Finance Stock Price, Tips on How to Get the Best

Finance Stock Price, Tips on How to Get the Best

The stock market is one of the most misunderstood aspects of finance. Many people do not entirely know the way it works and will occasionally need the help of a financial expert in order for them to profit in this venture. For you to venture into this market it is advisable that you do your research to have a basic understanding of how it all works. It is important to understand from the very start that every investment that you make with your money carries a degree of risk.
However, there are those that do not have such high risks. It is also important to be aware that it is almost always that the investment that has the lowest risk also has the least potential to make profit. There are many factors that affect the way the movement of the stock prices. Information plays an important role, in that if it is available to the public it can make a difference on whether the prices will move up or down.
The public reaction to information will always affect the stork market. One way for you to gain from the varying stock prices is to buy when prices are low and then hope that the price goes up. This is when you sell and the difference between what you sold it for and what you bought it for is your capital gain. For you to be able to get the most of stock prices you have to be able to master the art of demand and supply.
As with any other business, the stock market also works on the same principle. Simply put, if there are many people willing to buy a particular stock than there are willing to sell, the stock price will go up. If there are more people willing to sell than buy, then it will go down. Learn how to watch the market and soon you will be making unimaginable profits.

Mercy Maranga writes content on Finance and Finance Management. Visit her site here for more information on Finance. Finance Stock Price Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mercy_Maranga

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Tips and trik on Choosing a Personal Financial Planner

Tips and trik on Choosing a Personal Financial Planner

A consultation with a fee-only financial planner (one who charges only for their time with you, but does not try to sell you a product) is one the best investments a younger individual can make.  Periodic consultations with a qualified financial planner over time are important as life circumstances change. A good financial planner can help an individual to set goals and establish benchmarks for meeting those goals. In general, an individual will want to consult with a good financial planner whenever there are major life changes like births, deaths, or a significant change in financial or medical circumstances (good or bad).
The goal of the personal financial planning process is make sure you have the money that you expect to have when you need it. But how do you find a good planner who will provide you with the advice you need and provide it in a clear and objective way?
Here are some things to consider when looking for a financial planner:
The three most important factors to consider when choosing a personal financial planner deal with experience relating to your personal financial situation, the formal certifications and credentials of the advisor candidate, and how the planner will be compensated.
You will want a planner who has experience working with clients who have financial circumstances similar to your own. For a good fit, you want an advisor who has continuous experience with clients in your demographic group. You want a planner who works primarily with individuals who have needs and goals similar to your own.
Initially, you may want to look for a planner who has the Certified Financial Planner designation (CFP) or is working to get it. This designation indicates that the individual has met the appropriate educational and experience requirements, and has agreed to adhere to the organization's code and ethics.
Ask financially successful friends, colleagues, attorneys, accountants, insurance agents, or bank trust officers for recommendations and referals. The Financial Planning Association (FPA) maintains a database of CFP professionals listed by ZIP code and area of speciality.
The compensation of a personal financial advisor is an important consideration. Remember that financial planners come in many different varieties and may receive compensation in many different forms. Find out how the advisor is compensated.
What you are looking for is an advisor who is paid by you, not by commissions or fees from companies whose product they sell. To avoid conflict of interest issues with a financial planner, be sure they are fee-only, meaning they are compensated only by the hour or some other time slice. This will minimize the risk that you will be directed to an inappropriate product or investment simply because a planner gets a good commission from that product. An advisor candidate should provide complete disclosure about compensation.
Questions to Ask Yourself When Evaluating a Personal Financial Planner:

• Do I like the planner candidate?
• Does the planner listen to me and really understand what I am concerned about?
• Does the planner give me straightforward answers to my questions in a way that I can understand?
• Does the planner candidate load the conversation with jargon I can't understand?
• Does the planner seem to understand the issues that are of concern to me?
• How does the planner define success for a client? Is it based on portfolio rate of return? Or helping me to save money? Or planning for my kid's college education?

