Sunday, October 25, 2009

Personal Finance

Income Tax :-
Taxation according to a person’s ability to pay is universally accepted principle, and income is considered a satisfactory though not a sufficient index of such ability to pay. Income Tax is, therefore, generally recognized as a highly equitable form of taxation. A tax levied on income can nor normally be shifted to others and thus its incidence is on those for whom it is intended. Since income tax is progressive in nature, it tends to reduce economic disparity. Tax rates and method of calculating taxable income varies with fiscal status of the tax payer. Following are the broad categories of taxpayers:-
Companies:
· Non Salaried Individuals, Association of Persons (AOP),

· Hindu undivided families(HUF)

· Salaried individuals
Wealth Tax: -
is levied on that wealth of individuals which exceeds their liabilities on the valuation date. Firms and limited companies pay Wealth Tax on value of immovable properties held for construction and sale or letting out.
Capital Value Tax :-
It is payable by individuals, firms and companies which acquire an asset by purchase or a right to use for more than 20 years.
Workers Welfare Fund: -
It is levied @ 2% of the income where the taxpayer owns an industrial establishment and his income is Rs. 500,000 or more.
Corporate Asset Tax: -
It is levied through section 12 of the Finance Act, 1991. This is one time levy payable by a company as defined in Companies Ordinance, 1984, on the value of fixed assets held by the company on the "specified date".




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Currency Directory

Currency Directory
Country Capital Currency
Afghanistan Kabul Afghani
Algeria Algiers Dinar
Australia Canberra Australian Dollar
Austria Vienna Schilling
Argentina Buenos Aires Austral
Belgium Brussels Belgian franc
Bhutan Thimphu Ngultrum
Bolivia La Paz Boliviano
Brazil Brasilia cruzeira
Brunei Manama Brunei Dollar
Bulgaria Sofia Lev
Bahrain --- Dinar
Bangladesh Dhaka Taka
Burma Rangoon Kyat
Canada Ottawa Canadian Dollar
Cuba Havana Cuban Peiso
China Beijing Yuan
Czechoslovakia Prague Koruna
Denmark Copenhagen Krone
Egypt Cairo Pound
Ethiopia Addis Ababa Birr
France Paris French Franc
Finland Helsinki Markka
Germany Berlin Deutsch Mark
Greece Athens Drachma
Hong Kong Victoria Hong Kong Dollar
Hungary Budapest Forint
Israel Jerusalem Shekel
India New Delhi Rupee
Indonesia Djakarta Repiah
Iran Tehran Riyal
Iraq Baghdad Dinar
Italy Rome Lira
Japan Tokyo Yen
Jordan Amman Dinar
Kenya Nairobi Kenyan Shilling
Korea - Korean Won
Kuwait Kuwait Dinar
Lebanon Beirut Lebanese Pound
Libya Tripoli Libyan Dinar
Luxembourg --- Luxembourg Franc
Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Ringgit
Monaco Monaco Villa
Myanmar Yangon Kyat
Maldives --- Rufiyaa
Mauritania Nouakchott Ouguiya
Mauritius Port Louis Mauritian Rupee
Mexico Mexico City Mexican Peso
Morocco Rabat Dirham
Mozambique Maputo Metical
Norway Oslo Norwegian Krone
Nepal Katmandu Nepalese Rupee
Netherlands Amsterdam Guilder
New Zealand Wellington Dollar
Nigeria Lagos Najra
Oman Muscat Riyal
Panama --- Bolboa
Portugal Lisbon Portuguese Escudo
Pakistan Islamabad Rupee
Philippines Manila Peso
Qatar --- Riyal
Romania Bucharest Leu
Senegal Dakar CFA Franc
Swaziland Mbabane Lilangeni
Saudi Arabia Riyadh Riyal
Singapore --- Singapore Dollar
South Africa Johannesburg Rand
Spain Madrid Peseta
Sri Lanka Colombo Rupee
Sudan Khartoum Pound
Sweden Stockholm Crown
Switzerland Burne Swiss Franc
Syria Damascus Pound
Taiwan Taipei New Taiwan Dollar
Tanzania Dar-es-Salam Tanzanian Shilling
Tunisia Tunis Dinar
Turkey Ankara Turkish Lira
Thailand Bangkok Bhat
United Kingdom London Pound Sterling
U.A.E Abu Dhabi Dirham
U.S.A Washington U.S. Dollar
U.S.S.R Moscow Rouble
Venezuela Caracas Bolivar
Vietnam Hanoi Dong
Yugoslavia Belgrade Yugoslavian Dinar
Yemen (N) Sana Riyal
Yemen (S) Aden Riyal
Zambia Lusaka Kwacha
Zimbabwe Harare Zimbabwean Dollar




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Basics Of Forex

What is Buying/Selling:
In the forex market currencies are always priced in pairs; therefore all trades result in the simultaneous buying of one currency and the selling of another. The objective of currency trading is to exchange one currency for another in the expectation that the market rate or price will change so that the currency you bought has increased its value relative to the one you sold. If you have bought a currency and the price appreciates in value, the trader must sell the currency back in order to lock in the profit. An open trade or position is one in which a trader has either bought/sold one currency pair and has not sold/bought back the equivalent amount to effectively close the position.

