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The forex market is played with keen eyes on algorithms, statistics and ultimately overarching trends; while statistics and algorithms are impersonal and boring, a trend is something much easier to spot for a trained eye. As such we’re going to look at what makes up a forex trading market trend, how they work, where they come from and how to know the different stages that occur. If one were to master this knowledge it would be easy enough to join in a trend when it’s high and duck out as soon as the going gets hairy. Before we get started it’s important to realise exactly what we mean by a forex currency market trend. Simply, a trend is a tendency for value to change negatively or positively over a specific period of time; they can last a long time or a briefly and can fluctuate, depreciate or ‘flatline’. This is important because success in the forex market trade relies on one being able to spot trends and take advantage of the profitable entry point or ideal exit points.

An Example of Trends

Typically a strong economic country will have a strong currency, bar a few exceptions, and economic strength is attractive to potential investors which in turn create demand for the currency. Investors demand security in gold investment as opposed to fiat currencies sometimes, so demand in gold-mining countries, such as Australia and South Africa, increase due to their industries. Knowing when investors are about to demand gold is an example of a good time to be in on the forex market schedule for a rush trend; the trend being a sharp increase in demand for Australian dollars or South African rands; hitting that demand before it happens put you in a good position. That is an example of how to play a trend; followed of course by you selling before demand drops and the trend fades.

Trends Can Dictate Success

There is a current foreign exchange or forex market dispute as to whether one should follow ranges or trends, but while trends are nothing fancy they have shown far more potential for success with skilled forex traders. I won’t get into the pros and cons of either right now, but I will mention that when you can read the forex market online and in the flesh so to speak, when you can spot a trend emerging from a mile away and when you’re so experienced that the forex market opens up to you like a book; that’s when you’ll be in a position to get the most out of your trading experience all thanks to trends.

Eugene Calvini is a writer and forex enthusiast; armed with a forex trading account he enjoys sharing his perspective and hopes to share his knowledge of a forex account with the world.

Student loans, if not properly managed, can become a burden that devastates a young professional out of college. Defaulting on payments can ruin a burgeoning credit rating, and an inability to pay the loan at all can lead to years of bankruptcy. Any loan is a risk, and long term loans can have a draining effect on an individual. The question then is how to avoid potentially costly debt as the cost of higher education continues to rapidly increase?

Take Only What You Need

Avoid excess debt by calculating exactly how much you need to borrow in order to complete your schooling. By avoiding excess debt, you can keep the amount owed low and thus payments will be smaller and more manageable. Being frugal for four years can be the difference between good credit and defaulting.

Budget

A defined budget both during and after college can be beneficial in avoiding defaulting on payments. By maintaining the habit of operating within your means, and evaluating your income as such that you can make your payments and lead a normal life, you will know exactly how much you are paying and to what ahead of time. By sticking to a budget you will never accidentally miss a payment, while at the same time saving enough to cover any emergencies that have not been accounted for.

Credit Cards

As a general rule you do not want to stack debt upon debt. A common occurrence in today’s world is the living from month to month on the back of credit card debt, hoping that the next month will be the month where you finally “Catch up.” Credit cards are a money sink, the high amount of interest makes paying off the debt exceptionally hard, and missing a single payment can increase the interest. By accruing credit card debt, student loans become harder to pay, and more of your monthly income gets consumed in interest payments. Credit cards should be avoided as often as possible.

Be Timely and Maintain Records

Do not leave payments to the last minute. Stay on top of your debt, note all the payments, and keep track of what is owed. Maintaining an understanding of your debt is imperative if you intend to pay it off. Slacking off or avoiding keeping records can leave you at a loss when you need that information the most. Questions about when money was paid or received can go a long way toward avoiding a credit score mishap.

Keep Your Lender Informed

Changes in address and phone number can occur quite frequently. It is not enough to simply notify your local post office of the address change. By keeping your lender informed you will avoid possible missed payments due to a mailing error. Small errors can have large repercussions and it is wise, even if occasionally inconvenient to stay ahead of the curve when dealing with your personal finances and the parties involved with your fiscal well being.