Here are some direct questions that you can ask when interviewing a planner candidate:

• What services do you provide?
• Here are my financial concerns. Do you have experience in these areas?
• What certifications do you have?
• Are you licensed to sell certain financial products, such as life insurance or securities?
• How much risk will you be taking with my investments and what is the return you expect to earn from taking those risks?
• Will my securities be transparent and marketable at all times?
• How will you be paid for your services?
• What business relationships do you have that might present a conflict of interest? Do you receive commissions for anything you recommend?
• Exactly how much will the financial products I buy from you cost in total? Give me those costs as a percentage of total amount invested.
• What sort of investments will you make on my behalf?
• Do you have peer-reviewed, academic research to support the investment strategy that you propose for me?
• Do you belong to any professional organizations?
• Will my brokerage statement come from a reliable third-party provider like Charles Schwab, Vanguard, or TD Ameritrade?
• Once the plan is complete, how much time will we spend together so I can understand it?

In any case, do your homework and ask tough questions. Your financial future is at stake!
Resources:
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors offers two Planner Evaluation Checklists for use in evaluating a financial planner candidate:
Comprehensive Financial Planning Checklist, or the more comprehensive, Comprehensive Financial Planning Diagnostic

Greg Retzloff is the owner/publisher of Workingmansdollar.com, a site devoted to providing the most valuable, informative and useful articles on personal money management, credit and debt solutions, retirement planning and investment strategy. Visit now and subscribe via email or RSS!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Retzloff

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investment management and strategies

Thinking of exit strategies even before you invest may sound rather confusing. However, the fact remains that it is indeed a preferred mode of operation when making a serious entry into the real estate investment game with an intention to win, especially when targeting short sales. A short sale is made when a creditor is ready to accept less than what is owed on a mortgaged property in order to avoid going through the tedious, time consuming, and costly process of a foreclosure or facing a bankruptcy situation. Lenders also do not want excess inventory and bad loans on their books.

For example, there may be a home loan borrower who owes $350,000 against an existing first mortgage. He may have fallen behind on his repayments and may be facing the possibility of a foreclosure. For effecting a short sale you directly make an offer to the lender/bank for say $270,000. In many cases the bank may agree for such a discount, as the costs involved if the property goes to auction may make them lose a lot more money than what they would lose if they accept the discount related to your offer. It also saves them from a lot of related problems. Plain and simple, it makes business sense for them.

As things stand at present the rate of foreclosures is high. This is the time to take advantage of this situation and make a good chunk of money for yourself. However, from an investment angle, you can get the maximum benefits only if you do not restrict yourself to a single deal. The higher number of deals, the greater the overall returns. If you decide in favor of such an investment strategy, it becomes essential for you to formulate exit strategies even before you make an offer to a lender for a short sale so that once you clinch the deal, you can quickly flip over the property to another buyer for a handsome profit and move on to making your short sale offer for the next deal. In real estate jargon this is known as wholesaling.

There are a number of things that you need to determine before you make your offer for a short sale in line with your exit strategy. The right approach would be to first research the price that the property can fetch if sold in the market. Usually in case of a short sale the market price of the property is less than the total amount payable against the mortgage. This means you must make your short sale offer by crafting a suitable discount on the market price, after giving due consideration to the total cost of acquisition of the property.

Another thing you need to consider is the time required to dispose the property and your expected profit margin. This has a direct relationship to the time and amount of your investment. When you intend to invest for a lesser duration, you may have to settle for lower profits. In such a case you can try to locate a buyer immediately after you get your acceptance letter for the short sale from the lender and later sell outright to the new buyer. The property may need repairs, which will lower the market price, as the new buyer will need to get the repairs done. Conversely, if you are ready to invest more for a longer duration and hold the property to get it repaired on your own before selling it off you may get a much higher price. You may even want to retain the property for rental income and also continue to hold it for price appreciation before you sell it to another buyer.

Your overall profit margins are going to depend on several such factors, therefore, for being a successful investor you must formulate suitable exit strategies in line with your individual situation and liking before you even step in to the real estate investment arena.

Article Source:
http://www.bestmanagementarticles.com
http://investment-management.bestmanagementarticles.com

About the Author:
If you are a real estate investor looking for new strategies and even a profitable deal or two, sign up for our Investor List at http://www.WhereInvestorsProfit.com.

