The concept of futures and futures markets, involving a legal binding contract for the delivery of a specified quantity of a commodity at a specified time in the future at an agreed price, originated in Chicago in the 1830s. The idea behind this was to make the prices even and give farmers, in particular, some way of hedging their crops well before harvest. After the American Civil War, the Chicago Board of Trade formalized this into the first real futures markets with standardized contracts.
Gold futures contracts entered the scene much later, towards the end of 1974. The primary reason for this was the fact that trading in gold was non-existent as the United States was on a fixed price gold standard (The monetary system with a fixed price for gold and with gold coin either forming the whole circulation of currency within a country or with notes representing and redeemable in gold) until 1933. The futures trading in gold made its entry with the first gold futures contract trading in New York on the Commodity Exchange (COMEX) on December 31, 1974. Later, other American exchanges, including the Chicago Board of Trade, followed suit. In fact, there was also a trial run for gold futures with a 400-ounce; the traditional unit of weight for gold is the troy ounce, named, it is thought, after a weight used at the annual fair at Troyes in France in the middle ages. Although the metric system is used increasingly in mining and the gold business, the troy ounce remains the basic unit in which the price of 995 gold is quoted (One troy ounce = 31.1034807 grams, 32.15 troy ounces = 1 kilogram) (troy ounce = 480 grains, 3.75 troy ounces = 10 tolas; as known in India). The American exchanges, particularly, COMEX, has brought a new dimension to international gold trading. COMEX enjoyed significant advantages owing to its close affinity with New York’s banks and financial institutions, which provided access to a worldwide clientele. COMEX later merged with the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in 1994.
Experts like Dr. Richard S Appel of financialinsights.com observe that the markets have entered a secular Bull Market in both metals. Although he says that we are at present only in the initial stages. In his column, “The Great Debate: Trading vs. Long-term Gold Investing,” he writes, “Given the various reasons for the emergence of gold’s bull market, and the sequence of events that have transpired since its birth, I am confident that these bull markets will not end for several years, at minimum.”
He says that the primary financial benefits of trading in a confirmed bull market is that it often gives the trader a form of leverage, and the hope that one can garner larger profits than if he only bought and held. The added leverage has the potential to substantially increase one’s profits. For example, he says, “if a person purchases gold futures or gold call options they must only commit a small percentage of the underlying gold’s value to initiate the trade. Then, if prices move higher, the profits that result may be a multiple of those that would accrue if he owned the physical metal.”
Unfortunately, this can act as a double-edged sword if the trade, even for a short period, goes against the trader. And, in isolated situations they may be devastating, he adds. He further comments that in the case of futures contracts the person is not only liable for his committed margin, but also for all losses that may occur while he holds the contract.
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Let me start by saying that I am tired of seeing articles on the internet full of fluff. This is one of the few articles that I personally publish on the internet, other than my blog, and I will try my best to leave out as much fluff as possible(other than this initial rant about nonsense articles online). For those of you who know how to get an 80 paydex, but simply want to get the names of companies that still report to Din and Bradstreet, you can skip the explanation and go to the end of the article.
Your Paydex Score as many people know is the system that DnB(the main business credit bureau) uses to assess your credit worthiness by rating how timely you pay your bills. You can view the basic chart by DnB below.
D&B Score Interpretation Table D&B PAYDEX Score Payment Habit 100 Anticipate 90 Discount 80 Prompt 70 15 days beyond terms 60 22 days beyond terms 50 30 days beyond terms 40 60 days beyond terms 30 90 days beyond terms 20 120 days beyond terms UN Unavailable
Typically, you will never get over an 80 paydex. In the years that I have been building business credit, and after looking at hundreds of business credit reports, I have personally only seen two companies with a paydex score of above 80 and they were both below 90. I suspect that one of them was artificially created, but thats a story for another day.
There are varying requirements floating around the internet about what is needed to get an 80 paydex(which is your initial goal in building business credit). The bottom line is this, you need 3 companies(not 4,5 or 6) to report to DnB that you have paid your bills in a timely fashions. Once that is done you will get your 80 Paydex. The problem now, is that many companies either stopped reporting to the credit bureaus, or require high spending in order to report.
The companies still gives credit to brand new companies and also report to DnB very quickly.
