Currencies all over the world, every single year, go down and down in value, and that’s why every single year prices of goods and services go up. The money in your pocket or in your bank is effectively worth less and less each year. Your money is now buying way less than what it would have bought you 100 years ago, whereas an amount of gold bought a 100 years ago would now buy you way more.

Gold only cost $34 per ounce back in’70 and now, in 2009, it has hit a record price of $1150 per ounce. Gold investors have made huge profits over these past few years – just last year gold could be purchased at $800. That’s a huge 30% increase in just 1 year alone. As for the future, Citigroup, USB and other big investment firms have predicted gold prices to hit over $2000 an ounce in the very near future.

You have two main investment opportunities as far as gold is concerned – bars or coins. Gold bars are what most people think of when they think of gold and whilst they are a great investment, the upfront cost for them puts them beyond the reach of most investors. Gold coins on the other hand are valued in the same way, are an equally good investment opportunity, yet are much more accessible and affordable.

You can purchase gold coins through either a specialist local coin store, or an online gold coin specialist. There are plenty of both around, and you can find them through a few simple Google searches. Always seek reviews and testimonials before making any purchases though, and ask for certification that proves that what you are buying is real gold. Don’t be afraid about asking a lot of questions; it is only natural and reputable sellers should always be more than willing to answer them for you.

One final point, just in case you’re not yet convinced about the prospect of investing in gold – recent reports have shown that a $1000 investment, made in’70, in rare gold coins, would now be valued at nearly $60,000.

For more information on the best places to buy gold coins visit http://www.gold-coins.com.au, where you can also see the latest gold price.

MLPs are public entities that trade on public exchanges. An MLP issues shares that trade on an exchange just like a company stocks that trades on an exchange. You can invest in an MLP by buying its shares on an exchange. The shares that an MLP issues are called Units and the investors who own them are known as Unit Holders.

Now most of the MLPs trade on the New York Stock Exchange. A few MLPs also trade on the NASDAQ and the AMEX. When you invest in an MLP, you are essentially investing in public partnership. There are tax advantages to investing in MLP. Unlike regular corporations, an MLP is only taxed once. Because of Congressional Legislation, any MLP that derives 90% or more of its income from the production, distribution and transformation of commodities qualifies for this tax exempt scheme. You must be curious how this tax advantage works out.

There is a tax exemption on MLPs. You must be curious how this tax advantage works out. Because of Congressional Legislation, any MLP that derives 90% or more of its income from the production, distribution and transformation of commodities qualifies for this tax exempt scheme.

This tax advantage gives an MLP competitive advantage as compared to other corporations when competing for assets. This means a huge advantage for an MLP. Now an MLP is run by a General Partner (GP). In most cases, the majority of these GPs in MLPs are other corporate entities setup with the specific purpose of running an MLP.

The role of a GP is very important in an MLP. You as an investor in the assets of MLP might have a very limited role or say in its running. You can think of yourself as a sleeping partner in the MLP. In most cases, the majority of these GPs in MLPs are other corporate entities setup with the specific purpose of running an MLP. This tax advantage gives an MLP competitive advantage as compared to other corporations when competing for assets. This means a huge advantage for an MLP. Now an MLP is run by a General Partner (GP). But you don’t have to worry much about the GP. Most GPs do a good job of running the MLP as it is in their financial interests. GPs know that if they don’t make sound management and investment decisions, most of the investors my eventually deicide to divest themselves from the units of the MLP. Now you must know as a limited partner in an MLP, you have limited voting rights. This means when you invest in an MLP, you are giving away the keys of ownership to the GP. This means you are out of the decision making in an MLP.

Investing in MLP units can give you quarterly cash flows as well as appreciation of the unit price. An MLP is obligated to distribute all available cash back to its unit holders on a quarterly basis, so you will be getting a quarterly income from your units. Secondly as the MLP expands and grows overtime, its units may give you capital gain as well.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading ! Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.

You should be aware of the power of crude oil in the global economy. Crude oil trades around the world. Crude oil is one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world. Every day perhaps billions of dollars worth of crude oil gets traded. You must be thinking that crude oil contracts get traded between the oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, Nigeria and so on with non oil countries. Now to your surprise, New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is considered to be the hub of crude oil trading in the world.

Light Sweet Crude is the high grade, low sulfur content crude oil that is more easily refined than the thicker oils. Now crude oil coming out of some of the Venezuelan and Saudi Arabian Oil wells contains high sulfur content and requires special refineries that only process the high grade sulfur crude oil. On the other hand Iraqi oil is close to the ground and has very low sulfur content. Ever heard of Light Sweet Crude? Sulfur content in oil is considered to be very important. Lower the sulfur content in crude oil, the easier and less costly will be its refining. The higher the sulfur content in the crude oil, the more expensive its refining will be.

At NYMEX, you can trade crude oil futures contracts based on Dubai Crude Oil, Brent North Sea Crude Oil, differential between the light sweet crude oil and the four domestic grades of crude oil and a few more. Oil options are also traded on NYMEX. Now Dubai Crude Oil Futures contract is very popular. So, NYMEX offers you a host of futures as well as options contracts based on crude oil.

