By Larry Lane for InvestorZoo.com

You’ve undoubtedly heard about the three million homeowners who have gone into foreclosure this year. There are pundits that say the commercial real estate market is the next segment of the market to experience a huge downturn. If you’re a value investor, you might consider now the right time to enter into the real estate market. Real estate has certainly experienced a significant downturn, thus you think you’re buying a property on sale at a severely discounted price. You have also determined that the economy may be on its way to turning around and moving toward recovery.However, you may not be cut out to be a landlord. You do not want the responsibility of collecting rent or being woken up at 2am when your renter’s pipes have burst. Real Estate Investment Trust or “REIT” may be a great investment alternative to purchasing a rental or investment property.

What is a REIT?                      

REITS stands for Real Estate Investment Trust. A REIT is a company that invests and manages real estate projects. As with stocks, there are several types of REITs you can invest in. Some REITs will specialize in commercial projects such as shopping mall or office buildings; other trusts will invest in apartment complexes or residential developments.REITS are publicly traded companies. They are highly liquid and are traded just like any other stock. Like most other asset classes, you can choose to invest in a mutual fund or ETF to mitigate your investment risk.

Spreading your risk   

There are hundreds of different REITs and mutual funds which specialize in REITS. As always, you must choose which section within the REIT universe that suits your needs.An ETF REIT may invest in 20 or more different REITS, thus spread default risk.

Diversification       

REITS can be considered non corrolated verses equities. The 20 year historical return for a REIT is 10.57%, slightly higher than the S&P 500. For historical returns, go to: http://www.nareit.com/nareitindexes/web3.htm

Please consult with a financial planner to see if REITS fit in your investment strategy.

Larry Lane is the editor for www.InvestorZoo.com, a social networking dedicated to personal finance

www.reit.com Ken Rosen, chairman of Rosen Real Estate Securities and Rosen Consulting Group, has been involved with real estate research and investment for more than 30 years. Over that time, particularly with the onset of the Modern REIT Era, he says that listed REITs have had a dramatic impact on the commercial real estate industry. “Listed REITs have basically changed everything regarding investors’ view of real estate,” Rosen says. “Normally real estate was an illiquid investment and you didn’t have the opportunity to have any transparency.” Rosen says REITs have added liquidity, transparency and really great management teams. “You don’t buy a building anymore, you buy a portfolio of buildings, and a management team and a capital structure,” he says. “REITs have broadened the investment base dramatically to individuals. For institutions, REITs give them another option.” Going forward, Rosen says the fact that REITs were able to recapitalize their balance sheets following the Great Recession and many private companies are still struggling for capital is a great indicator that listed REITs are poised for long-term success. “The fact that they went through the difficult period of 2008 and 2009 couldn’t have been a more vigorous test,” Rosen says. “We only had one bankruptcy (General Growth Properties) and of course that is now working itself out. It shows that you can have public real estate companies survive and thrive in even the worst of worlds.” In addition, Rosen …
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Question by Joanne Hsu: Where can I find essays online regardin Reits?
Where can I find articles online as to introduction of REITS in US, especially the types of the projects the REITS invest in. In Taiwan, REITS will be allowed to invest in yet-to-be-completed real estate projects. I will write an essay about this amendment and need to know what other countries deal with the yet-to-be-completed real estate projects. Could any tell me where I can find related essays?

Best answer:

Answer by CottonPatch
Have you tried www.wikipedia.com
good luck

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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Are you one of the few who despite the financial turmoil has been able to save some cash? Do you have cash on hand because you sold the rest of your stock or mutual fund portfolio after watching it drop? If the answer is yes, I have one question for you, what are you going to do with it? With the stock markets down 40% or more, investing and making your savings grow has become a challenge. A safe investment for your money would be Certificates of Deposit or CD.

A CD is actually commonly called “time deposit”. A certificate of deposit is somewhat similar to a regular saving account but with a twist. Unlike saving accounts, where you are free to withdraw anytime, Certificate of deposits have fixed terms.

There are tons of CD terms, 1 month to 3 months or more, some terms are as long as 10 years. During this time, you can’t withdraw your money, but you are guaranteed to earn fixed interest rate that’s much higher than a traditional savings account rate.

