There are some points that can help you to weigh a company before you associate yourself with an insurance company.

1. Financial track record of the insurance company
The most important factor of an insurance company is the financial well-being that can attract you to take an insurance policy from a particular company. In the Indian context where an experienced foreign player is involved, the financial performance of the foreign partner is equally important. One can judge the company’s financial performance on the basis of the claim amount settled, frequency of claims, rating given by an independent international rating agency such as Standard & Poor.

2. Financial underwriting norms
Financial underwriting means to assess the extent to which an individual should be insured in monetary terms. Generally, an individual should be insured sufficiently enough so that he can continue to lead a lifestyle post-retirement as he was leading before retirement. With this perspective, he should probably look at getting himself insured up to 10-15 times his annual salary. So, ideally you should stick with an insurer that follows prudent financial underwriting norms. Many insurance companies in their enthusiasm to expand their policy base may undertake to insure a larger quantum of risk than necessary. In this way, they overexpose themselves for enhancing the risk levels. Insurance being a matter of sharing risk, financial underwriting becomes an important factor to determine the future liabilities of the companies.

3. Insurance agent
The insurance agent of the insurance company is the link between the insurance company and the individual applicant. Often it is observed that applicants freely discuss various issues with the agent including medical ones such as a heart problem running in the family or hereditary diabetic problem. Some agents are also co-operating by not revealing these sensitive details to the insurance company. An applicant must understand that the agent is putting the premiums contributed by other applicants at risk by not disclosing your true medical condition. He could well cooperate with another applicant in future by concealing his true medical history, and put at risk your premium. So, when you apply for an insurance policy you ought to consider these things.

4. Management’s pedigree
Another factor that coincides with financial stability is the management of the insurance company. Financial stability is generally a direct consequence of good management. As in other industries, life insurance also thrives on good management and if anything, given the sensitive nature of the industry, it needs a solid management at the helm more than the others. In the Indian context, both partners should have a lot of integrity and experience in the financial sector. If the Indian partner already has a history in a financial field like housing finance and banking and also has an AAA rating to boot, that should tell you something about the company’s proficiency.

If you are planning to purchase a life insurance policy, you may want to weigh these factors. You must understand that purchasing a life insurance policy needs a different approach than investing in a bond or a fixed deposit. Life insurance involves a longer commitment and a larger amount that will you or your survivors at a time when they need it the most. So don’t get carried away by what your agent tells you, do a little homework on your own for a change.

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A mortgage is a considerable financial responsibility, one which most likely hinges upon a steady income. The payments may become difficult to make without your assistance or, even worse, impossible to meet. Life insurance can help you to protect your home and family.

A life insurance policy can protect your family from the financial obligations of making mortgage payments without your salary. In the event of your death, your family will still be accountable for mortgage payments, which may be unaffordable without your contribution.

For protecting your family from bearing such a burden and possibly losing the house, you should purchase a life insurance policy. Although there are other insurance options available too, for example, mortgage protection insurance, the wisest and most economically sound choice is to buy a life insurance policy.

The death benefit of your life insurance policy should include your mortgage’s amount. On the occurrence of your death, the proceedings of the policy will cover the entire cost of your mortgage, your house will be paid off, and your family will have one less thing to worry about.

If taking out a mortgage has already substantially cut into your finances, life insurance is even more important. Although your mortgage payments may make paying premiums for a whole life insurance policy unimaginable, there are cheaper options.

As an alternative to purchase a permanent life insurance policy or mortgage protection insurance, explore the option of buying a term insurance policy for the same duration as your mortgage. This alternative is much less costly. The premiums will be considerably lower, but the coverage will remain the same.

At the end of the life of the policy, you can decide whether you want to convert or renew the policy or if you would rather discontinue the policy. This approach guarantees mortgage protection at the lowest cost.

In terms of cost, the best choice is decreasing term life insurance. If the main reason for purchasing a life insurance policy is for mortgage protection, investing in this type of term insurance is your best bet.

At the start of your mortgage, you owe the most to your lender and your mortgage protection should reflect that. However, since after a few years of making payments, you will owe significantly less, decreasing your protection is a logical move. A decreasing term life insurance policy allows this.

You can also design your life insurance policy so that your protection is the same amount as your debt. Although the premiums do not decrease over time, your mortgage life insurance quote will be considerably lower than if the quote you would receive and if the coverage of the policy were level throughout its term. Some policies annual premiums are the same as the level coverage, but the payments end earlier than the end of the policy. For e.g., the premiums on a 20 year mortgage protection insurance policy are required to be paid for only 16 years even thought the coverage will last all 20 years.

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If you want to convert your term life insurance into a permanent one, you should consult a financial adviser for their opinion. Bear in mind that you can choose to cancel any life insurance policy that you buy often after a period of ten days if you are dissatisfied with it. A good life insurance should cover all aspects of your life that you want it to.

Picking out the best life insurance for yourself involves investigating the company offering it very well. Life insurance companies are all over the place hence the need to search intensively for the right one. Factors that can guide you in making the right life insurance decision are premium and coverage.