Seek Help if Necessary

Admitting to financial problems is often shameful and difficult. The inability to pay one’s bills in a given month can create a cascade effect that can affect one’s finances for years. Though it is difficult, when financial problems present themselves it is best to seek assistance from friends or family if possible in order to avoid problems in the future. If such assistance cannot be obtained inform your lender and see if anything can be done to help.

Construct a Plan

Constructing a financial plan can help assess where one stands and how to achieve financial freedom in the future. A financial plan should carefully measure ones income against one’s expenses, and through such evaluation weed out unnecessary expenses. The plan should convey a solid idea of when debts will be cleared, and should be regularly adjusted as salary and expenses either increase or decrease. Constructing such a plan takes dedication and requires individuals to maintain solid records and be willing to extricate themselves from activities or purchases that can have an adverse effect on their budget. A financial plan can be a valuable tool in overcoming the difficulties of dealing with debt as one enters the workforce.

One of the advantages of student loans is their ability to help create good credit for young adults beginning their lives independent from their parents. The difficulty arises from the lack of knowledge regarding debt and debt management. Asking most college graduates to deal with debt is like asking a child to run before it can crawl. There are no solid foundations in place that educate young adults in the proper methods for budgeting, planning, and debt management. Therefore the impetus is upon the individual to seek out and find the resources that will make him or her better prepared for life after college.

Azimov would not have been surprised to see the practice of law changing radically around the world. According to recent news reports, the once-highly esteemed lawyer profession is now being threatened by robots and supermarkets.

The fields of automation and robotics have made great inroads into a lot of professional disciplines. From car manufacturing to space exploration and from pharmacology to accounting, software programs and robotic solutions are being increasingly employed not only to augment operations but also to completely replace human professionals.

Until now, the legal profession has seemed to have largely escaped the threat of robots due to the decidedly human scope of the discipline. The legal industry still operates on the premise that hiring excellent lawyers with many years of experience is vital to win a case. The reason clients retain prestigious law firms with the right connections is because it increases the odds of a successful outcome. Prediction and intuition are important aspects of the practice of law, but robots may perform better in such aspects by means of computerized analysis.

Lex Machina, a technology firm that started as a Stanford University project, has compiled an encyclopedic database of patent and trademark case law that can interpret complex data. Sophisticated interpretation of the law is how law firms make a living, and it is through this interpretation that attorneys are able to predict likely case outcomes. By stripping away human perception, Lex Machina interprets data using computational modeling that is free from the pitfalls of human error. It would take an army of lawyers charging many billable hours to perform the work that Lex Machina easily accomplishes in a short time.

While robots are not expected to replace attorneys in the courtroom in the near future, computer automation has already replaced several attorneys in law firms in at least one particular area -e-discovery. The tedious process of e-discovery involves looking for relevant case data by combing through massive amounts of records stored in electronic formats. For law firms looking to significantly reduce expenses by trimming staff, e-discovery is exactly what they need.

As if being replaced by robots wasn’t unceremonious enough, lawyers will now have to worry about losing their clients to supermarkets. A new law in the United Kingdom is paving the way for banks and supermarkets to sell legal services to their customers.

The Legal Services Act opens the door to Alternative Business Structures, a type of business run by legal service providers who aren’t necessarily lawyers. Under this new legal arrangement, UK supermarket chains such as Tesco would be able to offer legal services to their customers. Solicitors in the UK have naturally criticized the new law, explaining that the quality of legal services will be decimated. The new law also encourages the creation of mixed practices under one roof; for example, financial and legal advice could be dispensed in the same office.

The Tesco supermarket chain has already expressed interest in offering affordable legal services to British customers interested in saving money. Tesco already offers banking services in their stores, and it expects to sell residential mortgages to shoppers later this year.

