Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Page to check out
I thought you might be interested in this page.. You can view it at, http://www.marketsmediaonline.com/news_details.htm?wP=4&wPI=6&cN=4483
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
So You Think You Can Trade Stocks?
by wsmith8
What does it actually mean to trade stocks? This was a question that I had in high school that no one could suitably answer for me. Barring a great at-home financial education, high school is probably the first time most of us consider what it would be like to trade.
Most senior classes have an economics program that has a unit on the stock market, and some even allow students to trade stocks on paper. This was my experience, and I thought I had a great strategy to trade. However, there were many myths and misconceptions that needed to be dispelled before I could actually begin to trade stocks.
Many newcomers and novices are unaware of some basic facts about the markets, and are afraid to ask. Worse yet, supposed authority figures oftentimes don't even know the answers. This article is intended for anyone who would like to trade but has always been afraid to ask these simple questions.
What Does it Actually Mean to Trade Stocks?
In economics class, my plan to trade was simple, and "guaranteed" to make money (or so I thought). I found the "cheapest" (lowest price) stocks I could find in the newspaper - preferably around $1-2 per share - and looked for ones that were near their 52-week low. My strategy was to buy these stocks in huge volumes, and then sell them whenever they ticked up by a measly 1 percent.
For example, if I could buy 10,000 shares of a $1 stock, it would only have to go up $0.01 for me to make $100! Sure, the stock could go down, but what were the odds that a $1 stock would never see $1.01 again? I would just hold on to it until it hit $1.01 (or higher) and then sell. Oh, if only it were that simple to trade stocks.
There Are Commissions When You Trade Stocks - Both Buying and Selling
I knew that you were charged a commission to trade, and I factored this into my strategy. However, none of my teachers could tell me exactly what a "trade" was. I assumed that a trade was exchanging one stock for another - exchanging one thing for another is the definition of trade, after all.
But I had a sneaking suspicion that you might be charged to trade when you bought and when you sold, and of course, I was right.
Don't be confused by the term "trade." We normally don't think of making a purchase at the supermarket as "trading." We think of swapping an old TV for a newer bicycle at a garage sale as trading. But whenever you make a purchase, you are actually trading money for an item - and this is the definition of trading that matters when you want to trade stocks.
So the first flaw in my strategy was my underestimation of commissions. Instead of $15 roundtrip, it would be $30 to get in and out of my trade. That reduced my profit from $100 to $70. But it would get worse!
The Bid/Ask Spread When You Trade Stocks - The Silent Killer
When you trade, there is also something called the bid/ask spread. This means that the price to buy a stock is higher than the price to sell it at a given time. Market makers trade stocks from their own accounts in order to provide a fluid market, and this is their way of making money.
When you trade stocks of $1 companies, this can be a real killer. Since these companies are normally less liquid than big firms like Microsoft or GM, their bid/ask spreads are wider. So the $1 stock might cost you $1.03 to buy and yet you could only sell it for $0.97.
So much for my early plans to trade. Hopefully, this article answers some questions for you. If a strategy to trade stocks seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
About the Author
William Smith the author provides much more financial information on many subjects as well as the secret to his success in the market along with 5 Free power stock picks emailed daily so grab your Free subscription on his website at So You Think You Can Trade Stocks (All is Free)Article Source: Content for Reprint
Friday, September 25, 2009
HudBay Minerals rises after exploration report; oil stocks up
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Mining and energy issues climbed as prices for most resources rebounded Tuesday, leaving the Canadian equity benchmark at its highest level in nearly a year.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index /quotes/comstock/11t!isptx (CA:ISPTX 11,526, -59.90, -0.52%) jumped 161 points, or 1.4%, to 11,585.73, its best closing level since Oct. 1, 2008.
Base-metals miners led gains among materials stocks. There, HudBay Minerals /quotes/comstock/11t!hbm (CA:HBM 11.50, +0.27, +2.39%) leaped 21% -- its strongest percentage gain since January -- after the company said it has evidence of a major find of copper and gold at a drilling zone in Manitoba.
One of the drill holes in the copper and gold intersections "is among the best I have seen in nearly 40 years in the mining business, and the new copper-gold zone may be very significant," HudBay Chief Executive Peter Jones said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Teck Resources /quotes/comstock/11t!tck.b (CA:TCK.B 30.37, -0.15, -0.49%) rose 4.2%, and Inmet Mining /quotes/comstock/11t!imn (CA:IMN 58.58, -0.67, -1.13%) climbed 1.2%.
