Dow Futures (Part II)

By Ahmad Hassam

Stock index futures like the Dow Futures or the S&P 500 Futures are traded for speculation as well as hedging purposes. Stock-index futures are by far the largest category of futures contracts traded as a percentage of the total number of futures contracts traded. The dominance of index futures clearly speaks of the major role that stock-index futures play in risk management for the entire stock market.

Stock index futures like the Dow futures are a better option than trading individual stocks. There are other advantages of trading stock index futures like the Dow Futures. Some of these advantages are gains in the futures markets are taxed at a lower rate than the stock market capital gains.

However, future traders don't have the same amount of time to make decisions as someone who is only trading stocks. Globex is a 24 hour electronic trading system for a wide variety of futures contract. If something happens on the stock market overnight when it is closed and you want to hedge your risk, you can trade Dow Futures or the S&P 500 Futures on Globex. Many futures brokerages offer lower commission rates as compared to stocks.

When you trade stock index futures like the Dow Futures, you are betting on the direction of the contract value, in this case DJIA and not on the individual stocks that make up the index.

In a sense by focusing on the value and the general trend of the stocks as a group, you are blocking out a good deal of the noise that is often associated with the daily gyrations in the prices of the individual stocks.

Aside from hedging, you can simply speculate with the futures contract like the Dow Futures just by using technical and fundamental analysis. Stock index futures like the Dow Futures are guaranteed to move in response to the economic indicators. You can setup positions with both futures and options as you wait for the news to hit the wire.

Stock indexes move when economic news of fundamental nature is released. For the past many years, the monthly NFP employment report which is issued the first Friday of every month at 8:30 AM EST has been an excellent mover for stock index futures like the Dow Futures.

You just need to find one or two stock index futures with which you're comfortable -the ones that enable you to implement your strategies. You don't need to trade every major index futures contract in the world to be successful. Just focus on one stock index futures contract and become its specialist or expert. You can become a successful futures trader in sometime with this approach.

The more you know about a particular type of a contract, the better off you are. So the best way to trade futures contracts is to become a specialist in one type of the contract like the Dow Futures or the S&P 500 Futures or NASDAQ-100 Futures.

You can get an idea when the Dow Futures contract is likely to turn around by using technical analysis. You can use your knowledge of technical analysis to figure out how many days the Dow Futures contract tends to spend rising or falling using Bollinger Bands or Moving Averages. So by becoming a specialist in trading Dow Futures you can make a lot of profit daily from the daily movements in DJIA. This way you can become a Dow Futures swing trader. Every time profiting from a turn in the DJIA! - 23211

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Trade Dow Futures. Learn Swing Trading!

Affordable Life Insurance -- 6 Guaranteed Tips For Considerable Savings

By Chimezirim Odimba

People who understand how to shop for quotes normally locate the best deals. If you are NOT one of them, you'll soon learn how in this article. Nevertheless, before that, or while you do that, there are several other things to do if you want to save as much as possible. Here are some of them...

1. Smoking will always attract expensive life insurance rates. Smokers are more likely to die at a tender age and are also more likely to suffer many deadly diseases.

It costs insurance carriers a lot more to provide life insurance to smokers due to their high risk. If you can stop smoking you'll get rates that are dramatically lower when you reapply after twelve months.

2. If you need a discount, get your life insurance policy from the same insurer you bought existing policies from. Insurers offer a multi-policy discount to persuade you to buy more policies from them.

However, it may not serve your best interest to do this as you might gain more if you buy each policy from different insurers.

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3. Are you aware of all the discounts that your insurance provider offers? There is a possibility that your agent has left one or two out. You will know only by telling your agent that you want to know if you have been told about every discount available. Do not be surprised if you discover some that you've never heard of.

4. You'll lower your life insurance rate if you have an outstanding credit rating. Those who have bad credit pay higher rates for every form of insurance and that is also true for health. It's usual for insurance providers to expect that a person who defaults in credit card payments will likely miss payments of life insurance premiums. This implies more risk to them and more expensive premiums for you.

5. Paying your premium yearly will get you more affordable life insurance rates than choosing monthly payments. The ads may show that monthly payment are less stressful but what you're not told is how much extra you pay for this..

If you do transactions with banks you'll agree with me that each check you process is considered transaction which attracts charges. All through a year, your monthly checks would be processed separately because they are all different transactions. You'll then have to pay the total of twelve transaction fees..

Apart from this there are also administrative costs that are incurred due to the monthly payment option. For example, it costs some money to send payment notices each and every month.

These and more are then added to your life insurance rate thereby making it more than if you paid every year.

6. You will save much money in life insurance if you obtain and compare life insurance quotes from quotes sites. You will make savings if you use just one quotes site. But keep this in mind, you will get better results by visiting at least five. The straightforward reason for this is that you'll receive many more life insurance quotes from many more insurers. This raises your chances of receiving better quotes. - 23211

About the Author:

Get more tips at Free Online Life Insurance Quote and Compare Life Insurance Rate. Chimezirim Odimba writes on financial matters.