You may be confused at the array of life insurance policies available to you because they are numerous. The first step to choosing the right life insurance policy is to ensure that you know exactly what you want. If you do not define your goals before you go looking for life insurance, you may end up selecting the wrong policy.

A variable life policy is a life insurance policy that is designed to have a fixed monthly premium. You can make profit from a variable life policy if you channel the cash build up to other investments and watch over them closely.

In your desire to obtain an affordable life insurance plan, you may fall victim of scammers online. Never volunteer more information than is necessary online to a so-called life insurance company if they aren't being exactly forthright. Before you entrust any information that may incriminate you to an online insurance
agent, you should first check up the company to ensure that they are legit.

In America, life insurance is hardly common because of the implications associated with it. The feeling or belief that you cannot die young may eventually be the death of you when you don't have life insurance, so to speak. Death is a reality that confronts both old and young so you're never too young to buy life insurance.

More often than not, you may end up paying a higher premium rate for your life insurance because you avoided the medical exams that came with it. A good way of getting cheaper rates for your life insurance is to agree to a medical exam. Most life insurance companies give discounts to people who have excellent health.

For many people, life insurance is a confusing combination of terminologies and figures. Many people only often see the need for life insurance after they have it explained to them in painstaking detail. Life insurance isn't really that hard to understand once you are able to look beyond your hang ups about death and at the bigger picture

In every financial crisis there are losers and there are winners. Everywhere, we hear news of people losing money - stocks, housing, unit trusts, commodities. So where are the gainers? Surely, someone will stand to sweep in the big win. How about :-

1) Short sellers who bet the share price to crash, now seeing their profit bellying
2) Intraday traders benefiting from the volatility
3) Those who gained from the 2006-2007 stock market peak and exited gracefully

There is another group that I am truly impressed with - those who provide value for money.

It is in the environment of crisis that people or companies that truly deliver value for money will stand out. Apple is one company that beat Wall Street expectations in their 4Q results. They have consistently invested in innovation and brought value to their products. As people tighten their belts, profits will go to places that can deliver more for less, stripping away the marketing fad to reveal true value. Case in point, McDonalds have successfully positioned themselves for 11% increase in profit as they gradually move towards being health conscious and providing a cheaper alternative for meals. In fact April this year, CEO Jim Skinner has switched McDonalds to using trans-fat free oil in all of their US and Canada restaurant outlets.

India, is another example benefiting from cost cutting measures of major banks as a lucrative offshore outsourcing provider. While investment banks from all over the world are cutting manpower, India is hiring.

As the cash trickles from luxurious spending to economical spending, the group of people who provide more for less will stand to benefit the most.

Who are the winners in this financial crisis? Among them are those who bring savings to your wallet.

As you know, we have been experiencing one of the most challenging times in our country's history.

During the past few months, we've encountered a housing bubble, credit crisis, a bear market in stocks, significant increase in unemployment rate, continuous increase in commodities such as food and energy prices and more.

As a result of these problems, the government has taken serious action to stabilize the country's economic condition to avoid another "Great Depression." According to National Bureau of Economic Research, the country is not yet officially experiencing a recession. Despite what the experts say, we should still prepare in advance for any possibility and take the appropriate steps to protect ourselves.

Remember, recessions come and go. Based on previous records, a recession may last anywhere between 8-16 months. At the same time, no other economic crisis within the last 50 years has been compared to the "Great Depression." What does this mean for you and what should you do? First and foremost, do not worry and do panic. Not only will the economy eventually cycle back to a better condition, but you can still effectively prepare for what's to come ahead.

Here are smart ways to help you survive a recession:

1. Spend wisely. Be sure to cut unnecessary spending. For example, if you usually buy coffee everyday, try to make coffee at home instead. You will be surprised on how much you will save. Tip: If you don't need it, don't buy it. Check Money Saving Tips for more ways on how to save significantly.

2. Pay-off your debt. If you can afford it, pay of all your credit card debts starting with the highest interest rates and be sure to avoid using the "plastic" unless for emergency situations. During a financial hardship, it becomes very tempting to use your credit cards but keep in mind that it won't help you in the long-run. Also, keeping your balances low and credit cards open will act as an emergency line when and if needed. Tip: Pay off your balances from purchases made from previous years before making new ones.

3. Continue Investing. When the economy is down, money becomes tight and most people stop making IRA and 401k contributions. You may want to give it some serious thought before you stop making these contributions, especially if your employer matches what you put in. In fact, during a recession, savvy investors like Warren Buffet consider these conditions as the best time to invest. If you have extra cash available, it may be time for you to get expert financial advice from your financial advisor as stock prices have become very low. Tip: Invest wisely. Diversify your portfolio to lower your risks. As the popular saying goes " Do not put your eggs in the same basket."

4. Work harder. During a recession, the unemployment rate goes up because companies are not generating enough revenue for numerous reasons. As a result, they lay off employees to cut down on their biggest expense, salary wages. With this in mind, be sure to work even harder and be proactive. Work extra hard to prove to your employer that you are indispensable. Tip: If you're scared of losing your job, make a back-up plan. Update your resume and start looking for a second job to be on the safe side.