The rule of the thumb is, the longer the term, the higher the interest rate. Certificate of deposits are offered by banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions. Your deposit is safe as it is insured by FDIC up to 0,000 per depositor.

If you are planning to invest in a CD there are tons of online resources to find the best CD rate.

Here is a small sample of current CD rates.

1. You can earn 2.40% on your deposit for a 1 month CD. The minimum deposit is ,000.

2. Another bank offers as much 4.27% for a 12 month CD. There is a 0 minimum deposit for this provider.

3. For a deposit of ,000 in a 5 year CD, you can earn up to 5.02%.

4. A seven month Certificate of Deposit (CD) currently yields 4.11%. This special rate is a promotional online CD rate and the minimum opening balance is ,000.”

5. GMAC Bank is offering a 3 month CD rate of 3.15% with an annual percentage yield of 3.25%. The rate is for balances of 0 or more. The penalty for early withdrawal for a 3 month certificate of deposit is 90 days of interest, basically all the interest you would have earned so be sure that you won’t need your funds before locking in this CD.

All the rates above are posted http://www.monitorbankrates.com.

So be sure you won’t need access to your money when you invest in a certificate of deposit. If you are unsure when you might need access to your fund it’s better to invest in only short term CDs, like a 1 to 3 months CD, instead of a longer term CD.

Certificate of Deposits allow you to earn easy money without risking your hard earned savings. However, I have a piece of advise for you, since financial institutions require that you don’t withdraw your money for the duration of the Certificate of deposit term, you must deposit only the amount that you won’t need during the term’s duration. Otherwise, instead of earning interest, you will lose some of your interest earned because banks charge a penalty for early withdrawal.

Question by A Beautiful Lie: Can a secured nursing facility seize certificates of deposit with more than one name on them?
MY grandmother is severely ill, and unfortunately cannot come home to be with us. We need to send her to a nursing facility. My grandma has certificates of deposit in her name with each of her children s names on them. MY question is can the home seize those CDs for payment for the nursing home facility? Even if they are in her childrens name with her name on them.

Best answer:

Answer by Carol
contact your local senior citizens organization. they can refer you to legal counsel but those cds are partly your grandmothers so yes they can take at least a portion of them. the only thing having joint names on them does is to keep them from probate in case of death. it is too late to legally transfer assets out of her name. Any assets transferred out of her name in the past 5 years are fair game.

Add your own answer in the comments!
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Everyone knows what a stock index is. It is price weighted or value weighted measure of a basket of stocks. Indexes are very important in the world of investing. If you want to invest in commodities, you should invest in a commodity index.

Just like other indexes, commodity indexes track the performance of a basket of commodities. This basket usually includes wheat, corn, soybeans, coffee, sugar, cocoa, cotton, lean hog, live cattle, feeder cattle, heating oil, gas oil, unleaded gas, crude oil, natural gas, aluminum, copper, lead, nickel. Zinc, gold, silver etc So you can see, these indexes track a variety of commodities.

The most popular commodity index is the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI). GSCI tracks the performance of 24 commodity futures contracts. Another popular commodity index is the Reuters/Jefferies Commodity Research Bureau Index (CRB).

Now CRB is an important commodity index and it is widely followed by hedge funds, institutional investors, retail investors and economists as a commodity benchmark. CRB is based on a basket of 19 commodities that have been primarily chosen on the basis of their liquidity and performance in the past. If you are into commodity investing than you need to keep an eye on CRB. Another very important commodity index is the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index abbreviated as DG-AIGCI. Now DG-AIGCI places a premium on the liquiduty and production of the commodities. This ensures that no commodity dominates DG-AIGCI.

Now, Rogers Commodities Index (RCI) is another very important commodity index that you should know if you are into commodity investing. RCI is based on a list of 35 commodities. RCI tracks the most commodities in the different commodity indexes.

The best and the most direct method is to trade futures contracts on one of the commodity index. A few of these indexes have futures contracts that track their performance. You can also trade futures contracts on individual commodities included in the index.

Another method is to invest in commodity mutual funds that track these indexes. One way is to invest with a third party manager that uses commodity indexes as the basis of their investment strategies. Some of these vehicles include mutual funds, commodity pools or Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs).