You may be one of the many who are tired of renting. Or you may be someone who’s about to be married and saving for that wonderful place you intend to call home. Will owning a house you can call your own remain a dream? It doesn’t have to be. There are many ways to make this dream become a reality for you. It’s just a matter of putting things in order. All these considerations may sound complicated, but they’re actually not. Just like everything else in life, it’s simply a matter of “looking at the bigger picture” and then breaking them down into smaller pieces, working on accomplishing each piece slowly but consistently.

How to Begin

Start with a well designed plan. First, you have to decide on the basic four: 1) the type of house you want; 2) the location; 3) are you building or buying? and 4) How much is your budget?

Knowing the type of house you want is very basic because building a house, or buying a finished one is not something you do everyday. And so a lot of thought has to be put into considerations such as size and functionality. To address these two concerns, think about your family now, or your family five to ten years from now. What’s the size of your family? How many children do you have? Will you have more in the coming years? How many bedrooms do you plan to have? How big will be the kitchen? Or the dining room? How many bathrooms? All these may sound very simple, but if left unconsidered, it will have an effect later on.

The location of the house is also crucial. More than considerations on distance from your workplace and the school, location also determines the value of the land where you intend to build your house (or where the house you intend to buy is already built). This adds up to the actual cost of the house.

Know the amount of the house you want – even of it’s a rough estimate. Knowing and seeing the amount will help you and guide you in your decisions.

From there, you can now proceed by asking your self this question: can you afford it? If through your pencil pushing you realize that you can’t afford it, then at least the knowledge will help you make some adjustments. Moreover, although you may not have the money now, in lump sum, but there is a way. There are home loans available for those who can afford it in the long haul …

What to Do Next

First, evaluate your finances to find out how much you have, and if you need to get a loan, how much you need to borrow. Second, be familiar with the different lenders in your area and find out as much as you can about them. Do Internet research and visit deifferent websites. Make comparisons. Identify which amongst the many lenders can help you best.  Find out about the different home loans they’re offering, their interest rates, the benefits of their loans, and many other information necessary before you make your decision. You can also consult a local mortgage broker for additional information.

Bottom line, there is help out there. Just find the best one, and start working to own the home you’ve always wanted.

There is a common misconception that when you sell an ounce of gold in any form, it is worth the spot price of gold. The spot price of an ounce of gold is the price that a buyer will pay or a seller will accept for the immediate delivery of the precious metal.

People are sometimes shocked to find that a store offering to pay for any old gold jewelry only offers them a fraction of the spot price for their gold chains and gold rings. The confusion is usually attributable to the fact that people do not understand that gold jewelry is not made of pure gold.

What is most gold jewelry made of?

Almost all gold jewelry contains a less-expensive alloy like silver, copper or nickel to increase the strength and durability of the jewelry. The vast majority of gold jewelry is made of 14 or 18 karat gold. Gold content is measured in terms of karats in the jewelry trade. Pure gold is considered 24 karat gold. An 18 karat piece of jewelry is 75% pure (18/24) and a 14 karat piece of gold jewelry is 58.3% (14/24) pure.

Scrap gold dealers will only pay you for the actual gold content. They also reduce the amount they pay for the cost of melting down the gold, delivery charges and a commission for their services.

Gold bullion, whether it is in the form of gold bars or coins, is considered pure gold. It is at least .999 fine and has a value very close to the spot price of the metal. Purity aside, you will pay slightly more for gold bullion coins because they are easier and more convenient to handle. Large 100 or even 1,000 ounce bars offer the lowest price per ounce for gold bullion. Commissions and dealer markup accounts for the higher price you will pay when you buy instead of sell bullion gold.

What makes gold jewelry expspensive?

When you are talking about expensive gold jewelry, the value is determined in part by the gold content, but also by the design and embellishment of the particular piece of jewelry. A similar premium is also placed on collectible gold coins. The condition and rarity of a particular coin can make its numismatic value worth much more than its gold content.

An educated consumer should understand the importance of knowing the gold content and any other extrinsic factors that affect the price of their gold items. By being aware of the type of gold they may be thinking about buying or selling, they are more likely to get a fair price when they make a transaction.