5. Think long term. Based on statistics, recessions usually last for a period of 8-16 months. As mentioned earlier, this is not anything like we have seen since the "Great Depression." When making any financial decisions, be sure to be very cautious and conservative. Tip: If you do not need the money immediately, you may consider not selling any of your investments as the prices have gone very low. Your financial advisor may tell you to hold on to it and consider selling when the market has significantly improved. This way you can get the most out of your investments.

When trading it is important to concentrate on your plan not your money. If you have a plan and are following it through the money will come.

If you concentrate on how much money you are making or losing it will be extremely stressful. Not only that you will find it more difficult to make money. You will start to take profits too early as you try to hold onto the profits that you have made.

This is probably the biggest disadvantage to keeping your eye on how much money you are making. It can cause you to take profits as soon as you have them, especially when you are on a losing streak.

But taking out profits too early and not letting them run and grow can have a number of disadvantages. The biggest one is you might not be able to pay for your losses when you are right. Let's face it you are going to be wrong when trading.

Everyone makes mistakes or places a bad trade. The important part is making enough when you are right to be able to (at least) pay for when you are wrong. If you are consistently taking profits too early and not letting them run you might be involved in a losing game.

Counting your money on the table also will make you not want to exit losing trades in hopes that they will come back. This only leads to bigger losses and opportunity cost. Even if the stock does come back and you break even after 5 years, you would have missed hundreds of great opportunities to make your money grow.

On the other hand concentrating on a plan can be great because it lets you find out what you are doing wrong (or right). It will let you stay into good stocks longer and let you get out of bad stocks faster. In the long run concentrating on a plan can help you do much better

Don't Buy Anything

Screaming! Hollering! Gyrations!
BUY! BUY! BUY! Is this the bottom? What are you buying now?

That's all you hear on CNBC-TV, from brokers and so-called financial planners. The right question is, "What should I sell now?"

Brokers are not taught to protect clients money. Money the customer worked hard to accumulate slowly Is disappearing. The poor (and getting poorer) investor is listening to the chorus singing, "the market always comes back", "you have good quality stocks so just hold on to them", "you don't have a loss until you sell" and "you can't time the market", These refrains and many others are told to keep the unknowledgeable investor from selling. Once that money goes into a money market fund the brokerage company no longer makes any money on that account.

Even without generating commissions the brokers skim about 1% every year. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Think about the hundreds of millions of dollars in all those accounts. Even worse are the mutual funds that skim about 2% every year.

In the current bear market that is going to go on for several more years (yes, I said years, remember 2000-2003) investors are going to lose several Trillion dollars. (Yes, that's a T.)

There will be rallies to draw in the last few bucks of Joe Sixpack. When looking back to the 2000 fiasco there were rallies, but ultimately the S&P lost 40% and the NASDAQ lost 78%.

Can that happen again? No one knows for sure, but the trend now (and 'now' is what counts) is down with a capital "D".

Investors have been taught to buy, but the big secret on Wall Street is knowing when to sell. Brokers and financial planners are not taught exit strategies.

To prove this the investor can call his broker or expert financial planner to ask this simple question: "What is your exit strategy?" Have him explain iot in full - if he has one - and then have him send you a letter outlining it completely. This will be your only proof when you go to arbitration to get back your money he has lost..

If the investor can't get it he has two choices: 1. Stay with him and lose your money or 2. find a new broker. Some mutual funds are worse as they will not give any help at all and in fact many have redemption fees of 1% or 2% that are charged when the customer wants to get out or even transfer to the money market within a fund family.

Whatever fantasy your financial "expert" comes up with don't believe it. Don't buy anything until this bear market has run its course.

Most of us are not able to predict when a Stock Market Crash will happen. This means we might be one of the unfortunate investors caught on the wrong side of a crash. If this happens to you, here are a few tips for minimising the damage to your portfolio.

Tip No1
The first tip is to be prepared. Before you make any investment, be just as cautious as you would be if you knew for certain that there would be a Stock Market Crash next week. It is better to be safe than sorry, especially when your hard earned cash is involved.

Tip No 2
Most brokers allow you to place stops for all your open positions. You are strongly advised to take advantage of this facility. Stock prices are known to fall as much as 20% during a Wall Street crash. To make matters worse, very few of them recover to their previous levels in a hurry. While a stop will not guarantee your exit price during a crash, in many cases it will help you exit at a more favourable price than if you did not have one in place.

Tip No 3
The amount of money you lose during a crash is directly proportional to your position size. The smaller your position size - the less money you will lose. Limit your position size to less than 2% of your capital, and you are likely to survive even the worst Stock Market Crash.

Tip No 4
Hedging is a strategy used liberally by Stock Market professionals, and for good reason. Whilst hedging can be an expensive exercise, it will save your skin when things go horribly wrong such as during a Stock Market Crash. These days, there are many instruments like options that make hedging possible even for small retail investors.