AT&T – They are your phone provider but you will want to open a phone line or remote call forward number with your Tax ID in the name of your business. Once you pay your bill on time, they will report to DnB and this can count as one of the three companies that you need to report.
Quill – These guys give net 30 accounts to brand new businesses. You will have to put something in your shopping cart, and when checking out, simply choose to be billed. If you do not understand, give them a call and they should give you an account but getting billed online works more often than calling in. I have never personally got denied online but I have been denied when calling in.
Reliable – This company’s process is the same as Quill. They report to both DnB and experian business. A perfect starter company in your business credit journey.
Uline – Although much of the items that they sell may not be useful, you can order something cheap and pay it off on time and they will report.
Ok, so now that you know about paydex scores and who to start with the process, you need to know about the minimum order. What most people do not know is that companies cannot report less than $50 to the credit bureaus. This does not mean that you have to spend $50 in order to build business credit. The good news is that if you simply spend $5, lending companies will either report $50 or they will report the size of the line of credit.
You can get all complete guide on business credit at http://www.businesscreditebooks.com
Marc Augustine is the author of multiple guides on building business credit and blogs at http://www.creditrich.net
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Starting a small business is really the challenging and an exciting venture. Writing a business plan is the very important missions that entrepreneurs should focus on before starting small business. But the entrepreneurs should know about writing a plan that it is not about the money.
- It is about having the ability to get the job done
You should not think too much about how much money your new job needs. If the lender/ investor are sold, you will have the money. Its starting may change your life for the better with proven ideas on successful of it, practical guidance on how to incorporate it, partnerships and a run-down of financing options and etc.
There are so many business investors, all sources for its financing are: Small Business Administration, banks, and private angel investors, strategic alliances, leasing companies, venture capital investors, MESBICs, SBICs, credit union coalitions and other more. But there never seem to be enough funding sources when a company is seeking financing.
Investors business responds to its plans that meet their needs and specifications; they ignore all the other plans. Your plan must have investors identified before ever written. It does not matter how great a company is, if it does not fit the parameters of standard funding sources, loans and grants will be out of reach.
What is the Startup Strategy?
There are major points to consider:
1) Define your Business and Vision
- What business are you in?
- What do you sell (product/service)?
- What is your primary benefit?
- What is your plan for growth?
2) Write down your Goals
3) Understand your Customer
4) Learn from your Competition
- What competitors do you have?
- What do you know about your target market?
- How are competitors approaching the market?
- How can you improve upon the competition’s approach?
- What are the competitor’s weaknesses and strengths?
- What are the lifestyles, demographics and psychographics of your ideal customer?
5) Financial Matters
- Streamlined Sales Forecast
6) Identify your Marketing Strategy
- Identify All Target Markets
- Qualify the Best Target Markets
- Identify Tools, Strategies and Methods
- Test Marketing Strategy and Tools
I hope you have got your all the answers.
The author is a business Analyst and has done B.Tech in IT. To know more about Visit at Starting small business, Business Investors and Investors business
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The issue of raising money to start a business has always been one of the major challenges faced by entrepreneurs. The ability to raise money to start a business is one of the tests you must undergo as an entrepreneur.
In your quest to raise money to start a business, you are bound to face a lot of obstacles. However, tackling the challenge of raising money is not as tough as you think. In this article, I am going to share with you vital information on how to raise money to start a business. Join me as I bring to you 3 keys to raising money.
The first and the basic key to raise money is the feasibility of the business idea. This is always the first question any investor you approach will ask. All investors will want to know how profitable the business idea is. They will also want to know the expected return on investment and the time frame. Never embark on a quest to raise money without a viable business idea. Now how do you know the profitability of your business idea? You can know this by carrying out feasibility study on your business idea. I recently wrote two articles titled “4 Reasons Why You Must Conduct A Feasibility Study Before Starting A business” and “How To Carryout Feasibility Study On Any Business Idea.” You can go to my blog to read the articles.
Another requirement in the process of raising money is a good business plan. Whenever you want to raise money to start a business, your first move should be to put together a comprehensive business plan.
A business plan should include details of your background, education, training, experience and any other personal qualities you possess. Personal qualities and experiences are often regarded as assets to your business.