Last but not the least, is the great investment opportunity that Commodity ETFs ( Exchange Traded Funds)provides. This is a highly popular alternative that a good investor should not miss. These Commodity ETFs track the performance of a commodity index and provide you with a great opportunity to profit from the boom in the commodity market!

More Commodities Articles

Question by Sight S: What brands of daily commodities do you use besides Head and Shoulders and Colgate?
I guess you may use Head and Shoulders to wash your hair and Colgate to brush your teeth. What brands of other daily commodities do you use?
Say, what brand of washing powder or bar of soap do you use?

Best answer:

Answer by commanderx777
interesting question but I’ll answer …I use colgate with the little mouthwash beads to brush my teeth.
I use pantene shampoo to wash my hair
old spice swagger to wash my body
arm and hammer laundry soap,liquid.
bounce awakenings dryer sheets
dawn dish soap and cascade with dawn dishwasher pods
hmm…listerine mouthwash..
degree silver ice deodorant
that’s about all I can think of for daily use..
oh and if I am going out at night on a date or somewhere I use cool water cologne.

What do you think? Answer below!
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Real Estate Investment Trusts are securities that invest into real estate and can be traded on the major exchanges or held in a private trust for individual investors. Individuals can invest into REIT’s by buying the shares of mutual funds or shares of a non-traded REIT.

Some REIT’s invest into a mix of real estate types, while others focus on an industry segment such as hospitality or medical facilities. This flexibility gives investors the opportunity to diversify their overall portfolio and then also within the asset class of real estate by choosing REIT’s that invest into various industry parts.

Advantages

High Yields- Many investors are attracted to REIT’s for their high interest rate yields. REIT’s have on average shown investors an 8% rate of return over the past 10 years, although the returns can be as high as 15% depending on the structure and the portfolio’s holdings. These high yields can be reinvested or taken as a current income stream depending on the investor’s financial objectives.

Flexibility- Many investors are interested in owning real estate as a portion of their portfolio, yet they are not interested in owning real property. Owning REIT’s allows an investor the opportunity to own real estate without owning real property, and with the added flexibility of being able to liquidate traded shares quickly on the market. Also, investors who do not have the capital to buy a property on their own in cash can do so by pooling their investment capital with other investors.

Diversification- Real estate is considered to be its own asset class and when added to a portfolio’s mix, it can provide for additional diversification for an investor. Traded REIT’s will react to the supply and demand factors of the market, while non- traded REIT’s do not, and can offer a more stable investment choice for investors who are looking to buy and hold real estate. Overall, REIT’s can offer an important diversification piece for an investor’s portfolio.

Disadvantages

Liquidity- Some REIT’s are not publicly traded, making them more challenging to liquidate. Non-publicly traded REIT’s are designed for an investor with a longer term investment objective and time frame; it is typically recommended for most non-traded REIT’s to have a 5-15 year time frame before they require access to their investment capital.

Inverse Relationship to Interest Rates- REIT’s have an inverse relationship to interest rates within an economy; when interest rates are rising, the rate of returns on REIT’s will decline and vice versa. If the investor owns a REIT that is not publicly traded when interest rates become unfavorable, it may be challenging to liquidate the investment to reposition their portfolio. If the REIT is traded, it will be easier for the investor to reposition their portfolio accordingly to interest rate movements in the economy.

When is a Good Time to Buy?

Generally speaking, like other investments, the best time to buy REIT’s is at a low price compared with earnings. One needs to consider the yield and dividend payouts as well.

REIT Reality – Analysis and Discussion with Antony Paolone of JPMorgan Securities (Taking Stock)

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The importance of saving for retirement is stressed throughout our lives. Most people value employment opportunities that offer 401k retirement accounts, particularly those who are lucky enough to have their contributions matched by their employers. In addition to 401k accounts, or for individuals who don’t have the option for 401k plans, the IRA is a very popular method of saving for retirement.

What many people don’t consider are the benefits of using Certificate of Deposits (CDs) as a way to save for retirement. Much like traditional savings accounts or your 401k – Certificate of Deposits offer a very low risk investment for people who save over a longer period of time. You can open a CD with almost any amount of money, and the longer you keep your money in the CD, the higher your interest rate will be. You select your savings term when opening the account from the available options – typically between 3 months and 5 years, but it depends on which financial institution you use.