One of the worst things that can happen to any investor is to be caught on the wrong side of a crash. Fortunately, the tips I have presented will go a long way towards cushioning the blow.

Internet plays the dominant role as for the future of stock exchanges. The changes in the system have wiped out the traditional modalities of buying and selling of shares. Electronic networks are dominating the scene. The investment activities have multiplied. The day to day volume of the operations has reached staggering heights with corresponding increase in the number of brokers. The dealings have turned out methodical, systematic and instant access has rendered the verifying procedures easy. Gain or loss, an investor can deal confidently and will know his position with the click of the mouse.

ECNs have reduced the possibility of front running. The lightening speed with which the transactions take place, without any manual intervention, has made it virtually impossible for the traders to acquire prior knowledge of customer's incoming orders and do the balancing act. The future of the stock exchanges is bright, as they have multiple roles to play in the economy. The companies are able to raise capital for expansion by selling shares to the investing public. The Exchange impacts most of the commercial activities. Some of them are:

Mobilizing savings for investment: The intelligent investing public is always on the lookout for better avenues for getting higher profits. When they draw their savings from institutions like Commercial Banks, and amount kept as idle deposit and invests more prudently in shares, such money goes to promote business activity. The economic sectors that are in dire need of resources, like commerce and industry and agriculture get their demands, paving way for higher productivity and growth.

Facilitating company growth: Business means opportunities; business means timing, making the right move at the right time. In this era of industrial and internet revolution, decisions to expand and change the production lines, acquisition of necessary business assets, takeovers and mergers will have to be taken fast. The share market makes it possible for the businessman to grow through fusion or acquisition.

Redistribution of wealth: This establishment is not founded to felicitate redistribution of wealth. But this consequential action just happens. The investors share the wealth of dividends declared and increase in the prices of shares which will result in capital gains. They get their portion of wealth of the profitable businesses.

Investment opportunities for small investors: The future of the small investors is more or less safe, if they are guided properly. Such guidance is neither costly nor it is far to seek. Buying shares depends upon one's affordability and as such it is the convenient mode. You have the freedom to invest. With no differentiation between the small and big investors, this is a place where justice to the investors is assured.

Capital raising by the Government for development and social welfare projects:

Towards creating a welfare society, the first duty of the Government is to create infrastructure. Sewage and water treatment plants, housing projects are financed by floating bonds. The public lends money to the government through the medium of Exchange. The bonds apparently offer tax concessions to the investing public, but in reality they do not seem to provide the actual relief in the over all context. Sooner or later, the government will tax the citizens to repay the bonds on redemption and the expenses devolved in managing the issue of bonds together with interest. It is just like "rob Peter to pay Paul."

The future of stock exchanges is intimately linked to the overall economic health of the nation. They progress like a train that speeds on two parallel tracks.

Those who have no money have the problem of earning money. Those who have money have the problem of earning more profits with their money. To put it in financial terms, they have the problems of investment. The moneyed individuals (no such term) are not necessarily the best investors. The fear of incurring losses always grips the minds of the rich. Nevertheless, the craze for increasing wealth seizes the minds of the rich people

Stock Exchange is the connecting bridge between the investors and the capital market-for the companies planning business expansion to increase profits. The work of the broker is not to function in a haphazard manner. He must plan for each investor, depending upon his needs and the amount of investment. He has to create the suitable portfolio, to hit the financial goals of the investor. He has to work-in tandem with the rules and regulations of the exchange, and proves worthy of the trust reposed on him by the management of the establishment on the one hand, and that of the investor on the other.

Most exchanges have a physical location (the necessity for this type of arrangement is waning in this internet era), where dealers and brokers meet to finalize orders from individual and institutional investors to buy and sell securities. The volume of literature on shares that you find in the market is the direct outcome of what transpires within the exchange. Prices of shares are raised, lowered, discovered and rediscovered here on moment to moment to basis. The story within may not be the true merit of the share, without. Since money transfers are done from one source to the other on the basis of such transactions, the importance of exchanges can not be minimized.

Name a financial service and you have it, with the framework of rules and regulations of the Stock exchange. It is also referred to as he Corporate Debt or Capital Market.

Three broad categories of the financial services provided at the Exchanges are:

The Public Debt Market: This is the market for government securities (also known as gilt-edged securities). These are fixed interest bearing and dated securities. This market is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India and Bankers to the Government.

PSU Bond Market: deals with bonds floated by Public Sector units, Nationalized Banks and financial institutions to raise Tier II capital. Debentures floated by Corporate also come under his category.
The Equity Market for floating of equity or preference share capital by corporate:

Once the investor buys the shares, they can not be en-cashed just as you do in banks for fixed deposits, but through the exchange, you can sell or purchase them. The investments, from this genre have liquidity. The profit (may be loss as well) earned on the shares is disbursed to the investor as dividends, bonus shares etc. The prime goal of any financial management is to increase the shareholder's wealth.

The role of the exchanges is to look after both the Primary Market and the secondary Market. The former deals with new public issues of all categories of securities, bonds and equity/preference shares. The secondary market deals with the day to day buying and selling of securities of all types. Without being listed, one can not carry out transactions relating to buying and selling of shares.

