Archives for July 2016

15 Terms Everyone in the Stockbroking Industry Should Know

Like any kind of profession, being a stockbroker has its own lingos and jargons. If you want to succeed in stockbroking, then you must know about common stockbroking terms. The last thing you want is a client asking you what a term means and you will look as if you are a deer caught in the headlights. It makes you look like you don’t know anything about your industry.

To help you with that, this article is going to enumerate the top 15 terms that you should know when it comes to stock broking with cmc markets.

  1. Bear Market – market direction can be in either up, down or sideways. If the market is going down (when the stocks and assets values are going down), then this is also known as Bear Market in the financial industry.
  1. Bull Market – remember we discussed the market could go up, down or sideways? Well, a bull market is the complete opposite of the bear market. This translates to stocks and assets going up.
  1. Blue Chip Stocks – in every industry, there are a couple of established companies that are big and stable. These are attractive to some investors because they usually offer dividends and they have the reputation of being safe. These kinds of companies are also known as the Blue Chips Stocks. The terms come from casinos, being the chip that is colored blue is often the highest denomination.
  1. Day Trading – a person can hold a stock for days, weeks or months. There is no surprise to that. However, there are professionals who open a position and close a position all in a single trading day. This is what is termed as day trading.
  1. Dividend – some mature companies offer back part of their profits to shareholders. The profits that are given back to the shareholders is what is known as dividends. Keep note that not all companies offer dividends.
  1. Exchange – when traders and investors buy and sell stocks and other assets, they do it in a “market”. In this context, the market is what is known as Exchange. An example of an exchange is the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
  1. Hedge – nobody knows the future and the market could go against you. This is the reason why some professionals use mediums to limit their losses such as stop losses or using future options. The idea of limiting losses in the stock market is known as Hedge or Hedging.
  1. Execution – in the stock market, you place an order either to buy or sell. Once another party has agreed to buy or sell (depending what you want) and proceeds with the transaction, then this what is knon as execution.
  1. Index – the stock market has its own benchmark that investors and traders often compare their results. The benchmark they compare to is the commonly the index. Index is basically a collection of the biggest and leading companies within a sector or group. An example of an index is Dow Jones Industrial.
  1. Initial Public Offering – stocks are actively sold every day, day in and day out. Yet, it has to start somewhere. Hence, the first time a company that sells its stock publicly is what is known as Initial Public Offering, or commonly known as IPO.
  1. Margin – you can loan to buy a car or house, right? Well, you can also loan from your a stockbroker to buy more stocks. The difference between the money you loaned and the value of the stock is known as the Margin.
  1. Portfolio – when someone uses the term Portfolio in the financial industry, this means that he or she is referring to the collection of stocks and other securities that he or she owns.
  1. Quote – so you own the stock, and you want to know what the latest trading price of your stock. Then you are asking for the Quote from your broker.
  1. Spread – selling and buying stocks is like negotiating. Some are asking for their buying price and some are offering their selling price. The difference between the two is known as the spread.
  1. Volatility – some stocks are stable thus their price movements do not swing so much. Some are the opposites, and can widely swing. The intensity of the swing is termed as volatility. Thus, if it swings so much, the stock is termed as highly volatile.

So there you go, these are the 15 common terms that are often used in the stockbroking industry. Learn them by heart just like any other good stock broker. Also, these are only a few of the many common terms in the stockbroking industry. So don’t stop exploring and learning new jargons.

Starting a Website is Key to Financial Independence

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I have been in the blogging game for several years now, and I started getting into it long before the world realized the monetary benefits that came along with it. Running a successful website can create wealth that you never thought possible, but you truly have to enjoy creating new content and constantly improving upon your existing site. Regardless, the most frequently asked question that I receive is always about how to start a blog. Truth be told, starting the website is probably one of the easiest tasks to complete in the whole process of earning money online.

The first step in the process is finding reliable and affordable hosting. Companies like Wix website builder are beneficial for newbie bloggers because they offer the all-in-one packages for those just starting out. First, you decide on a domain name and then you register it. They have you covered there. Then you need a package to host your actual domain on a server, which they also provide. Lastly, you need to be able to make the site look pretty and interesting. Their easy-to-use site tools allow even the novice users the ability to create a thought provoking website right from the get go.

