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Financial spread betting is a popular trading area for the investor whom wishes to try their luck trading without having to use almost all their capital, it’s also popular as it offers the chance to trade on the market movements, as well as to bet in commodities, Forex, interest rates, currencies, indices along with bonds and stocks.

One of the key factors that make spread betting so alluring to traders is that they are not in fact purchasing the actual shares or perhaps stocks, but you are speculating (betting) on the if you believe the market may rise of fall, which is actually also termed going long or going short.

Additional major factors for your popularity associated with financial spread betting are listed below:

1) No taxes have to be paid on gains; spread betting is actually regarded as a form of gambling within the United Kingdom at this time. Another highlight is no stamp duty to be paid.

2) Spread betting provides the use of margined trading; which means merely a percentage from the initial cost of the share which is generally an extremely small outlay.

3) The trade is actually between the purchaser and the spread betting firm, therefore allowing for instant executions of orders.

4) Commission free – financial spread betting does not require using a ‘middleman’ thus doing away with commission charges.

5) Ability to generate profits even if the market falls.

Financial spread betting makes use of margined trading and leverage, which allows a bet to be designed for a fraction of the actual price of a share. If you were buying shares you would need to pay 100% of the share cost, however, with margined trading, you may only have to outlay 5%, which is a number of the underlying instrument. This allows you to not tie up your entire capital and place other bets, or trades in other markets.

There is needless to say disadvantages and risks that are involved whenever betting on any financial product, it is essential that stop losses are in place or perhaps you are using limited risk accounts. Do not be fooled by thinking that you cannot lose all your capital since you aren’t betting everything by trading on margin. This is one mistake you don’t want to ever become victim of. Losses can be magnified above initial outlay in the event the instrument’s price moves against you.

The concept of leverage is one of the most important concepts in forex trading. Understanding leverage is your means of maximizing profits while managing risk. Leverage is the mechanism that can make or break you.

What is leverage? In the context of forex trading it is a form of loan or credit extended by the broker to the investor. In forex, the leverage or lines of credit available to the investor is the highest available in the investment world.

When an investor decides to enter the forex market they are given a margin account with their forex broker. The amount of leverage provided can be either 50 times, 100 times, or 200 times the initial investment depending on the size of the trade. High amounts of leverage are a necessary risk the broker must extend to the investor because the price deviations are extremely small. We will cover this in greater detail shortly.

For trades of 100,000 units or more leverage of 50:1 to 100:1 may be provided by the broker. For smaller trades, up to 200:1 may be offered. If you have little to invest then clearly you need to seek a broker that can offer you high leverage. However, remember, leverage is a double edged sword. High leverage means you can win big but you can also lose big as well.

If an investor wishes to trade $100,000 in currency they may only need $1000 in their account if the leverage offered by the broker is 100:1 or $2000 if the leverage provided is only 50:1. This is significantly greater than the 2:1 leverage offered on equities or the 15:1 provided by the futures market.

Although leverage of 100:1 and 200:1 may seem like a very risky loan on the part of the broker it is actually manageable due to the fact that most currencies only change by 1% or less during most intra-day trading. This means a $1000 dollar deposit can cover a 1% loss on $100,000 investment. If the fluctuations were greater than 1% then clearly the leverage would need to be adjusted to reflect this.

A fluctuation rate of 5% daily would mean the amount of leverage provided could not exceed twenty times the original investment, a fluctuation rate of 10% would mean the leverage provided could not exceed 10:1 and so on. You get the idea.

The huge amount of leverage offered by forex brokers is to allow an investor to realize significant gains on relatively small investments that do not grow or shrink very rapidly.

There is a notable exception to this rule and one which has important implications in terms of appropriate levels of leverage. While fluctuations in major world currency pairs such as the US dollar and the Japanese yen are normally less than one percent, much greater variation is possible in other exotic currency pairs like between the Australian dollar and the Swiss franc. This volatility exists because there is much less volume in trade. Larger fluctuations mean you need to manage your risk by using less leverage.

Manage your credit must be part of your financial routine. Your credit is one of the important parts to calculate the interest you paid on your loans, and increased by more small, it can cause a payment of thousands of extra dollars over the life of the loan.

1. No Uses All Available Credit
Your credit limit is an optimistic calculation of what you can pay the bank for the loan of money. While over near your bank will limit the more nervous you can not pay and the associated risk to lend you money increases. By increasing the risk also increased the interest rate on your credit card and not only for new purchases, but applies to the balance of the card.

The optimal proportion between your balance and your credit limit is 10%. It is considered a neutral rate of 10% to 35%. Any balance above 35% is considered at increased risk.

2. Reports Use your Online Banking
No need to go personally to your bank and ask for a report of your balance or call credit card Company to find out the balance of your account. Now it is easier to enter the websites of your bank and credit card Company to get your balances.

Monitor the use of your bank accounts and credit cards entering the respective web pages. If someone is using your credit card for unauthorized purchases and immediately know what the loss will be less.
If you’re always playing with the limits or your available credit limit passes often, consider using the email alert service that banks and credit card companies offer.

3. Read all mail related to your Credit Card
Not only read it but read it carefully, especially when the letters become smaller. Do not assume that this is material advertising the sale or marketing. Now more than ever, any bank or credit card must inform in advance of any change. Some of these changes require that you call to cancel or change costs.

4. Manage Your Debt
If you have debts on several credit cards, consider administering pay your debts in order to achieve fast and not paying much interest. Consider moving to more debts where you pay less interest cards. Find out about any offer for the transfer of debt as low promotional interest for a period of time. The time taken to pay less interest on your debt is money saved can be used to pay your debt.