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financial services industry global

free cash flow: a panacea of financial analysis?

Accountancy SA, Sep 2004 by Prinsloo, Frans, Rosenberg, David

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in many instances where accounting scandals have occurred; there was a mismatch between cash flow and earnings
When evaluating a company's financial situation, care should be taken not to place reliance solely on the company's income statement figures (such as earnings per share and the growth therein), while disregarding its free cash flow figures. While the earnings history of a company may appear to be good, it is possible that negative free cash flows may create liquidity problems, which may force the company out of business. To illustrate this: In the 31 December 1999 audited group results of Leisurenet Ltd, a revenue increase of 32.7% and an increase in headline earnings per share of 24% were reported. However, upon computing Leisurenet's free cash flow for the 1999 financial year, the extent of the company's cash flow problems become apparent (a negative free cash flow of R279 million).

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The importance of considering a company's ability to generate sustainable, discretionary 'free cash flows' is confirmed by the findings of a recent survey1 undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the methods used by analysts and institutional investors to value companies in India. The survey revealed that 75% of financial analysts in India currently use free cash flow to evaluate company performance, finding it to be a more effective predictor of corporate value than earnings per share and economic value added measures.
A reason why free cash flow has become fashionable among analysts is the perception that the quality of reported corporate earnings figures is questionable (due to their being prone to manipulation)2. The belief is that free cash flow figures are less prone to manipulation. It has been found that in many instances where accounting scandals have occurred; there was a mismatch between cash flow and earnings. In an article appearing in Business Week3 one of the five ways identified to "avoid more Enrons" is to "provide aid in figuring free-cash flow".
Certain companies now regard the generation of free cash flow as a key objective in generating shareholder value. For example, in its 2001 annual report Cadbury Schweppes plc stated that one of the three targets against which "growth in shareholder value" is measured, is the generation of "�150 million of free cash flow every year".
What exactly are 'free cash flows'?
As there is no regulatory standard prescribing the method for computing the figure, investors disagree on exactly which items should be included in its calculation, and the method used is subjective and based on individual preferences4. The many ways of defining 'free cash flow' result in problems of consistency and comparability, and care therefore has to be exercised when using a reported free cash flow figure, without fully understanding the method of computation used.
A widely used formula5 is: Free cash flow = Net operating profit after tax any non-cash adjustments shown on the statement of cash flows (e.g., depreciation) - gross investment in operating capital (i.e., gross investment / increase in fixed operating assets and working capital).
'Free cash flow' is the cash flow actually available for distribution to the providers of finance after the company has made all investments in property, plant and equipment and working capital necessary to sustain ongoing operations. It therefore represents the cash that is available for the:
* Payment of interest and dividends;
* Repayment of debt and repurchase of shares; and
* Purchase of marketable securities and other non-operating assets.
The following diagram summarises the two methods that may be used to derive free cash flow using the figures reported in a company's financial statements:
The 'financing perspective' method is merely another method of determining free cash flow, essentially by analysing the movements in funds to providers of finance, and will yield the same answer as the Operating perspective' method.
To compute a sustainable free cash flow figure, which may be useful for financial analysis purposes, it is important that when using the Operating perspective' method to exclude the cash utilised, to expand operations from the figures for capital expenditure and working capital (using the 'financing perspective' the amount of cash utilised to expand operations must be added onto the computed free cash flow figure).
Applications
By the providers of credit
Providers of credit can use free cash flow to determine whether the company will have the cash available to meet future debt obligations. In evaluating credit strength the four major credit rating agencies evaluate how much free cash flow a company is generating6. Fitch has introduced a cash flow adequacy ratio (CFAR, pronounced 'see far') that compares a company's average net free cash flow over the past three years with its average annual principal debt maturing over the next five years. The higher the company's CFAR, the stronger its credit rating.
According to an analyst from Lehman Brothers7 "...looking at free cash flow instead of reported earnings per share is a better indicator of the kind of real value being created by the entity instead of clouding the underlying cash flow by accounting rules ... It just gives you a better idea of the underlying cash that the business is generating".

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