The shares were boosted by commodities prices, as gold futures climbed back above $1,010 an ounce. December silver gained 1.4%, and December copper advanced 2.1%. But October platinum fell 1.3% and December palladium fell about 1.1%.
On the energy front, October natural gas rose 0.9%, to $3.609 per million British thermal units. Crude-oil prices also were back above $71 a barrel after a loss of more than 3% in the previous session.
Read more...
Source
Comments:
The Bull market is here...Eventually.
Is there no turning back? Is recession done...for now.
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Mining and energy issues climbed as prices for most resources rebounded Tuesday, leaving the Canadian equity benchmark at its highest level in nearly a year.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index /quotes/comstock/11t!isptx (CA:ISPTX 11,526, -59.90, -0.52%) jumped 161 points, or 1.4%, to 11,585.73, its best closing level since Oct. 1, 2008.
Base-metals miners led gains among materials stocks. There, HudBay Minerals /quotes/comstock/11t!hbm (CA:HBM 11.50, +0.27, +2.39%) leaped 21% -- its strongest percentage gain since January -- after the company said it has evidence of a major find of copper and gold at a drilling zone in Manitoba.
One of the drill holes in the copper and gold intersections "is among the best I have seen in nearly 40 years in the mining business, and the new copper-gold zone may be very significant," HudBay Chief Executive Peter Jones said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Teck Resources /quotes/comstock/11t!tck.b (CA:TCK.B 30.37, -0.15, -0.49%) rose 4.2%, and Inmet Mining /quotes/comstock/11t!imn (CA:IMN 58.58, -0.67, -1.13%) climbed 1.2%.
The shares were boosted by commodities prices, as gold futures climbed back above $1,010 an ounce. December silver gained 1.4%, and December copper advanced 2.1%. But October platinum fell 1.3% and December palladium fell about 1.1%.
On the energy front, October natural gas rose 0.9%, to $3.609 per million British thermal units. Crude-oil prices also were back above $71 a barrel after a loss of more than 3% in the previous session.
Read more...
Source
Comments:
The Bull market is here...Eventually.
Is there no turning back? Is recession done...for now.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Trading Day: TSX has highest close of 2009 on rising growth prospects for Asia
By Gregory Thomas
Canadian stock markets staged a broad rally Tuesday, led by commodity stocks, after the Asian Development Bank said rising economic activity in China, India and Indonesia would push the region's growth to 3.9 per cent this year. Crude oil and natural gas, gold and base metals all made gains, helped by a sell-off in the U.S. dollar ahead of today's meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/TSX Composite index climbed 161.12 points, or 1.41 per cent, to 11,585.73, its highest close since Oct. 1. The the S&P/TSX Venture composite rose 16.63, or 1.3 per cent, to 1,281.63.
The price of gold climbed $10.60 to $1,015.50 US an ounce for the December contract, while October crude rose $1.84, or 2.6 per cent, to $71.55 US a barrel, and natural gas jumped 32 cents, or nine per cent, to $3.778 US per million Btu. December copper added 5.9 cents, or 2.1 per cent to $2.8645 US a pound, another factor pushing the Canadian dollar up 0.73 cents to 93.54 cents US, despite a pullback in Canadian retail sales in July, due partially to lower gas prices.
The oil patch was hot: Canadian Natural Resources, the second-largest Canadian natural gas producer, rose $2.72, or 3.7 per cent, to $76.64. Trinidad Drilling gained 25 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $6.75, while Penn West Energy Trust added 56 cents, or 3.7 per cent, to $15.78 and Pengrowth Energy Trust climbed 46 cents, or 4.7 per cent, to $10.22.
Traders who sold HudBay Minerals on Nov. 21 at $2.70 were left shaking their heads as shares shot up $1.93, or 20 per cent, to $11.30. HudBay drilled 34.54 metres of grading 13.35 grams per tonne of gold, 27.98 grams per tonne of silver, 5.33 per cent copper and 0.35 per cent zinc at its Lalor project, 15 kilometres from the company's copper concentrator at Snow Lake, Manitoba. HudBay CEO Peter Jones said the core sample is "among the best I have seen in nearly 40 years in the mining business."
Vancouver-based Capstone Mining, rose 40 cents, or 14 per cent, to $3.25, after reporting drill results that further defined the Minto North deposit, 600 metres northwest of its existing Minto open-pit copper-gold mine, 240 kilometres from Whitehorse.
Read more...
Source
Comment:
As TSX has highest close of 2009, this marks a milestone for Canada's economic index and for its Asian trade partners as well.Hope this is it.
