and determine where the area of maximum profitability is, and where you would theoretically start to lose money. With that knowledge before the fact you can trade the position accordingly.

I have to state a few things for clarity and your protection. The trade above was used for example purposes only and is not the best BWB I saw by any means. I used this as a good example, not as a good trade. Please do not trade off of this. This is not a recommendation to invest in any security or derivative. Also, though it is my opinion and favorite strategy to trade, it may not be the best strategy for you. I love this trade dearly, but if you do not understand it thoroughly I would strongly suggest staying away from it until you do learn how to trade it. Many market-maker friends I had on the floors made fortunes with minimal actual risk (compared to theoretical risk) trading these type of trades, but some novices lost fortunes mimicking them not knowing what they were doing themselves. If you like them, get to know them well and they should serve you well. If you don’t understand the difference between theoretical option movement and real option movement or the strategy, then I suggest you get some more education no matter what strategy you trade.    –more

Here is a video explaining the Broken Wing Butterfly Options Trading Strategy.

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Obama Plan Could Hurt Hedge Funds

Jan 25th

Posted by Investor in Financial News

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President Elect Barack ObamaObama’s plan could have more drastic effects than previously thought. The plan places a limit on what banks can “own” as well as where they can invest. This article explores some of the side effects.

Hedge Funds Could Be Hurt by Obama’s Plan

Experts say that Obama’s plan to reform commercial banks could have an adverse impact on hedge funds and private equity. On Thursday, President Obama presented his plan to stop commercial banks and institutions owning banks from “owning, investing in or sponsoring” private equity and hedge funds which would remove a significant source for alternative asset funds. The President is aiming to curb risk in the banking sector but private equity firms and hedge funds may pay a penalty too.
“Although the full implications of Obama’s statement remain unclear, the potential disruption that such widespread reform could bring to the alternatives industry is significant, and could affect hundreds of banking institutions in the U.S. investing in alternatives,” Preqin’s Tim Friedman said.

If Europe follows the U.S. lead, it could have a big impact on powerful investment houses in the region’s banks. If restrictions are limited to the U.S. there would still be a knock-on effect in Europe and Asia because many U.S. banks also invest in funds in those regions.

Tim Syder, deputy managing partner of U.K. buyout firm Electra, said a similar move in Europe would have a greater affect at the top end of the private equity market.    –more

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