Your business plan should have to explain in detail how the money you need is going to be utilized. If the money is being raised for an existing business, you will need to show the profit and loss statement for at least the previous six months. The plan should also show how the money you are raising will yield interest and profit. If it is a new business, you business plan will have to explain in detail your proposed business idea, expenditure, your market research, your financial projections and so on.
Your business plan should also describe in detail what makes your business unique and how it differs from that of your competitors. Your plan will have to state precisely what the investor’s return on investment will be, when and how you are going to pay it.
The next thing to look into when you want to raise money to start a business is your personality. You must be conscious of your appearance when approaching an investor. Always remember that you have only a chance to create an impression in the mind of the investor. Don’t appear rough and unkempt, try to look professional. If possible, give yourself a nice hair cut, put on a black or blue suit with polished shoes and a tie to match. It will do you a lot of good. Appearance matters a lot in the game of raising money for your business.
Lastly, a standing principle that will determine the success or failure of your quest to raise money for your business is your manner of presentation. This is a key point that can never be over emphasized. The way you present your business idea to your investors matters a lot. The better you are at communicating with your investors, the better your chances of raising the money you need. You must also display a high level of confidence. If you are not good at approaching prospects or you fear rejection, I will recommend you either join the toastmasters organization, take a course in sales or you study books such at “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie. Doing any of these will help you increase your communication skill.
Having said all this, let me give you some extra tips on ways to raise money to start a business. One of the easiest way to raise money for your business is by advertising in a newspaper, magazine or national publication featuring such ads. You can place ads in publications such as entrepreneur magazine, the intelligent investor, wall street journal or any other relevant publication.
Another way to raise money to start a business is by joining a network of entrepreneurs. I know of some entrepreneurs network that link entrepreneurs with bankable business ideas to investors. So check in your community for such network organizations or better still, you can go online and search for one.
You can also raise money for your business from family and friends. You can go about this by setting up a surprise party and inviting your family and friends over. While the party is on, you can use the opportunity to let them know your intentions. You can then go ahead to explain the business plan, the profit potential and how much you need. Give each of them a copy of your business plan and ask those interested to indicate and see you privately. A twist to this tactic is that you can equally turn the party to a fund raising event by asking your family and friends to donate towards your project.
The last method you can employ when raising money to start a business is to approach private investors, venture capitalist and angels. You can equally sell stocks of your company through investment bankers.
In conclusion, always bear in mind that your ability to raise money to start a business depends on two factors. One is the viability and profitability of the business idea while the second is your lies in your ability to convince the investors. I wish you all the best in your quest to raise money for your business. Good luck.
Do you have a growing business and you need funds to expand? Are you interested in learning the Secret of Convincing investors and Raising Capital For Your Business? If your answer is yes, then go now to http://www.StrategicBusinessTeam.com
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Even while you are still smoking, you may well be thinking to yourself, ‘I want to know how to quit smoking’. Many smokers say this to themselves every day. A common train of thought is: ‘If I go on smoking, my health will deteriorate. I can’t let that happen, so, I have to quit smoking.’
In fact, this is never true. When you believe that you ‘have to’ stop, you fail to acknowledge that you’ve got the freedom to continue – whether you want that freedom or not! You do, in fact, have the freedom to go on smoking and have your health deteriorate. This doesn’t mean that you will go on smoking; it just means you’ve got the option of doing so.
If you stop smoking believing you have to stop, you are telling yourself you have no choice about it. You are telling yourself that you are being forced, or forcing yourself, to stop. Then stopping smoking becomes, instead of the liberation it really is, a sentence of doom.
It feels like a sentence of doom because you feel as if you have been trapped, or that you have trapped yourself. It’s no wonder smokers keep procrastinating about stopping! Many smokers live through their whole lives telling themselves that they ‘have to’ stop smoking- but not today.
A thought that has quite different implications is: ‘I want to stop smoking.’ However, as soon as anyone gets serious about stopping, their attitude is often: ‘I don’t really want to stop, but I have to.’ And they completely forget that quitting smoking is something they want to do. When you accept that you don’t ever have to, you may begin to see that, in fact, you do really want to.
Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms and Symptoms of Deprivation
Most smokers believe themselves to be deprived, to some degree, during the process of stopping smoking, but the experience can be very different for different kinds of people. This partly depends on how strongly the denial of choice is believed.