As I said before, the process of starting a blog is much easier than getting your blog noticed by others. Website promotion is really the more difficult aspect of running your own site. You want to be able to get your blog in front of as many new people as possible in order to build up and retain a solid readership base. There are a few different ways to go about this. First, consider that a large portion of your audience will be directed to your website via search engines like Google and Bing. This is important because the more the powerful search engines recognize your site as an authority in your related subject matter, the more traffic they will send you on a daily basis. The most important aspect of getting noticed and picked up by the search engines is writing long and meaningful content. The better your writing quality and relevancy to your subject matter, the better your search engine results will be. Next, you have referral traffic. This is the amount of traffic sent to you from other websites. My favorite tool for driving this number is guest posting. By teaming up with similar websites like yours, you can create and post fresh and interesting content on an already established site and use that to capture the attention of new readers that will inevitably visit your blog after reading the article. This is a marketing technique used since the beginning of the internet and I can attest to its effectiveness. Lastly, there is the direct readership base. These are the people that are already familiar with your site, usually based on the effectiveness of the methods mentioned above. They know they already enjoy your articles and site content, so they either simply type your site URL in, or perhaps utilize your Feedburner subscription, or maybe they are following you on Facebook or Pinterest and they catch your most recent content that way.

Once you have a website setup and established, and you are driving real daily traffic to your site, there are a number of ways you can then monetize it. Once your website is viewed as an authority in its niche, you will start to see advertisers email you for direct placements on your site. This could be in the form of an unbiased review written and posted by you, or perhaps something simpler and more prominent like a banner on the homepage sidebar. Then there is the more passive forms of income like CPC ads and affiliate related income. CPC means cost-per-click, which translates into revenue every time somebody clicks on an ad on your site. The easiest way to illustrate this is Google Adsense. I’m sure you have seen those text and image banners splattered throughout the various websites you typically visit. Every time you click on those, and especially when it leads to an end sale, you inevitably send a chunk of revenue to that site owner. Not a bad deal for them, huh? Affiliate income is similar but with a few different twists. This is where you promote products and get a cut of the sale. Consider yourself an online salesperson that is paid by commission. One of the biggest and well known affiliate programs out there is Amazon Affiliates. You can post Amazon affiliate links throughout your site and whenever somebody clicks on them and makes a purchase from Amazon you will then get a certain percentage of that sale. Considering how popular Amazon is now, only the largest online retailer in the world, there is a safe bet that with a little bit of traffic you can bring in lots of money.

Again, the key to making money on your site is driving as much traffic to it as possible, via any means necessary. If you used Wix to setup your website, then you have probably noticed some other nifty tools they offer as well. Consider the built-in SEO wizard that will help you tailor your unique content so that it enhances the traffic to your higher ranking keywords. Don’t forget about the power of creative newsletters! Having a working and viable email list is key to converting sales. When you want to blast out new promotions and other offerings from your site or services, having a tool that manages your customer emails and allows you to quickly send them new and relevant content can be quite powerful. This is particularly where Wix Shoutout comes in handy! They have great interactive social media tools, a detailed stats tracker, and an easy-to-use email editor for those technologically challenged.

Please see this informative video for useful tips

Why You Should Get Your Personal Finances Into Shape Before Starting a Business

If you are thinking about starting up a business of your own, you might assume that it will fix all of your financial problems. However, you should know that the opposite is often true. Even though going into business for yourself can be a wonderful thing, it’s also financially risky. Half of the start-ups that are opened in the United Kingdom fail within the first year, and you don’t want to be a statistic. This is why it’s critical to get your finances in order before you ever try to open your doors.

Owning a Business is Stressful Enough

The truth is that owning a business is stressful enough as it is, especially during the infant stages of the company. Financial issues can be stressful, too, and you probably don’t want to deal with a double whammy of both of these types of stress at once. Eliminating your financial issues before you get started in business can prevent you from staying too stressed out once you open your doors.

It Can Cost More Than You Think

No matter how carefully you have planned out the opening of your new business, there is still a chance that things will be more expensive than you anticipate. Unfortunately, this means that you can go over your budget quite easily while just starting out and while operating your new business after its opening.

If you square away your finances first, you will be better able to handle any additional expenses that pop up with your business, and you won’t have to worry about these costs affecting your personal finances as much.

You Shouldn’t Skimp on Your Business

Some people who start their businesses on a limited budget end up cutting corners to try to save money. Even though there is nothing wrong with looking for ways to save cash while opening and operating a business, cutting corners in the wrong places can be harmful for your new company. If you have a little more money to spend, however, you may be able to afford better things for your new business.

It Can Take Time

Businesses don’t usually take off overnight. It can take time for even the best of businesses to begin to see a true, steady profit. If your finances are in bad shape, it can be tough to make it through these times. If you get your money in order beforehand, however, it’ll be easier for you to wait it out and allow your company to grow.

If you’re thinking about starting a business while your finances are in bad shape, you should know that you are better off getting things under control first. Luckily, you can take out a loan or look into other options to get your finances into a good place before you start your business.