A Certificate of Deposit is the same as loaning the banking institution your money for the term you choose to save for. In exchange for the “loan”, the bank gives CD holders interest. When your Certificate of Deposit reaches it’s maturity date, you then have the option to take out the money you’ve invested and the interest it earned, or to roll it into another CD or other investment. If using Certificate of Deposits as part of your retirement planning strategy, you should consider a ladder strategy of opening CDs of varying maturity dates, or simply reinvesting your money at the end of each CD term until you need it during your retirement years.

Certificate of Deposits are considered a good option for retirement since they are a safe investment. Individuals who are conservative with their money and do not wish to take a chance using higher-risk investments appreciate CDs for their predictable earnings. In particular, people who are approaching retirement age need to be more conservative with their money than someone who is in their 20′s. It makes sense to use Certificate of Deposits to hang on to the money they’ve already invested throughout the years.

For people who are already living out their retired years, Certificate of Deposits are a good way to help your savings earn more. Strategically investing your retirement money into multiple Certificate of Deposits that mature at varying time periods will give you access to a portion of your money each time one of the certificates matures – while the rest continues to earn interest.

Just remember that you can’t withdraw the money from a Certificate of Deposit until the specified maturity date without paying a penalty, so you won’t want to tie up all of your money in CDs. Take out what you need until your first Certificate matures and you’ll never need to pay the penalty to get your money out of the CD.

Certificate of Deposits offer strategic and safe savings for individuals saving for retirement, as well as people who have already reached the Golden Years. You can feel confident that the money you save in a Certificate of Deposit will still be there (plus interest) when it reaches it’s maturity date.

Garv breaks down Certificate of Deposits or CDs, learn why it might not be a good investment for your money.
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Related Certificates Of Deposit Articles

Question by thebrownbee: Does anyone know if a license is required to sell certificates of deposit in FL?
I work in a call center for an insurance company that sells financial products such as annuities and certificates of deposit. We are being asked to “pre-sell” the CD’s even though we aren’t licensed insurance agents. We’ve been instructed to calculate APY’s on large sums of money, provide the terms of the CD’s, etc. None of us have been offered any training nor do we have financial backgrounds. Is this legal?
Yes there is a licensed insurance agent in our place of business. My question is: Is it legal to require an unlicensed person to answer specific questions regarding investing in a CD? My understanding of my job is that when a caller rings up, I’m to get their name and number, and pass it along to the licensed agent who can answer their detailed questions. I know nothing about rolling an IRA over into a CD, if the person is paid monthly or at maturity, etc. The catch is: This company is offering promo rate CD’s as a bait to entice consumers. Once they have an interested party in their office, they switch and try to sell them an annuity or other product. The agent doesn’t get paid one dime to sell a CD; his commission comes off the annuities.
And yes, I have been looking for another job for quite some time now.

Best answer:

Answer by jaysweep
You are the lead or contact person. Someone in your office has the authority to sell these financial products.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
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India – progress and development is thy name! And the same stands true for the Indian economy, more so for the ‘bond market’. An innovation of the recent past, asset-backed securities have grown to be a pivotal part of the corporate debt market. Floating rate instruments, convertible bonds, step redemption bonds, zero coupon bonds – these and many more such instruments are today being acknowledged country-wide.

A decade back, banks like ICICI and IDBI began issuing step bonds. While those of the ICICI Bank paid a higher rate of interest, those of the IDBI allowed clients to pay the redemption amount in instalments after an initial holding period. In addition, the approach of maturity of ICICI step bonds clearly showed the benefits of bond issuance in India, while IDBI step bonds had two put and call options before maturity. All these have provided a range of securities that have helped in maintaining a sought-after risk return balance. Due to these corporate issuers, preference has changed from public issues to private placements.

Upon comparing the equity market with the bond market for the past decade, we find that the equity market saw a drop of almost 14% of GDP – slumping from 42% in 1993-94 to 28.6% in 2000-01. Au contraire, the Government of India bonds (GOI bonds) enjoyed an increase of about 8% of GDP – from 28% to 36.7% – in the same period. As a result, there appeared a reduction in liquidity in the equity market and a substantial increase in liquidity in the Indian bond market.

