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For individuals just getting involved in the game of investing, there is a lot of wonder circulating around mutual funds. Certain questions such as, “What are the risks associated with mutual funds?” and “Are they a good investment?” are questions that are frequently asked amongst investors. However, it is good to ask these questions because asking questions about mutual funds shows that a person means serious business when it comes to investing. All investors want the best return they can possibly get on their investment, so exploring the many options available are important. When it comes to mutual funds, there are many options. That is why it is good to know at least the basics.

The basics

Mutual funds consists of money from many different investors that is pooled together and invested into short-term money markets, stocks, bonds, various other assets or securities, or maybe even a combination of any of these. Each investor owns a portion of the holdings that the fund possesses and the income that is generated from these holdings.

There are several factors that distinguish mutual funds from other types of funds. Those factors are:

- The shares are purchased from the actual fund instead of from other investors via such avenues as NASDAQ or NYSE.

- The purchase price is the price per share plus any fees imposed by the fund at the time. These are commonly referred to as shareholder fees.

- When selling the shares, you are selling them back to the fund.

- New investors are accommodated through the creation of new funds that can be sold to them.

- Investment advisors that are registered with the SEC are typically who takes care of mutual funds.

Advantages and disadvantages

There are advantages and disadvantages to mutual funds. The advantages include:

- Diversification of your portfolio - This is important in investing because a diversified portfolio has better earning potential.

- They are affordable - There is a high degree of affordability when it comes to mutual funds. Dollar amounts can be set low for purchases, giving lower income individuals the ability to invest.

- Managed professionally - There are professionals who are constantly monitoring the performance of these mutual funds and always looking for the best investments for the fund in order to maximize its return to its investors.

- Liquidity - Investors are able to redeem their shares at the current NAV. This is in addition to any fees or charges assessed at that time.

The advantages make it clear that a mutual fund can be a great investment, but like any type of investment there are some disadvantages that come along with them as well. Those disadvantages include:

- There are annual fees, charges for sales, and other fees associated with them. It doesn’t matter how the fund performs. These costs still apply. Taxes also have to be paid on gains. This refers to any distributions received even if the fund performed poorly.

- Investors do not control their shares. The make-up of the portfolio is decided by the manager of the fund.

- There is uncertainty that surrounds the price of shares. It isn’t like how you can follow regular shares of stock in real-time during trading hours. There is a delay in you finding out what your share is within a mutual fund since you are sharing the fund with other investors.

So now that you see the advantages and the disadvantages, you can decide which way to go. However, you have to weigh them against each other. An example: Although you don’t have control, the fund is under professional control. Mutual funds have helped put money in people’s pockets, so mutual funds can be a great way to invest for your future. Just make sure you find a fund that performs well.

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Investing can be a fun and exciting way to make money. To many times the young investor doesn’t understand some of the most basic rules of investing. This causes the first time investor to loose money and get discouraged; thus quitting altogether. That isn’t the answer to wealth and riches.

This is something that I learned later on in my investing career. When I first started I didn’t care who was in control I just wanted my money out there in an investment earning more interest then the bank was paying. I thought that the returns would stay high as the previous years, and that the moment things changed my broker would call me and suggest changing markets. I was nave to think that other people would care for my money the same way that I would. This was a painful lesson.

As I started out in life my father would tell me “Bob, no one cares as much about your money as you do”. I didn’t understand this at first. I thought surely my broker who is my friend doesn’t want me to loose money. And in a large way he did care about my money, but he also had the money of another 50-100 people that he had to care for at the same time.

Remember there is only one person that is ultimately responsible for your money and that is you! Brokers are there to guide us and give us tips, but we have to take in that information and then make an educated decision concerning our investing. My first investments were way out of control. If someone were to ask me why I invested in that trade I had no answer! “Because it looked good” I would say! I was on a path to disaster!

Please don’t misunderstand me, I like brokers. I think that they play a very important role in investing. They can be especially helpful with you if you have little or no experience. Just don’t loose control of your money! You have to ask yourself the question “how does my broker make money?” Then we can see the thing that is going to motivate our broker. They will suggest all kinds of investments because they make money when you invest. Even when you loose money! So take good care of your money, you worked to hard for it to throw it away.

Have you ever loaned your car to someone? I have! Did they take care of it the same way that I would have? NO! Money is the same way so be careful who you give your money to. More importantly then that be careful who you give control of your money too. Many times these are not the same things.

When trading in any investment the possibility of being successful is high. As long as your maintain control of your investment. I know several people making a lot of money in the Forex market but this is because they have total control of their money at all times.

With a good Forex trading platform you can do just that; control your trades. You can have a broker to help you. In fact I wouldn’t suggest trying it without one. They can help you to control your money if you don’t know how the system works. So work together with your broker and make lots of money. It is much more fun that way!

If Forex trading is something that interests you then I would encourage you to get online and read some more about how to trade successfully. Click on the links in the bio box and read some more articles. There is even a free e book that you can download to get you started in Forex investing.

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When you’re first learning about the stock market, the stock tables in the paper can be quite confusing. Learning how to read stocks won’t take much time, though, and it’s very important.

There are twelve columns in the table, and you’ll notice that each stock has its own line in this table. To find out how the stock has been performing over the past year, look at the first two columns– these will be labeled something to the effect of “52W High” and “52W Low.” You’ll see the highest point the stock has achieved in the last 52 weeks in the “52W High” column. Its lowest value will be in the “52W Low” column.

The next column is the name of the stock itself, followed by another column showing the stock’s ticker symbol. Every stock is given a unique combination of letters. Perhaps you’ll even recognize a few (or more than a few) of these tickers. They periodically run across the bottom of the screen of cable news networks.

By the way, watching some of the financial shows could be a good idea. It will further your knowledge even more on how to read stocks and understand the way the market works.

There’s another column next to the ticker column, and it’s labeled “Div.” This column shows you the annual dividend the stock pays out for each share. If you see a blank space in this column, that means the stock doesn’t pay dividends right now. The same rule also applies to the very next column, “Yield %”, the percentage return on the dividend.

P/E is the price to earnings ratio. Dividing the current stock price by earnings per share for the last four quarters gives you this number.

After that you will discover the columns of “High” and “Low.” These are the highest and lowest points that the stock reached in the day’s trading. “Net Change” refers to how much the stock price has changed from the previous day, and “Close” lets you know what the final price was when the stock market closed for the day.

With a basic understanding of how to read stocks, you can now move on and start learning more about the market itself.

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