If there is one institution that is commonly feared most by the Reserve Bank and the Finance Ministry of a country, it is the Stock Exchange. The goings on within it and its role is the concern of these institutions.

What happens now, If your bank fails will the shareholders lose out?
The FDIC took over WaMu due to its failure, Washington Mutual was heavily invested in subprime home mortgages. Declining home values left WaMu seeking more capital to stay afloat. Incurring more debt by borrowing more money, the bank lost its footing when large sums of depositors withdrew money out of their accounts.

Once the FDIC stepped in they sold the bank to JP Morgan Chase for 1.9 Billion dollars, since for JP Morgan this is an asset only acquisition. Shareholders will lose all the money they had invested in the Nasdaq (WM).

Where does this leave private equity investors?

According to Welt News Online the deal leaves private equity investors including the firm TPG Capital, empty handed without anything to show for the purchase of equity securities they bought totaling $7 billion invested in WaMu.

JPMorgan Chase is now the second largest bank with rising shares for investors, According to the Wall Street Journal Online, JPMorgan is now the nation's largest deposit-gatherer with $911 billion of deposits, outranking Citigroup Inc.'s $804 billion and B of A Corp.'s $785 billion. J.P. Morgan previously ranked as the third-largest with $723 billion, before buying WaMu.

The deal also pushes J.P. Morgan to the second spot as measured by its 5,410 branches, ranking behind Bank of America and leaping over both Wells Fargo & Co. and Wachovia Corp.

J.P. Morgan infused its business by selling $10 billion of common stock, investors bid up the JPMorgan's shares by 11%. When JP Morgan sold its stock in conjuction with the WaMu deal shares rose $4.78, to $48.24 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading

Find out how to protect your money from bank failure

Having options on how best to protect your money will help with future decisions when it comes to your investment portfolio. The seizure by the government means shareholders' equity in WaMu was wiped out. The deal leaves private equity investors on the sidelines empty handed.

When it comes to asset protection for your basic bank accounts, including checking and savings they are insured and protected by The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation up to $100,000 at all banks, for sums lost due to theft, bank closings or failures. Brokerage accounts carry their own protections in case of failure.

Brokerage accounts have protections in place in case of bank failure, with up to $500,000 in coverage (SIPC)The Securities Investor Protection Corporation insures brokerage accounts.

What do we learn? That it is important to diversify your investment strategy, this can help to protect you from shifts in the market.

The question about what moves the tock market is quite complicated. There are several visible and invisible factors that cause the rise and fall in stock market. There are several issues on political, economic and social level that include inflation, change in interest rates, earnings of the people, oil and energy prices, war, peace and terrorism, political and domestic situation and so on. While some of these factors may have long-term consequences for the stock market, others may have only short-term implications.

What, however, drives the market crazy is the uncertainty factor. What the stock market is most sensitive to is the surprises. When something unusual occurs in the country, the stock market immediately reacts to it. Stock market radars are extremely sensitive to changes.

This can be illustrated by an example. If the Federal Reserve Board's Open Market Committee-Fed- thinks of raising the interest rates by one quarter percent, the stock market will not react much. If contrary to the expectation, the Fed raises the interest rate by one-half percent, the market will feel shocked.

So any news which can surprise the market can rattle it, be it on the economic front, terrorist attack and similar other incident. If the news is really good, it also shows its impact in form of rise in stock prices.

The cumulative effect of these factors, whether good or bad, creates market phases such as bulls phase, bears' phase or secular phase.

A bull market is also referred to as a bull run. A bull market is characterized by a rise in stock prices. It keeps most investors happy. It creates and strengthens their confidence and makes them optimistic about the returns on their investments. Therefore they tend to invest in stocks in the hope of making big in the near future.

A notable example of bull market was in the 1990s when the US and several international markets had a very happy time because the financial markets went up very rapidly. The US stock markets had a bull run from 1983 to 2007 except for brief periods of slumps.

Bear market is associated with fall in prices and lots of pessimism. Investors fear losses. A negative sentiment prevails in the market and investors want to sell their stocks fearing further downfall.

The most glaring example of bear phase in the history of United States was after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that continued from 1930 to 1932 generating what was called the Great Depression. A milder version of bear market occurred from about 1973 to 1982 when the economy became stagnant. It resulted in energy crisis and high unemployment in the early 1980s.

A bear market is often characterized by the constant price fluctuations. A bear market does not mean just a simple fall in stock prices. It may result in substantial price fall. Although you cannot give a clear definition of bear market, it is often characterized by a fall in price by around 20% in a period of two months. A recent example of bear market is current state stock markets of world in the year 2008.

A bear market should not be confused with a period of correction. Correction also results in fall in stock markets, but a period of correction is usually short lived. Moreover correction usually occurs during the bull phase. The price fall does not surpass 15-20%. The bear markets last longer and suffer much greater price falls from top to bottom.