But don’t get stupefied with the impressive statistics of the GOI bonds. Every coin has two sides. Similarly, there are some drawbacks to the Indian bond market also. The GOI bond market doesn’t use trade as an exchange and features a bilateral negotiation between dealers. The market hence, lacked price time priority. To top it, bilateral negotiations imposed credit risk on participants narrowing the market with a homogeneous credit risk.

The Indian bond market, however, is today at par with some of the leading markets of Asia like Korea. The grapevine is that in a few years, the Indian bond market will be counted as a renowned market of the world.

We feel proud to recognise the bond market of India better than that of China. And this is definitely an evidence of Indian economy’s quick progression. Moreover, the Indian bond market is profitable to almost anyone and everyone. The new business houses especially find the Indian market profitable from an operational point of view. That is pretty obvious as they have been able to initiate business in a very short time span and generate capital easily.

LIQUIDITY OF INDIAN DEBT MARKET

The liquidity of the Indian debt market has helped both the market as well as the various companies operating in it. But, for the market to sustain itself, and that too in an international level requires capital. Luckily, the Indian debt market has been able to attract enough companies.

POTENTIAL OF FIXED INCOME MARKET IN INDIA

Every market has its highs and lows. For the Indian market, the fixed income market is counted in the former. As stated before, the Indian economy is considered better than the Chinese economy, and the fixed income market is one amongst many reasons for this. Experts expect the bond market in India to grow manifold and become one of the biggest in the world in perhaps another decade or so.

SECONDARY INDIA BOND MARKET

One of the best secondary bond markets of Asia is that of India. It has a high amount of liquidity. The market is an establishment of sixteen primary dealers who underwrite the sales of the debt of the Government of India and deal with India’s apex bank, the Reserve Bank of India, directly. As icing on the cake, some bonds in the secondary market have maturity period of as long as thirty years!

Question by mhickins: How does the bond market correlate to stocks? How are bonds measured on the market?
I understand what motivates people to buy equities, but not bonds. Why does the bond market seem to behave in opposition to the stock market?

Best answer:

Answer by densmaltz
www.bond.com

Give your answer to this question below!
Bond prices rise after Chinese rate hike
Bond prices rose Monday after China moved to raise interest rates to slow the pace of its economic expansion.
Read more on AP via Yahoo! News


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A conversation with some business associates yesterday led around to real estate investments. We discussed hard investments vs. securities investments (buying land vs. buying stocks), valuation, risk, and the concept of fair value.

This conversation led an interesting question which I thought I would address here.

The question,for which there are many competing answers, was: how do you value a REIT (specifically), or any other investment, for that matter?

First of all, value is always determined by buyers, for if a buyer doesn’t see value, no transaction takes place. As a buyer of a REIT, I could look at it in two ways: 1) I value the investment based on an earnings yield, (Dividends), or 2) I value the investment based on the price I expect buyers to pay in the future (Capital Gains). Most investors look at both, but have a bias toward one or the other; e.g. An investor biased toward capital gains would see the dividend as a safety net, whereas an investor biased toward dividends would see capital gains as a bonus.

Historically, REIT investors have been Dividend investors looking for that potential for capital gains. REITs are not structured to function as a proxy for gains in the underlying real estate – you are looking for a stream of rental income, not title to commercial property. Based on cost of capital, legal structure, and long term holdings of the typical REIT, value comes when properties are improved and rents increase, not when the price of the underlying property appreciates.

Given this historical bias, how does the dividend yield of REITS look compared to it’s long term average? I analyzed 20 years worth of data and found that current yield is 250 basis points lower than its long term average. In terms of raw yield, this is the lowest point in the last 20 years.

In addition to being at low yields historically, my research shows that in the last 20 years, REITs have given a 137 basis point premium over the 10 year Treasury rate. This spread is the compensation investors expect to receive for taking on excess risk. The current situation, however, is telling: there is effectively a negative spread . This means that REIT investors are not being compensated for excess risk. You could receive the same yield in no risk Treasuries. This premium over risk free is also at its lowest point in 20 years.

In the current yield situation, there are two possibilities that would bring yields back into proportion to their historical averages:

1) Earnings, and therefore dividends, would have to increase, or

2) Prices have to come down.