A barrel of oil contains 42 US gallons. Crude oil is traded in US dollars per barrel. In other words, the price of crude oil is quoted in US dollars per barrel. Now trading at NYMEX can be open outcry during the regular treading hours as well as electronic web based trading after hours.

Open outcry or electronic, it doesn’t make a difference to you. Most of the traders now day trade futures contracts from the comfort of their homes. Open outcry trading takes place between 10: 00 AM EST to 2:30 PM EST. After hour trading takes place on NYMEX ACCESSS system, an internet based trading platform starting at 3:15 PM EST Monday through Thursday and ending at 9:30 AM EST the following day. Sunday trading starts at 6:00 PM EST.

Open outcry trading takes place between 10: 00 AM EST to 2:30 PM EST. After hour trading takes place on NYMEX ACCESSS system, an internet based trading platform starting at 3:15 PM EST Monday through Thursday and ending at 9:30 AM EST the following day. Sunday trading starts at 6:00 PM EST. It’s always good to visit the website of the exchange to know more. You can visit the website of NYMEX and read a more about the crude oil trading that takes place at that exchange. Trading oil markets requires constant vigil on your part in monitoring the global supply and demand of crude oil. You will need to know which country supplies how much and what the productions quotas are for the time being. This is pretty scary stuff. Now you must know this thing that real companies have huge trading desks with hundreds of traders all betting on the price of oil. Oil markets are about real people trying to figure out how much oil they would need in the next few months to years to run their businesses regardless of whether they are suppliers or users. Trading crude oil futures contracts require you to be in tune with the market sentiment. Trends in crude oil market don’t develop suddenly and they don’t reverse suddenly. This is something good for you as a crude oil futures trader.

As a crude oil futures trader you will need to know how to handle the seasonal cycle in the oil market as well as the weekly cycle. Now every week usually on Wednesday the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) releases their weekly supply data reports. If you want to trade crude oil futures than you should know Mark Soberman! What you need to do is click on the link on the left that says FREE EVIL GENIUS TRADING KIT. This trading kit is from Mark Soberman. Don’t worry its 100% safe and legal. You only need to come out of your comfort zone. Download the free kit and find a unique method to trade the crude oil futures! When a trend in the crude oil market develops, it may last for a few months to a year. It all depends on the global supply and demand situation of the crude oil. If you can spot a trend in the crude oil market in its early stage and ride it till its reversal, you can make a good profit. Now, just keep this in mind that crude oil prices are highly susceptible to global geopolitical situation and react violently to any political global uncertainty.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading ! Don’t reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.

Trading in energy futures is centralized at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the world’s largest physical commodity futures exchange. NYMEX trades futures and options contracts for crude oil, natural gas, heating oil, gasoline, coal, electricity and propane. NYMEX is also home to trading in metals. Trading in NYMEX is conducted in two divisions: 1) The NYMEX Division and 2) The COMEX Division. For smaller traders NYMEX offers e-mini contracts for oil and natural gas that also trades on the GLOBEX network of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

For smaller traders NYMEX offers e-mini contracts for oil and natural gas that also trades on the GLOBEX network of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Trading in NYMEX is conducted in two divisions: 1) The NYMEX Division and 2) The COMEX Division.

Sometimes the rise in oil prices leads to the increase in interest rates through the bond market and the actions of central banks and the other times the opposite happens. Rise in oil prices if often inflationary. As a trader, you should know this fact that oil price rise often tends to slow down the economy and lower retail sales as well as consumer confidence with lower traffic on the highways.

High oil prices are considered to be inflationary and tend to slow down the economy. Low oil prices are always considered good for the economy. As a trader, you should know this fact that oil price rise often tends to slow down the economy and lower retail sales as well as consumer confidence with lower traffic on the highways. Sometimes the rise in oil prices leads to the increase in interest rates through the bond market and the actions of central banks and the other times the opposite happens. Rise in oil prices if often inflationary. Now all these effects have a time lag factor built in them. If the crude oil prices increase or jump suddenly like that in’73, it takes time for the increased oil prices to start affecting the other factors in the economy.

No new major discovery of an oil well has been made in the past two decades. This means that the supply of oil is dwindling while the global demand for oil is on the rise. Now you need to understand the Peak Oil Concept. Peak oil is the concept that the world oil production has peaked and the production of oil will never be as high again. Oil prices and the interest rates generally move in the same direction when viewed over long periods of time.

In any case, most of the experts now agree that in the next 10-20 years, the oil production will peak and after that it will start declining. Now you should keep these facts in the background of your mind as a trader.

Now this means that in the short run, following oil prices can be a highly profitable strategy. Your aim as a trader is to make quick profits by trading the price fluctuations in the oil market. So the important facts that you need to keep in the back of your mind while trading oil is: 1) Demand fluctuates but supply of oil is finite. 2) The world runs on oil and any threat to the supply of oil often leads to rising prices. As an oil trader your primary goal is to consider the effects of events on the supply of oil and correlate this effect with your charts.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. Trade Dow Futures . Learn Commodity Trading ! Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.