Life Insurance -- Don't Play Down The Following Tips If You Mean Business

By Chimezirim Odimba

Are you certain you really want cheaper rates? If answered "Yes" you have to do everything within your ability to learn as many ways as there are to cheaper rates. Here are great recommendations that will help you cut down your rate by as much as 50% if you use them correctly...

1. Paying your premium once a year will get you cheaper life insurance rates than opting for monthly payments. True, monthly payments might be less stressful but it's also less affordable.

If you do transactions with banks you'll agree with me that each check you process is considered transaction which attracts charges. .While a yearly payment attracts just one check and therefore one transaction every year, monthly payments attract twelve. This means that transaction charges would be 12 times more for people who make monthly payments.

Besides there are also administrative costs that are incurred due to the monthly payment option. For instance, it costs insurance companies millions of dollars yearly to send out payment notices..

These costs plus a profit margin for this this "value-added service" is factored into your life insurance rates making it higher than a comparable profile that pays yearly every year.

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2. Folks whose vocations expose to hazards attract higher life insurance rates. Changing over to a safe profession will reduce your life insurance premium by a good margin. Due to the fact that a salesperson in a grocery shop isn't exposed to any health risks like a nuclear plant staff, he or she would pay much lower life insurance rates.

3. Are you aware of all the discounts that your insurance provider offers? Since agents too are human they might not remember to tell you about some discounts you are eligible for. You will lower the probability of this happening to you if you make it a point of duty to ask your agent point blank to tell you about every discount that is available. You might have a really pleasant surprise!

4. That excess weight will make you spend more in life insurance. An insured's Body Mass Index (BMI) is a strong factor that affects what you pay as life insurance rate.

A high Body Mass Index will always attract a high life insurance premium all other things being equal. The more overweight you are for your height and sex the higher your Body Mass Index rating will be. And don't think that you'll get savings only when you lose fifty pounds, just losing a few pounds will get you lower rates provided it lowers your BMI rating. - 23211

About the Author:

To learn more go to Online Term Life Insurance Rate and Cheap Insurance Life Term. Chimezirim Odimba helps you pay less for more.

Buying Stocks In China

By Mike Swanson

China is a rapidly expanding economy that has weathered the current economic recession reasonably well. Options for investing in China are numerous but as a foreigner the markets and the culture are likely to be completely unknown. So where to start to find stocks to invest in?

It is difficult to start operations in China or even to buy out existing Chinese operations as a foreigner. Instead in most instances a joint venture with a local company needs to be entered into. These deals help get around cultural traps but are not risk free as a number of foreign firms have found. Last year a number of large milk companies with ties to local milk joint venture lost millions when a chemical scandal hit.

Purchasing stocks in Chinese companies is another option. However it pays to be aware that there are a number of government regulations about what types of company stocks foreigners can buy. Many companies have tier A and Tier B shares with only one tier being available to foreigners, the other for the locals.

Private Equity funding works but some private equity firms have chosen to avoid China. They have found that having to rely on local partners has meant they have not had the information they require or in the time frames they would like.

Property is booming in China. Growth rates simply have not stopped and construction can be seen everywhere. Many investors have focused on Beijing and Shanghai, the two main cities, but when there are other cities in China with populations of over 20 million each there are no shortage of opportunities. A continuing trend of rural drift to the cities is supporting the need to accommodation.

However you decide to invest in China it must be remembered it is not an entirely free market. While growth and consumer demand are increasing the level of power the Chinese government has not disappeared. - 23211

About the Author:

For more on China and investing in emerging markets click here to receive our China stocks report.

Automobile Insurance -- 3 Additional Time-Tested Tips

By Chimezirim Odimba

You don't have to do great things in most cases in order to bring down your auto insurance rates. It's usually little things that help you get big discounts. Following are a good number of things that will bring you closer to the goal...

1. Those who stay in crowded cities are more likely to encounter one kind of vehicle accident or another if compared to people who reside in sparsely populated areas. It makes sense to buy your home in a less congested area if it suits you because the likelihood of vandalism, theft or an auto accident is much less.

2. Re-evaluating your vehicle insurance policy once every six months is one sure way you can reducing your rates. Change is constant and happens without notice but then we mustn't pay for matters that these changes have relieved us of. How many folks, for example, remember to drop their daughters from their auto insurance policies immediately they get married?

Does it occur to you that you might now be entitled to some discounts due to some changes in your life? You might also no longer need some coverage types.

So, do NOT fail to review your policy every so often. You'll be pleasantly surprised if you discover that you need to cut down your coverage scope or if you see changes that will bring about big savings.

3. You will save a lot if you really have between 25-30 minutes. Visit, receive and compare auto insurance quotes from several quotes sites. The lowest offer should be what you pick easily.

However, you have to go beyond just the lowest quote to the best price to value ratio. The lowest priced may not offer the best price/value for you as an individual. - 23211

About the Author:

Learn more here: Cheap Car Insurance Quote and Cheap California Auto Insurance. Chimezirim Odimba teaches how to pay less for more.