A period of correction in stock prices is usually a welcome opportunity for smart stock market investors. They try to buy high value stocks when most people try to sell them away at reduced prices. The profit from their sales as soon as the correction period, which is usually short lived, is over.

When the stock market price shows downward trend, the analysts begin to debate whether it is actually a correction, a rally, or the start of a bear market or even a bull market. In any case it is usually impossible to arrive at any correct decision. In fact, whether the market is actually passing through a correction or a truly bear phase can be determined only after that phase is over.

It must, however, be noted that a bear market howsoever depressing it may be, rarely wipes out the real (inflation adjusted) gains made during the previous bull market. On the other hand the bulls that succeed the bears often make up for the real losses of any bear market.

Commodities Market is an upcoming and fiercely growing market after the Stock Market. In this, Multi-Commodities like Bullion (Gold, Silver), Cement, Chemicals, Cotton, Dry Fruits, Food Grains, Gur & Sugar, Iron & Steel, Jute & Jute Goods, Kirana, Metals, etc. are traded on a day to day basis. Interests of individual investors are catching on fast in this type of Exchange.

There are 3 National Exchanges for enabling the purchase and sale of commodities, futures and options. These are:

1. Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX)
2. National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange Ltd. (NCDEX)
3. National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd.

Under these 3 National Exchanges, there are a dozen active Bourses for trading, more than 2,000 brokers operating in 6,000 terminals and 10,000 active traders. All these are tracking the commodities prices round the clock. In the very First year of its commencement, Commodities Trading in India clocked an annual turnover of Rs.1400 Billion and is estimated to cross Rs.10,000 Billion during this fiscal alone.

The MCX has setup centres in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Delhi for physical delivery of futures contracts in commodities. It plans to spread this network to Kolkata and Chennai. The NCDEX has recently launched in association with International Petroleum Exchange, London (IPE), the IPE Brent Crude Futures Contract, which is a landmark step towards integrating Indian Energy Markets with global Energy Markets. The MCX has tied up with Chicago Climate Exchange to trade in Carbon and Sulphur Financial Instruments for the global emissions marketplace. In near future, MCX will tie-up with, European Climate Exchange.

The Commodities and Futures Market has a separate regulator called the Forwards Markets Commission (FMC). The FMC has been setup on the lines of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and has statutorily received the autonomous governing body status.

As the Commodities Market is in infancy stage and on the aggressive growth path, it requires innovations, ideas. The human resource required to operate the market and exchange is tremendous. The Exchange needs professionals from all walks of life. They are : Graduates (BComs, BScs), Post Graduates (Economics, Labour, Agriculture), Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, Cost & Works Accountants, MBAs (Finance, Operations, Systems, Human Resource, Marketing, International Business), Law Graduates, MCAs, MCMs and so on. Having the National Stock Exchange's Certification in Financial Markets (NCFM) is an added advantage. The pay packages range from Rs 4 lacs to Rs 6 lacs p.a.

These professionals are required for Business Development, Market Operations, Warehousing, Research & Development, Network & Security, Corporate Communication, Product Knowledge Management, Liaisoning, Corporate Relations, Human Resource, Secretarial, Legal Compliances, Customer Relations, Estate Management and so on.

Are there any good stocks to get into these days? I know that we are all familiar with the stock market's recent decline, therefore can we really expect to find some good stocks to invest in that can yield significantly great returns? Well, the answer is "yes". There are opportunities available today that can allow us to purchase some really good stock that can provide both short term and long term gains.

So, what are good stocks to invest in given this current market? To find the best stocks out there, you must look for stocks that are priced very low. These can be either penny stock investments or undervalued stock investments. When a penny stock or an undervalued stock is purchased, then you will be able to profit with smaller stock price margins. It would only require that your stock price only increase by a few cents or dollars for you to obtain a significant increase in your return.

Like penny stocks, undervalued stocks can be priced well below their value within the stock market. It may take the market some time to realize that the price should be adjusted higher than the current price. It is best to invest during this window of opportunity as you will make the greatest return.

So, where do you look to find these good stocks? You must perform your own research to find these bargains. Research the news, financial reports, and the stock market analyst's recommendations for ideas. It can become a tedious process.

Reacting to the market is a lesson every trader should learn. It is much simpler and much more profitable then to just react to the market then to try to understand it.

Too many traders try to explain a big move. For instance most people will say that stocks fell because of the unemployment numbers that just came out, or the interest rates that were announced or some other important news factor that came out today.

And they may be right, there could be hundreds of reasons why the market falls on any given day, but is it really worth it to find out. In most cases the answer is no.

Stocks fall because of panic, more sellers than buyers. Stocks shoot up because of greed, more buyers than sellers. Many times it can actually help you to weed out all the noise that comes from Wall Street and make decisions based on what you see.

If you are a technical trader that is what you should do. Don't concern yourself with the fact that everyone says we are in the worst depression since whenever. Concentrate on the basics, is the market up trending? Is it down trending? Has it broken support? Any Chart patterns forming?