Always remember, trend is your friend. Trading in the direction of the trend is the best trading strategy. Never try to trade against the trend. So determining the primary direction of the trend is highly importanct for you. Primary trend is the direction of the market that offers the least resistance forward making money. When you follow a primary trend in a bull market you look for strong stocks and in a bear market you look for stocks showing weaknesses. The most important thing that you should in a market is its primary trend. In order to determine the primary direction of the trend, you need to draw correct trendlines. This is an art that traders learn with experience. A wrong trendline means lost trades. You use the following tools to determine the primary trend! Knowing the primary trend and trading in its direction increases your chances of making money. So how do you find the primary trend and what tools you need to determine the primary trend?

Trendlines: Knowing how to draw and use trendlines gives you an excellent start on any trade. To correctly draw a rising trendline on the chart, start with the lowest low on the chart and connect it to the lowest low preceding the highest high in the chart without bothering about the prices between the two points. Similarly to draw the down trendline, draw a line connecting the highest high on the chart to the highest high preceding the lowest low of the chart without passing through the prices between the two prices.

Moving Averages: Moving averages are sues to smooth out the market’s trend over a given period of time and serve as an important support and resistance levels. Support level is the price where the prices stop falling and the buyers step in overcoming the selling pressure. A break in the support level is an indication that more weakness may be ahead.

A break above the resistance level is an indication that the market is going strong. Resistance level is the price where prices stop rising and the sellers overcome the buying pressure. You should always keep this rule in mind that you should be out of the market by selling as soon as the key support is broken. On the other hand you should buy into the market as soon as the key resistance is broken.

Oscillators: Oscillators are technical tools whose movements up or below a certain level give you an important trading signal. What is more important to know is the fact that oscillators produce useful mathematical data that can help you tell whether the market is overbought or oversold and whether the momentum of the primary trend in the market is still strong or there is a potential change in the primary trend ahead? Two important oscillators that you should be familiar with are RSI and MACD. Oscillators are graphic depictions of points derived from the mathematical formulas that are plotted below the price charts. Knowing these mathematical formulas is not important as a trader. MACD is a highly popular technical indicator and is widely used by the traders in divergence trading.

Bollinger Bands: Bollinger bands are calculated by plotting points one or more standard deviations above and below the 20-day moving average. However, you can calculate Bollinger Bands with any moving average. Bollinger bands are also known as volatility bands or envelopes. Bollinger bands give you visual evidence when the market has travelled too far in any one direction.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. Try these cash printing Forex Signals from heaven. First trade on your Forex Demo Account! You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.

Most individual and retail traders do not have the patience for position trading. Retail traders dont have the stamina to stay longer than a few weeks in a trade. Position trading may mean keeping a trade open from one week to a month to as long as a year or possibly more in the fast moving world of forex trading.

Only those position traders who have the patience to stick with the trend and let their profits run are generally able to capitalize on these longer term price moves. This is somewhat unfortunate as most retail traders dont have that patience. Position trading can be one of the most profitable styles of trading due to the fact that many currencies tend to trend well on long term basis.

Position trading due to its long term time frame tends to rely heavily on fundamental analysis along with longer term technical analysis. This is unlike day trading or swing trading that relies almost exclusively on technical analysis due to the short time frames.

As a forex trader, you must be aware that there are two type of analysis that is done to analyze the market forces, fundamental and technical. Fundamental analysis concerns itself with the economic forces that drive the major market movements. Fundamental analysis is geared towards longer term price forecasts rather than the swing to swing movements that are primarily the focus of technical analysis.

These economic forces include interest rates, inflation, GDP, unemployment and help to determine the value of the national currency overtime. The general direction of change in the currency value over the long run is what interests the position traders.

Position trading and trend trading both follow almost similar approaches. However, position traders often rely on fundamentals along with the technicals; trend traders are almost exclusively technical in nature.

Carry trading can be considered a form of position trading as carry traders hold interest positive positions to benefit from both regular interest payments and exchange rate profits. How do position traders decide which position to take?

Fundamental analysis exclusively! Position traders establish positions on currency pairs according to their views and experience based on fundamental analysis. Forex position traders weigh strength and weaknesses in currencies by taking various fundamental and technical factors into account.

Lets suppose that a position trader performs fundamental analysis on economic conditions surrounding the major currencies and is of the view that the US Dollar is indicating fundamental weakness going forward.

At the same time, the position trader thinks that the Euro is showing significant fundamental strength going forward. This opinion may have been formed on the state of inflationary pressure in the economy, the recent rate of economic growth, comments by the Federal Reserve Board (FED) Chairman or the President of European Central Bank (ECB), the state of ongoing recession and so on.

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try Strignano’s Forex Signals free. Discover a revolutionary Forex Robot Trading System!