Anger and irritability are very common. Some ex-smokers will pick fights with people, become intolerant, impatient, aggressive and even rude. It can seem that their personality has completely changed since they stopped smoking.
Ex-smokers in a state of deprivation will often feel a sense of panic. They feel stressed, restless and can even get symptoms of extreme anxiety such as palpitations, sweating and trembling. They will feel tense as well, clenching muscles in the jaw, neck, shoulders and hands.
Some feel martyred and resentful about having stopped. All the fun has gone out of their lives. They may become profoundly depressed, withdrawn and apathetic, even to the point of thinking that a life without smoking may not be worth living. There is often a deep sense of self-pity and it is not unusual to start envying other people who are still smoking. They think, ‘Poor me, lucky them.’
When people feel deprived, they often see stopping smoking as a great loss. Tears are shed, as if something wonderful has been taken away from them, against their will. They feel like victims. It feels like there’s a huge void in their life that won’t ever be filled.
At this stage, your past life as a smoker can begin to look like ‘the good old days’. You become obsessed with smoking, and begin to figure out ways to justify going back to it. Perhaps you start an argument with someone (especially a person who has been pushing you to stop), or you stage some kind of drama so that you have a good excuse to smoke. Or you make do with a not-so-good excuse.
While you have a sense of deprivation your desire to smoke won’t diminish. It becomes exaggerated, more intense, and you can still be yearning for a smoke for hours at a time, months after stopping – if you can keep yourself from smoking for that long.
Perhaps the most undermining effect of this state of deprivation is that you completely lose sight of your motivation to stay stopped. Maybe when you were smoking, you were longing to stop. You were sick of smoking, for ever. So you stopped, but now, instead of feeling joy and relief, you feel as if you are being punished – even tortured! You don’t see anything good at all about not smoking, life without smoking looks dull and boring. And then you really can’t remember one reason why you ever thought of giving up such a fabulous pastime!
Feeling deprived makes stopping smoking dramatic and unbearable, and blows everything up out of all proportion. One person may feel a bit light-headed and disorientated for the first day after they’ve stopped, but they take that in their stride. Someone experiencing deprivation will over-react to that by thinking they are losing their mind.
If you allow a state of deprivation to persist, it’s going to be virtually impossible for you to stay stopped: it’s very difficult to stay motivated to keep on depriving yourself!
Don’t worry about crazy aversion and repression techniques – successfully quitting smoking is all about looking your addiction straight in the eye and dealing with it head on. Use these quit smoking tips to help you stop today and stay stopped for good.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/fundraising-articles/i-want-to-know-how-to-quit-smoking-but-not-today-1676093.html
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Okay, I admit that I have been caught falling asleep while viewing my best friends vacation photos; while I knew she had a great time, the photos simply weren’t capturing my interest. If she had only taken the time to learn how Adobe Photoshop CS4 could have taken her so-so photos and turned them into something that would have definitely kept my attention. She could have taken those ordinary photos and turned them into something extraordinary using the tools provided in Photoshop.
For a long time Photoshop was considered a software program solely for professionals; however today you can find teenagers and housewives alike tweaking and editing their photos inside Photoshop. Granted, its not the easiest program under the sun to learn yet while learning the more advanced tools you can still rely on the easier, fun tools to provide what you will need to edit and enhance your photos.
While Photoshop CS4 is chock full of tools I want to go over only a few of the most often used ones to give you an idea of exactly how powerful this program is.
Have you ever wondered how the models in magazines always look so perfect? Photoshop CS4 is every professional photographers hidden secret as it comes equipped with tools such as the warping tool that allows you to manipulate your photos and, once you have it figured out, will even allow you to add or subtract weight from your subjects, among other things. Everyone complains about how they look in photographs, now you can eliminate all the complaints with a few clicks of the mouse.
Another great tool that will make your friends happy is the smudge tool. Do people complain about your zoom shots? Close up shots are always a nightmare as every facial flaw is intensified yet with the smudge tool every imperfection is easily “airbrushed” away. Now everyone will look as if they walked off the pages of a magazine.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a photo of you in front of the Eiffel Tower? Don’t save up for the plane ticket, simply use Photoshops lasso tool. The lasso tool allows you to select a particular part of the picture, you for instance, and then remove it. Next you simply paste the object, yourself, on another background, such as behind the Eiffel Tower in France.