The basics will help you to stay calm and look at the market with a clear mind rather than looking at it with hundreds of news reports running through your head. Perhaps the most important reason for just reacting to the market is that it helps to eliminate bias.

You can listen to the news and hear all the reasons why a given stock is going to go up. The problem is when it comes time to see how the stock is actually performing you will have a bias to the upside. Even if the stock is in a strong downtrend you can always find some news out there that can justify buying it.

But justifying your buying isn't always enough. If a stock is clearly trending down and breaking through support there is no reason for you to buy it. In fact you may even want to short it.

Basically it does not help you to try to explain or rationalize things by looking at the short term news reports. It can help you much more to weed all the useless junk out and concentrate on your own specific trading rules

Do you want to know how to make safe investments? Does such a thing even exist in today's economic crisis. Well, there are many ways to make safe investments. I am not talking about risk free investments than barley earn you anything. I am talking about investments that have the potential to earn you good money very quickly. How can a investment like this be safe? I am going to tell you to find such an investment. Even in this economic crisis, there are amazing investments just waiting for you.

The thing I invest in most, and this surprises many people, is penny stocks. You see, penny stocks are not really as risky as a majority of people think. Sure, there are some penny stocks that will eat you money and give you absolutely nothing in return. All you have to do is now how to identify these stocks and avoid them. It is not that hard once you know what to look for.

The first thing you should look for is trends. Trends are a pattern in a stock price over time. You can use this information to see if the penny stock jumps around randomly in value or follows a decent pattern. If you find a decent pattern, you have found a good company that is doing good. You can use this pattern to pick the perfect times to buy and sell.

Trade volume is another big factor to look at. If a company is getting several hundred thousand trades a week, then it has some serious attention and is going to be a low risk investment. I do not touch stocks with less than 100,000 weekly trades.

If you are tired of feeling trapped in this economic crisis, then quit looking at the bad side and use it to your advantage. The people who become very wealthy are the ones that adapt to situations and use them for their gain.

There is no one, sure-fire recipe to invest in the stock market successfully. However you can set yourself a plan, and stick to it. Investing in the stock market doesn't have to be complicated. It can be as simple or as complicated as you have the time for. Your investment strategy should suit you and your lifestyle. If you want to become a day trader then you need to offer yourself to the stock market on a full-time basis. But if you want to enter the stock market as an investor, the strategies outlined below will be useful to keep in mind.

1. Always research your market first. Before jumping into any kind of investment watch the market trend. Is it a Bull or a Bear market? What market industry are you most interested in?

2. When you have decided on a market industry, work out who the market leaders are and investigate the companies you are most interested in. Find out all you can about them.

3. Now that you have worked out who you are interested in investing in, think about how many companies you want to invest in. If you are just starting out, keep the amount of companies you want to invest in to a small number. Pick out the market leaders and follow them.

4. Work out the best time to buy in. If you are not sure when the best time is, avoid companies who are expecting good results in their quarterly and annual reports. These companies usually will see a rise in their share prices just before good results are released.

5. Work out if you are investing for growth or income. If it is for growth, go for growth industries. You may have to wait longer for pay back in growth industries, but overall results are generally better.

6. Don't listen to rumors about companies. You should avoid investing in any company on the strength of the latest rumors.

7. If possible, invest in a market leader that is overpriced. Why would you want to do that? A market leader (such as McDonalds) is entrenched in the market as a strong performer. Market leaders perform well over a substantial period of time. It is worth investing in them.

8. Buy low and sell high. This is the most common strategy and a good one to adopt, although hard to work it out when you are a new investor. If everyone could do this, we'd all be rich! You will get better at this as you gain more experience in reading the market.

9. Buy and hold. Once you have studied your market and selected the best company for you to invest in, buy the stocks and hold on to them. Try not to panic sell if the stock price slips a little. You will need to have an exit strategy, just in case, but making money on the stock market can take patience.

10. Know your exit strategy (for example a drop of 25% of the buy in value). Once you have reached your exit strategy, sell. This is known as the stop loss limit and should be adhered to, to avoid getting caught in a market crash.

11. Buy and change often, especially if you are investing in value (income) stocks. If you know your market well you will know if there is a limit to the expected gains from a particular company. If you think you have reached the potential of your shares in this company then sell and select another investment.

12. Try and keep the emotional element out of your investing. The stock market does not always act as you think it will and can be a perilous place when certainty turns to fear.

Remember that a lot of factors influence how a company will perform and your strategy will not be foolproof. However, find out what will work for you and follow that strategy. It will help you keep track of what you want to achieve with your investments.

The global financial crisis has so far decimated the stock market with even quality companies with no debts being hammered. However what this means is that there are currently some excellent bargains to be had if you are investing with a long term view.

Of course it's recommended that you should have a well diversified portfolio, but I've always felt that there's nothing wrong with weighting your portfolio towards companies in those hot sectors that you think will do well in the next few years. So with most sectors having been hit by the global financial crisis, which sectors should you be looking to invest in that are likely to do well in the next 2-5 years?