Given the capital cost and legal structure, not to mention the current real estate and capital markets, REITs lack the ability to substantially grow their earnings. Since they are required by law to pay out 90% of their net earnings as dividends to investors, they do not have the pool of retained earnings to make acquisitions that other corporations do, so they must raise money by borrowing (either bank loans or selling bonds). This is a risky proposition in today’s market environment. So unless they can develop properties and raise rents, they are unlikely to be able to grow their earnings at a high rate.

Add to this the fact that the “LBO premium” that has been built into REIT prices in the past is quickly evaporating, as PE firms need to become much more selective about their buyout targets since they have a substantially tightened pool of capital to work with. In the absence of PE firms stumbling over themselves to take your company private, you as an investor must evaluate the REIT based on its fundamentals, and that means DIVIDENDS.

That leaves the average REIT buyer looking to buy at lower prices in the future, not higher. Lower prices because the long term yield will return to mean. Lower prices because the LBO premium is gone. Lower prices because the cost of capital has increased in the wake of the sub-prime fiasco and the subsequent liquidity crunch.

As I mentioned HERE previously on this blog, Income investors should be wary of REITS because they currently offer no premium over risk free yields, Value investors should avoid because REITs are not at bargain prices, and Growth investors should look elsewhere because the structure of REITs makes it difficult for them to increase their earnings growth rates.

I know there are exceptions to my generalizations, more of which I will be exploring in the future. But as an asset class, I would not be a buyer of REITs until their prices come down. I like being compensated for the risk I take…I think it is a good habit and I encourage it in others.

More REITS Articles

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You will gain a new insight on commodity futures trading once you have decided to learn about trade commodities from commodity trading courses. In your commodity trading courses, you may learn about certain commodities such as grains or precious metals, or you may decide to acquire knowledge on the whole spectrum of global commodity markets. You may have heard of the following: energy security, crude oil trade on the NY Mercantile Exchange and how numerous factors can affect price causing fluctuations. And what causes price movements in gold, silver and other precious metals and why should cocoa or coffee futures prices suddenly surge?

Commodity trading courses are so important because you will learn all about these exciting markets. Finding excellent commodity trading courses will help you learn how to trade commodities and ultimately gain all the knowledge required for you to be successsful in trading. If you are looking for the right commodity trading course, you have two options: enroll in online commodity trading courses or attend a trading school that offers courses covering all the aspects of trading.

There are several advantages in taking your commodity trading courses in a school. You have face to face contact with your teachers as well as having the opportunity for one on one coaching. Knowledge imparted to you by your coaches in your commodity day trading courses may have been gained through courses they have taken as well as being a seasoned trader. When you learn to trade commodities in a classroom you can network with like-minded colleagues, sharing ideas with colleagues. Learning on location lets you watch and learn from “live” trades with your coaches, who may trade in real time as you look over their shoulder. You may have learned in your commodity trading courses about a particular aspect of trading in theory; but, a live setting will help further explain the theories. Such examples are valuable as they bring a real, sharp edge to your commodity trading education, and the tutors will help you as you create a personalised commodity trading plan. You may be able to find training providers involved in commodity trading courses near you such as in London, Singapore, Dubai, Toronto  and all major US centers.

What are the advantages of online commodity trading packages? Sometimes your location or commitments make it impossible to attend a physical location. So why not try an online training package featuring technical and fundamental aspects of commodity trading, which provide greater flexibility with your work schedule. Further, you can communicate with your tutors through email and will have access to video tutorials, charts, blogs and forums. These will all help you learn about commodity trading. Software packages as well as CDs and DVDs may be provided so you can practice trading using various strategies.

What is likely to be covered when you begin learning to trade commodities in commodity trading courses? Expect to look at effects of supply and demand on commodity prices in fundamental analysis, which considers the effects of wars, inflation and the economic cycle. Technical analysis in commodity trading courses is also important and includes understanding indicators on commodity charts, such as support and resistance, Fibonacci, moving averages, Japanese candlesticks and volumes of trade, which act as signals for when to exit and enter a trade. Commodity trading courses are likely to show you what a commodity futures contract is and how easy it is to trade electronically, how you place your futures order and set your commodity futures margin, as well as understand how hedging in commodity trading works. The whole area of risk management and preservation of capital is also an important aspect of learning in commodity trading courses, as is the psychology of trading and having a commodity trading plan. You will learn all the abovementioned aspects of trading when you take commodity trading courses.