Wish you had a masterpiece to hang on your wall? Turn your favorite photo into a watercolor using Photoshop’s built in filters. Simply print it out on canvas and you have a museum worthy piece of art.
Worried you will forget who was standing next to you during your college graduation? Easily insert text or captions onto your photos using the text tool. Recently divorced but don’t want to toss your photos out the window? Easily remove unwanted objects and you will be able to keep all the photos, minus the unwanted objects or individuals.
The tools I have listed are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the things Photoshop CS4 can do. Once you have maneuvered your way around the program you will find hundreds of other tasks you can accomplish using this phenomenal program. Take your time and find out how you can turn your ordinary photographs into extraordinary works of art.
Discovering Photoshop CS4 tutorials online can be a nightmare, and so many people just end up giving up on what is some very expensive photo editing software, professionally produced by Adobe. The leading promoter of Photoshop CS4 training tutorials is David Peters, who even gives a full 60 day money back guarantee, if you just can’t get the gist of learning what is a complex piece of software. But you will be quite amazed at what you really can learn about Photoshop CS4 in little more than 2 hours, by viewing David Peters quality training video tutorials.
David Peters has even taken into consideration those users who have a slow Internet connection, and now offers a free worldwide back up CD, that is sent out upon request. Don’t waste any more time looking for quality Adobe Photoshop video tutorials online, and take a look at a sample David Peters Photoshop CS4 video tutorial, and you will no doubt be impressed with his simplistic approach.
Did you like the idea of this article? Curious about finding professionally made Photoshop CS4 Tutorials? Well now you can by reading this FREE Photoshop CS4 Tutorial….what are you waiting for? Discover David Peters Photoshop CS4 Video Tutorials Today!
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For most business niches, 2010 couldn’t come fast enough. 2007 was not great. 2008 was really scary. 2009 was less scary and more a brutal grind despite what technically appears to be economic recovery. So, what does 2010 portend when we look at the field of venture capital? Let’s take a look.
Venture capital firms have hardly been exempt from the demolition derby known as our economy the last few years. Mergers and failures have happened and they will continue. This is because venture capital firms are looking for funding from investors to fund, well, your business. 2009 was a year when even a great idea like Google would have been hard pressed to get a cash infusion. Credit markets are tied up and banks aren’t loaning a red penny.
Unfortunately, 2010 appears like it will be more of the same. The credit markets will have to loosen up at some point, but most believe it will be later in the year if not in to 2011. The concerns about housing and employment that are making financial markets nervous are not going away. Real estate looks particularly troubling as any momentum in residential will be threatened when the first-time homebuyers tax credit expires in the second quarter. At the same time, the commercial real estate market is going from bad to worse. With even the most optimistic expecting unemployment to remain a major issue through the year, 2010 is shaping up to be tough. I hope I am wrong, but venture capital will be impacted by what happens regardless.
The good news is all venture capital firms want to invest. This is because investing in startups and small businesses is what they do. The only question is if they will have the funds to do so. Some will. The key is to find them. This must be done by finding the venture capitalist that is in harmony with your business.
Your first step is to research, research and research. You want to approach only firms and angels that have shown a keen interest in the exact niche you are mining. You might have the greatest smart phone program in the world, but approaching a VC fund that is interested in hardware technologies isn’t gong to get you anywhere. Be as specific as you can because “worried money” is going to stick to what it knows.
If you have a successful history with investors, emphasize that. Everyone is very risk sensitive. If you’ve shown you’re a successful bet in the past, make sure that those you are approaching are full aware of that. This is one market where what you’ve done lately is almost matched by what you did in the past.
Finally, consider cutting your program back and funding amount requested. This is a tough market. There is not a lot of optimism. Asking for smaller funding amounts is, again, a method for limiting the risk that is being faced by the venture capital fund and its investors. You can then map out a plan where things speed up in two to three years when markets are positive and funding is much more readily available.
I would love to tell you things will be wonderful in the venture capital market in 2010. Maybe the will, but I really doubt it. That doesn’t mean you can’t get funding. It is just going to be more of a challenge.
Thomas Ajava writes for VentureCapitalInvestmentFirms.com where you can find venture capital investment firms and learn more about how a venutre capital incubator works.
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