Canadian stock markets staged a broad rally Tuesday, led by commodity stocks, after the Asian Development Bank said rising economic activity in China, India and Indonesia would push the region's growth to 3.9 per cent this year. Crude oil and natural gas, gold and base metals all made gains, helped by a sell-off in the U.S. dollar ahead of today's meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/TSX Composite index climbed 161.12 points, or 1.41 per cent, to 11,585.73, its highest close since Oct. 1. The the S&P/TSX Venture composite rose 16.63, or 1.3 per cent, to 1,281.63.
The price of gold climbed $10.60 to $1,015.50 US an ounce for the December contract, while October crude rose $1.84, or 2.6 per cent, to $71.55 US a barrel, and natural gas jumped 32 cents, or nine per cent, to $3.778 US per million Btu. December copper added 5.9 cents, or 2.1 per cent to $2.8645 US a pound, another factor pushing the Canadian dollar up 0.73 cents to 93.54 cents US, despite a pullback in Canadian retail sales in July, due partially to lower gas prices.
The oil patch was hot: Canadian Natural Resources, the second-largest Canadian natural gas producer, rose $2.72, or 3.7 per cent, to $76.64. Trinidad Drilling gained 25 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $6.75, while Penn West Energy Trust added 56 cents, or 3.7 per cent, to $15.78 and Pengrowth Energy Trust climbed 46 cents, or 4.7 per cent, to $10.22.
Traders who sold HudBay Minerals on Nov. 21 at $2.70 were left shaking their heads as shares shot up $1.93, or 20 per cent, to $11.30. HudBay drilled 34.54 metres of grading 13.35 grams per tonne of gold, 27.98 grams per tonne of silver, 5.33 per cent copper and 0.35 per cent zinc at its Lalor project, 15 kilometres from the company's copper concentrator at Snow Lake, Manitoba. HudBay CEO Peter Jones said the core sample is "among the best I have seen in nearly 40 years in the mining business."
Vancouver-based Capstone Mining, rose 40 cents, or 14 per cent, to $3.25, after reporting drill results that further defined the Minto North deposit, 600 metres northwest of its existing Minto open-pit copper-gold mine, 240 kilometres from Whitehorse.
Read more...
Source
Comment:
As TSX has highest close of 2009, this marks a milestone for Canada's economic index and for its Asian trade partners as well.Hope this is it.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
July swoon shocks forecasters
By JAY BRYAN
Canada's recovery hit a speed bump in July, as retail sales broke a string of gains to shock forecasters with a decline.
"There's no other way to put it," said chief economist Derek Holt at Scotia Capital: all of Canada's leading forecasters, including him, "have egg on our faces."
The consensus view was that retail sales would build on June's blazing one-per-cent monthly gain with a robust 0.7-per-cent rise in July. Instead, merchants rang up a 0.6-per-cent drop in sales.
But dramatic as this was, its significance is questionable. Nearly all of the decline was caused by lower prices, with the actual volume of sales falling only a little short of expectations: minus 0.1 per cent instead of the forecast gain of 0.1 per cent.
With the price-adjusted volume of sales not changing much, retail sales won't prevent economic growth in July from achieving a healthy pace, driven by manufacturing and wholesale trade.
And the outlook for retailing still looks positive. A three-month average of sales continues to show an uptrend, suggesting that the July surprise will be followed by renewed growth, believes Toronto-Dominion Bank analyst Grant Bishop.
Two key reasons for July's shortfall were temporary events: a substantial drop in the price of gas (which has since been reversed) and the impact of unusually poor weather on food and beverage sales during barbecue season.
Another disappointment is more puzzling: while the number of cars sold jumped by a strong five per cent in July, total sales value inched up by just 0.2 per cent.
Some possible explanations include heavy discounting in a weak auto market and what Bishop calls the "steak to hamburger shift" during a period of economic hardship. Bishop assumes that some customers shifted from luxury vehicles toward plainer cars while others decided to save on gas by buying smaller ones.
Bishop's moving average, intended to show the underlying trend by smoothing out month-to-month hiccups caused by temporary factors like those in July, shows Canadian consumers still increasing spending at a substantial rate.
Read more...
Source
Comments:
Way to go Canada..economic recovery is on the way.Guess a worlwide reaction to this will follow.
Canada's recovery hit a speed bump in July, as retail sales broke a string of gains to shock forecasters with a decline.
"There's no other way to put it," said chief economist Derek Holt at Scotia Capital: all of Canada's leading forecasters, including him, "have egg on our faces."
The consensus view was that retail sales would build on June's blazing one-per-cent monthly gain with a robust 0.7-per-cent rise in July. Instead, merchants rang up a 0.6-per-cent drop in sales.