Related Commodities Articles

Question by Constantine: Where can i get a list of Commodities which are traded on Commodities Exchange?
1) I am looking for a list which shows the commodities which are most popularly traded on commodities exchange.

2) Also, can anyone tell me the TOTAL number of commodities that are traded? As we know that there are large number of stocks (more than 2000) traded. Likewise, how many commodities are traded?

Best answer:

Answer by betotron
scottrade.com
most traded here!
buy gold on margin now

Give your answer to this question below!
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Mutual funds are basically instruments for investing money. People want to invest their money in top mutual funds and allow their money to grow. It is because the bank rates have fallen down considerably in last few years. If you want to increase the value of your money over a period of time, then investing on mutual funds is a wise decision.

However, it is crucial to understand where and how we are investing our own hard earned money. Someone has truly said “Spend like a child, Offer like young and save like elderly people”. When you try saving your money, you will need to have wisdom and lot of patience. You will also need to be very careful.

Stock market investments are one the best ways to save money. However, not every investor is well informed about the volatile market situation and may land up in heavy losses. Mutual funds are therefore considered to be the best option where the fund manager does it all for you.

There are lots of mutual funds in India offering various options to invest your money. Mutual funds are cost effective and very efficient. Investors can purchase or sell stocks at a much cheaper rate through mutual funds. You may not be able to get lower trading costs if you tried selling or buying stocks on your own.

The biggest advantage of mutual funds is that it provides diversification. Mutual funds in India are divided into the following types:

•    Open-end Funds – Money which is raised from the shareholders and invested in a group of assets is known as open-end funds.
•    Closed-End Funds – The number of shares issued is fixed through an initial public offering in closed-end funds.
•    Large-Cap Funds – In this type of funds money is invested in large blue chip companies.
•    Mid-cap Funds – Money is invested in medium sized or small sized companies in this kind of mutual fund.
•    Balanced Funds – Mutual funds that buys a combination of short-term bonds, preferred stocks and common stocks is known as balanced or hybrid funds.
•    Equity Funds – In this type of fund the pooled amount of money from the public companies is invested. It is also known as stock mutual funds.
•    Growth Funds – In this type of mutual funds capital appreciation by investing in growth stocks is the main aim.
•    No load Funds – Load funds and No Load funds are two types of mutual funds.
•    Exchange Traded Funds – Unlike conventional mutual funds, ETF’s are traded on an exchange.

There are few other classifications also like the International mutual funds, index funds, sector funds, regional mutual funds or money market funds. You can find the list of top mutual funds and then invest money in those. These days information is readily available on any of the newspapers, financial magazines, news and finance websites etc.

Mutual fund investments get affected by the volatility of the market activity. Inflation, interest rate changes and the economic scenario largely affects the mutual funds.

Some of the top mutual funds companies in India are:
•    Reliance Mutual Funds
•    ICICI Prudential
•    HDFC
•    DSP Merrill Lynch
•    SBI Mutual Funds
•    Franklin Templeton
•    Sundaram BNP Paribas

You will need to keep a track of latest market value of mutual funds in India if you want to invest money in mutual funds. Saving is the best way to prepare you for the future.

More Mutual Funds Articles

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Introduction To Futures And Options Markets

This article discusses the things you need to know about to profit from commodity options trading. Introduction To Futures And Options Markets

These key points will help you trade more successfully:Commodity Option characteristics
Commodity Options Trading Basic Terms
Commodity Options Trading Analysis
The Greeks

1. Commodity Option Trading Introduction

What Are Commodity Options?

An option is a contract that gives you the right, but not the obligation, to either go long or go short the underlying futures contract at a pre-determined entry price on or before a specific date. It lets you take advantage of price moves in the futures markets without actually having a futures position.

There are two types of options, Call options and Put options.

The Call option gives you the right, but not the obligation, to go long the underlying commodity futures contract at a pre-specified entry price on or before a specific date. You would buy a Call option when you believe the futures price will increase.

A Put option gives you the right, but not the obligation, to go short the underlying commodity futures contract at a pre-specified entry price on or before a specific date. A Put option is used when you believe the futures price will decrease.