Well this does not constitute professional financial advice and should not be seen as a recommendation, but my own view is that with commodity prices falling and oil prices having dropped substantially, this has now presented an excellent opportunity to snap up some bargains in the mining and oil sectors.

A lot of companies within these sectors are now trading on ridiculously low PE ratios and have been completely oversold by the market. Yes the drop in commodity and oil prices will inevitably hit their bottom line, but the fact is that a lot of the larger companies in these sectors are extremely well run, have little or no debts and are in a great position to snap up the smaller mining and oil companies who are not so well equipped to deal with falling commodity and oil prices.

There is also the fact that in the next few years these prices should eventually rise back up again, which will boost these companies' profits. For example, as I write this article the oil price is currently trading at $64, but in my view oil will rise back up again and should be trading above $100 in the next few years because it is after all a finite resource and there is still massive demand from rapidly expanding countries such as China and India.

Of course share prices in these companies could fall even further which is why I personally am drip-feeding money back into the markets at these levels. There will come a time in a few years time when the economy will be in better shape and the banks will have sorted themselves out. As a result share prices in general should be a lot higher, but for me the best bargains are in the mining and oil sectors. These companies should be trading a lot higher at some point in the next few years, and in the meantime you can always collect the nice dividends that are paid out by the larger more profitable companies in these sectors.

Has your portfolio been savaged by this new edition of a 'Bear Market'? Are you feeling there's no end in sight and have no hope of recovering what has been lost? Well, there are solutions and I hope to offer a few here.

Make no mistake, we are in a longer term 'Bear Market' and there is no way of knowing when it will end. Having said that there are a number of strategies you can use to protect yourself, as outlined below.

1) Investor, Know Thyself The very first step in being a successful investor is having a good understanding of who you are. By that I mean you must know how much risk you are able to tolerate, financially, psychologically and emotionally. For example, if you have a $10,000 account are you able to experience a loss, even temporarily, of $1,000, $2,000, or more, less? If your portfolio of $100,000 slides to $90,000 of value, or $80,000, are you able to comfortably sleep at night? These types of temporary declines are very common in the stock market so you must understand in advance what amount of loss, if any, you are able to live with.

Solution: Carefully develop your investment portfolio to meet your personal risk tolerance. As a general rule you may reduce market risk by balancing your portfolio between a mix of stocks, bonds, and money market, and/or their mutual fund and exchange traded fund equivalents.

2) Are You Investing for Income, Future Growth, or Some Combination of Both? It is very difficult and increases risk to use your investment account to receive income while at the same time attempting to protect and even grow your principal. For example, if you are withdrawing 4% annual income from your account and it goes down 10% in market value in one year, your account is worth 14% less than what you started with. Imagine three years in a row of market declines, as happened 2000 - 2002.

Solution: Build two portfolios, one for growth and one for income. The growth account could be filled with stocks and or the equivalent mutual and exchange traded funds. The second account, designed for income, could consist of income annuities, corporate and/or municipal bonds, or their equivalent mutual and exchange traded funds.

3) Invest With Tax Consequences Firmly in Mind Don't let the tax tail wag the dog, but always build and manage your investment portfolio with strategies to minimize taxation. If your total return in one year is 9% and you give up 4% in taxes, you probably have not been as tax efficient as you could have been.

Solution: As much as possible use tax efficient strategies. For example you could place your income generating investments in municipal bonds, income annuities, and/or tax efficient vehicles like index income oriented mutual and exchange traded funds (ETF's).

4) What to Do in an Existing 'Bear Market'? Assess the damage, keep the better performers, and sell those that have generated the greatest losses. Don't wait for them to get back to break even and then sell, a common mistake made by many. They may never come back, or it may take so long that you will have missed many other opportunities in the meantime.

5) Keep Investment Costs Low Avoid buying investments that carry steep costs, many hidden from view. Front end loads, back end loads, markups, markdowns, internal expenses, surrender penalties and more await the unwary buyer.

Solution: If you are an accomplished self directed investor buy your investments through a discount brokerage firm like Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity etc. Buy only No-Load mutual funds, exchange traded funds, low transaction fee stocks and bonds. If you need guidance then at the risk of sounding self promotional seek out a registered investment advisor who works on a fee for service basis. This type of advisor has a fiduciary responsibility to place the interests of the client first and foremost, ahead of self interest and ahead of any financial services firm with which he or she may be affiliated.

6) Can You Protect Your Assets in a Long Term 'Bear Market'? I believe the answer is yes you can. You do not have to 'ride out' a long term 'Bear Market', watching helplessly as you lose 20%, 30% or more as has happened to so many in the past.

Solution: Buy quality, low to moderate risk investments. If the long term trend is down, as is currently the case, sell those getting hit the hardest, move to money market or even partially to 'inverse' exchange traded funds. 'Inverse' funds are designed to do opposite of the respective index so if the major indexes are trending down you can reposition part of your portfolio into inverse ETF(s) moving in the opposite direction, as they are designed to do.

Note: Nothing in the preceding paragraphs are to be construed as specific investment advice. It is meant only as a general guide to possibilities available to today's investor.

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.