But dramatic as this was, its significance is questionable. Nearly all of the decline was caused by lower prices, with the actual volume of sales falling only a little short of expectations: minus 0.1 per cent instead of the forecast gain of 0.1 per cent.
With the price-adjusted volume of sales not changing much, retail sales won't prevent economic growth in July from achieving a healthy pace, driven by manufacturing and wholesale trade.
And the outlook for retailing still looks positive. A three-month average of sales continues to show an uptrend, suggesting that the July surprise will be followed by renewed growth, believes Toronto-Dominion Bank analyst Grant Bishop.
Two key reasons for July's shortfall were temporary events: a substantial drop in the price of gas (which has since been reversed) and the impact of unusually poor weather on food and beverage sales during barbecue season.
Another disappointment is more puzzling: while the number of cars sold jumped by a strong five per cent in July, total sales value inched up by just 0.2 per cent.
Some possible explanations include heavy discounting in a weak auto market and what Bishop calls the "steak to hamburger shift" during a period of economic hardship. Bishop assumes that some customers shifted from luxury vehicles toward plainer cars while others decided to save on gas by buying smaller ones.
Bishop's moving average, intended to show the underlying trend by smoothing out month-to-month hiccups caused by temporary factors like those in July, shows Canadian consumers still increasing spending at a substantial rate.
Read more...
Source
Comments:
Way to go Canada..economic recovery is on the way.Guess a worlwide reaction to this will follow.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Mining stocks take TSX higher
By:Malcolm Morrison
THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Toronto stock market was positive Wednesday morning, finding support from mining stocks while data showed a sharp uptick in manufacturing sales during July.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 35.8 points to 11,531.6.
The TSX has racked up four consecutive days of solid gains on hopes for a strong recovery and a positive third-quarter earnings season, leaving the market up 52 per cent since the lows of early March and up 28 per cent year to date.
The gold sector was up 1.66 per cent on Wednesday as a weaker U.S. dollar helped push the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up $10.90 to US$1,017.20 an ounce. On the TSX, Goldcorp Inc. (TSX: G) climbed 58 cents to C$46.02.
December copper ran up seven cents to US$2.92 a pound, helping take the base metals sector 1.67 per cent higher. Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.B) added 44 cents to $29.69.
Energy stocks were positive in early trading as the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was off three cents to $70.90 a barrel ahead of U.S. inventory data coming out later in the morning.
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.12 of a cent to 93.46 cents US, after rising more than a cent Tuesday amid yet another warning from the Bank of Canada that the strong loonie could derail a strong economic recovery.
Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales rose 5.5 per cent in July to $41.4 billion, adding to the 2.2 per cent increase reported in June, thanks to improved performances in the motor vehicle and primary metals industries.
Excluding the motor vehicle assembly and motor vehicle parts industries, manufacturing sales increased 2.1 per cent.
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 12.18 points to 1,281.53.
Read more...Source.
Comments: This is definitely a raging Bull Market...for now.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Toronto stock market was positive Wednesday morning, finding support from mining stocks while data showed a sharp uptick in manufacturing sales during July.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 35.8 points to 11,531.6.
The TSX has racked up four consecutive days of solid gains on hopes for a strong recovery and a positive third-quarter earnings season, leaving the market up 52 per cent since the lows of early March and up 28 per cent year to date.
The gold sector was up 1.66 per cent on Wednesday as a weaker U.S. dollar helped push the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up $10.90 to US$1,017.20 an ounce. On the TSX, Goldcorp Inc. (TSX: G) climbed 58 cents to C$46.02.
December copper ran up seven cents to US$2.92 a pound, helping take the base metals sector 1.67 per cent higher. Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.B) added 44 cents to $29.69.
Energy stocks were positive in early trading as the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was off three cents to $70.90 a barrel ahead of U.S. inventory data coming out later in the morning.
The Canadian dollar moved up 0.12 of a cent to 93.46 cents US, after rising more than a cent Tuesday amid yet another warning from the Bank of Canada that the strong loonie could derail a strong economic recovery.
Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales rose 5.5 per cent in July to $41.4 billion, adding to the 2.2 per cent increase reported in June, thanks to improved performances in the motor vehicle and primary metals industries.
Excluding the motor vehicle assembly and motor vehicle parts industries, manufacturing sales increased 2.1 per cent.
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 12.18 points to 1,281.53.
Read more...Source.
Comments: This is definitely a raging Bull Market...for now.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Hello and Welcome
Recession? I guess its past. Whether a Bear or a Bull, Let us
Trade Stocks online Canada...Let us explore.
Trade Stocks online Canada...Let us explore.
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