Commodity Option characteristics

Buying commodity Options have several characteristics which make them more attractive to traders. They include: Limited Risk. You cannot lose more than the amount paid for the option.
Staying Power. You don’t run the risk of getting stopped out of a trade.
Profit Is Not Limited. If correct in your analysis, profit potential is not limited.
Quick Fills. You can quickly enter and exit markets at a reasonable price.
No Margin Calls. You won’t encounter a margin call on option positions.
No Limit Moves. Options are immune from the risk of limit moves.
Numerous Strike Price Selections. Options are available in a range of strike prices.
Lower Capital Requirements. Buying an option is less than the futures margin cost.
* Provide Trading Alternatives. Options can be used as a substitute for protective stop.

2. Common Options Basic Terms

The following terms are commonly used in option trading.

The “strike price” is the price that you may enter the underlying futures contract if you exercise the option. For Call options, the strike price is the entry price that has the right to go long the underlying commodity futures contract. For Put options, this is the entry price at which one has the right to go short the commodity. Introduction To Futures And Options Markets

The “option premium” is market-determined price of the option that you pay to purchase either a call option or a put option. It is a non-refundable cost that the option seller keeps, and is your maximum amount of risk in the market. The premium is quoted just like the price of the underlying futures contract; in cents, points, etc. Option premiums fluctuate daily due to market conditions.

Options have two separate components which together define the option’s premium. They are time value and intrinsic value.

“Time value” is the amount of time remaining before the option expires. “Intrinsic value” refers to how much the price of the underlying futures price is, relative to the strike price of the option. The option will have intrinsic value when the price of the futures contract is higher than the strike price of a call, or when the price of the futures contract is lower than the strike price of a put. Options with intrinsic value are referred to as in-the-money options.

All options are assigned an “expiration date” after which they are no longer valid for trading purposes. This is the last day that the option may be exercised. Frequently, this date will be 2-4 weeks before the underlying futures contract’s Last Trading Day (LTD), although some futures items synchronize the option expiration date with the futures contract LTD. The farther out into the future an option’s expiration date is, the more expensive the option will be (time = money).

3. Commodity Options Trading Analysis

First, you must analyze the futures market to identify the current (and likely future) price trend. My complete Commodity FUTURES Trading Course gives you the tools to help you intelligently analyze the futures markets and identify options which have a high probability for profit. This is what losers don’t do. There will be times when your analysis suggests that a commodity is ready to start a major move. But the margin may be too large, or it may be volatile and the futures contract may require a large stop-loss risk amount (,200 to ,500 or more) to avoid getting easily stopped out and is an amount which your money management rules prohibit. In other instances, the margin may just be too high. In these cases, you can use an option if your money management rules permit its purchase.

Practical Rules for Selecting Options

After you have analyzed the markets, you must first determine how much you want to risk. Your money management plan will be part of this determination. You should also consider the margin required for a futures contract as compared to the premium paid for the option. With commodity futures contracts, the margin is a refundable deposit – if you are correct about the direction of the move. With options, the premium is a non-refundable cost. For speculators, options work best in volatile markets because you don’t get stopped out. They give you “staying power” – for a price.

Use the following items as a guide to help you in selecting a simple option position.

The option type (will you be trading a call option or a put option)
Buy an option with as close to 3 months before expiration as possible.
Buy an option within 3 strike prices away from being in the money.
Never risk more than 0 of the premium paid for the option.
When possible, buy an even multiple of options (i.e., 2, 4, 6, 8 options, etc.) Introduction To Futures And Options Markets

Related Options Market Articles

Question by Master J: Options Market?
What options would be a good play tomorrow?

I’m looking for something with most indicators going in the same direction that will align with the general sentiment.

Also some optimal times to buy and sell would be helpful.

Thanks

Best answer:

Answer by zman492
<<>>

Here is an options play I set up Tuesday afternoon.

http://messages.yahoo.com/Business_%26_Finance/Investments/threadview?m=tm&bn=4686677%23optiontradestraderecommendations&tid=3347&mid=3347&tof=1&off=1

If you think it is an attractive play you can try to get the similar prices Wednesday morning.

However, if you do not think it is an attractive spread, or if you do not know how to manage a diagonal spread, then it probably would not be a good choice for you.

<<>>

I have heard a number of people say the bid-ask spreads are larger during the first hour of trading each day, making that a less than optimal time. I have never confirmed the accuracy of that observation, but I tend to believe it.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
\

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