5. Watch your Credit Score
The credit is everywhere. When you ask for any loan, credit card or rent a car, your credit score determines the risk assigned to you in the transaction. Employers use credit scores to get an idea of your moral status and responsibility prior to hire.

Everyone, of course, wants to do something to secure their family’s financial future – and want to do it in a way that maximizes profit potential.

While high risk investments tend to pay off better, they are by nature much more risky. On the other hand, low risk investments while safer from more catastrophic upheavals in the market, tend to have much lower returns.

In a nutshell, with low risk investments, chances are much greater you won’t lose your principal investment; however, seldom will you make as much from it either.

This lower anticipated payoff can often sway investors to take risks with money they can’t afford to lose on the chance that they will realize a bigger payoff.

Low Risk Investments

There are a wide array of low risk investments available to investors, ranging from CD’s to mutual funds, as well as certain low risk stocks.

Low risk stocks tend to be those associated with companies considered “giants of industry,” and which have prospered through the test of time.

Of course, even low risk stocks do carry some element of principal loss potential, so you should not assume absolutely they are safe. (In fact, no investment is “absolutely” safe, as we well know from the recent housing market debacle.)

That being said, these low risk investments carry far fewer risks than more volatile options, making them attractive to investors who cannot as readily afford to risk their starting capital.

Choosing an Investment

One great way to choose a low risk investment is to go with a company or brand name you recognize from your childhood – such as GE, Mattel, and Hershey – as these generally have what it takes to withstand market fluctuations. Their historical longevity is what makes them so attractive.

Being respected and stable companies, they generally don’t experience the roller coaster of huge ups and downs that are commonly associated with newer, less established stocks.

While not flashy, and while they may not offer the degree of profit associated with riskier stocks, they are great for long term, low risk investing.

Certificates of Deposit

CD’s are the investment option of choice for many low-risk investors. This is because they tend to have better return rates than most mutual funds and savings plans.

If you opt for a mutual fund as opposed to a CD, you will have the option of choosing a more conservative or aggressive fund. While aggressive funds tend to offer a higher rate of return, they also carry more risk.

Regardless of how you opt to invest your savings, it is important to bear in mind that any investment in the stock market carries with it some degree of risk. In general, the wiser approach is to take small steps while you gain experience and find your comfort zone – and to diversify to help ensure your future financial security.

People often ask “What makes a good business plan?” Or, “How do I make my plan attractive to lenders and investors?”.

The simple answer is that lenders and investors (I’ll call them “readers” from here on out) are looking for good deals. A good deal is one that offers the reader a reasonable rate of return for the risk assumed. The complete answer is that you should write a plan that a reader will want to read and then get it to reader(s) who are looking for your type of project and levels of risk and return. This article deals with the first part of the equation – how to write a business plan that readers will want to read.

Readers want plans that clearly, accurately and completely allow them to make an initial determination about the project. Here are the steps needed to write that plan:

To borrow from the real estate industry, the three most important things about a business plan are research, research and research. While other things are important (even critical), ultimately your plan will live or die on the quality and completeness of your information. For that matter, you’re about to risk your time and financial future on a project – how much information do you want to have? Step one:

1. Become expert in your project. Learn everything possible about:

a. The customers to whom you will sell (your market).

b. The competition.

c. The actual costs of operating your business (get quotes).

d. The actual results of similar projects.

e. Your industry.

f. The project’s physical location(s) and it’s impact (if any) on the project.

g. The people who will be key to the project.
If you’ve followed the above, you’ve now got a mound of research – sticky notes, web pages, reports, quotes, etc., etc. But, what does it all mean? Step two:

2. Analyze. (Hopefully) when you first got the idea for your project there was a sense of excitement and a feeling that this is a sure winner. Now is the time to see if your feelings were well founded. With a critical eye, do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis on your project. Determine what you are able to do to capitalize on the S and O and minimize the W and T.

Steps one and two may have changed somewhat your sure winner feelings – which is good. (If not, you either have hit upon the next sliced bread or you need to redo the preceding steps). Presuming that your research and analysis shows a worthwhile use of your time and money (and that of your readers) move to step three:

3. Forecast. This is where the rubber meets the road. Using your research and analysis you will now tell your readers that “this is what will happen to the money”. You’ll do it with accounting forecasts called pro forma statements. Provide either three or five years of statements with (generally) the first year done monthly, the second and third done quarterly and (if included) the last two years done annually. In all events, include:

a. Operating statements.

b. Cash flow forecasts.

c. Balance sheets.

Optionally include:

d. Various ratios (loan to value, debt service coverage, etc.)
In addition to the above, you should usually include a Source and Use of Funds showing where the source of the initial capital and on what it will be spent.

By this point you’re either sure you have a winner (differing from a sure winner in that you recognize the obstacles but are prepared to work through them) or you are going back to the drawing board to rethink your project. If you have a winner, step four is:

4. Write the plan. Obviously, you need to be able to use good grammar and spelling. You should be clear, concise and complete. Fill your plan with compelling facts gleaned from your research. Do not avoid the W and T from your SWOT analysis, rather, describe in detail how you will deal with them. Avoid platitudes and your own opinions – everyone knows that you like the idea, readers need facts to determine if they like it. Try to keep your answers as short as possible while still giving complete information. With the exception of the Executive Summary, keep your answers somewhat dry and factual – short, sweet and to the point.

The Executive Summary, on the other hand, is where you sell the sizzle. It is here that you make the claim that yours is a dynamic project that deserves full consideration. You need to compel your reader to read your plan and tell them why you are excited about the project.

You’ve now done the lions share of the work leaving only step five:

5. Review and revise. The review should be first by the author(s) and then by trusted advisors – the more people that you can get to review your plan the more likely you are to find any problems before they are found by a reader.

Follow the preceding steps and you will have a business plan that will get read and, hopefully, funded.