Quoting Conventions:
The first currency in the pair is referred to as the base currency, and the second currency is the counter or quote currency. The U.S Dollar, as the world’s dominant currency, is usually considered the base currency for quotes, and includes USD/JPY, USD/CHF, and USD/CAD. This means that quotes are expressed as a unit of $1 USD per the other currency quoted in the pair. The exceptions are the Euro, Great Britain pound, and Australian dollar. These currencies are quoted as dollars per foreign currency.

Bid and Ask:
As with all financial products, FX quotes include a "bid" and "ask". The bid is the price at which a market maker is willing to buy the base currency in exchange for the counter currency. The ask is the price at which a market maker will sell the base currency in exchange for the counter currency. The difference between the bid and the ask price is referred to as the spread.

Concept of Point or Pip:
In the wholesale market, currencies are quoted using five significant numbers, with the last placeholder called a point or a pip. In forex, like any traded instrument, there is an immediate cost in establishing a position. For example, USD/JPY may bid at 131.40 and ask at 131.45, this five-pip spread defines the trader’s cost, which can be recovered with a favourable currency move in the market.

Margin:
The margin requirement allows traders to hold a position much larger than the account value.The trading platform performs an automatic pre-deal check for margin availability, and will only execute the deal if the client has sufficient margin funds in his or her account. The Forex Broker's system also calculates the funds needed for current positions and displays this information to clients in real time. In the event that funds in the account fall below margin requirements, the For Ex Brokers will close all open positions. This prevents clients' accounts from falling below the available equity even in a highly volatile, fast moving market.

Rollover:
In the spot forex market trades must be settled in two business days. For example, if a trader sells 100,000 euros on Tuesday, the trader must deliver 100,000 euros on Thursday, unless the position is rolled over. As a service to traders, Forex Brokers automatically roll over all open positions i.e. swaps the trade forward to the next settlement date (two business days) at 5:00 PM New York time. The swap rates are determined at the Inter bank level and are tradable instruments. In any spot rollover transaction there is a difference in interest rates between the two currencies that will be reflected in the overnight loan. If the trader is long the currency with the higher interest rate in the pair, the trader should gain on the spot rollover through the premium relationship of that currency relative to the short currency. The amount of the gain is determined by the interest rate differential between the two currencies, and fluctuates day to day with the movement of prices. For instance, on any given day, the rollover can be $2 per lot for USD/JPY and $15 for GBP/JPY. Rollover fees are usually shown in dollars, and are posted in Forex Brokerage Accounts every day, usually by 3:00 pm New York time. For day traders that never hold a position overnight, rollover will not affect trading.

What Every Currency Trader Should Know:
The forex market is one of the most popular markets for speculation due to its enormous size, liquidity, and tendency for currencies to move in strong trends. An enticing aspect of trading currencies is the high degree of leverage available. The Forex Brokers usually allow positions to be leveraged up to 100:1. Without proper risk management, this high degree of leverage can lead to enormous swings between profit and loss. Knowing that even seasoned traders suffer losses, speculation in the forex market should only be conducted with risk capital funds that if lost will not significantly affect one's personal financial well being.
How can I participate in the Spot Currency market as a Trader?
From 1971 until recent years the virtual owners of this market were the banks, multinational corporations and large brokerage firms. If an individual wanted to invest in this market, he could invest with a bank with a one million dollar cash deposit backed by the requirement of a 5-10 million dollar net worth. A slightly better option was provided by the brokerage firms, which asked a lower minimum deposit on average of a quarter million dollars.

But now the forex market has been opened up to Individual investors. Unlike the huge sums of money previously required by the banks and brokerage firms, comparatively far lower margin requirements are finally available that now allows virtually any individual to trade along with the professionals and institutions. In addition, individual investors have the opportunity to take advantage of the growing boom in computer and communication technologies that has made this market accessible in ways previously exclusive only to large players. Foreign Exchange Trading Provides an Alternative Investment Vehicle to Equity or Debt Instruments!

Currency trading gives you, the investor, and the opportunity to not be affected by a bear market. Currency is very different from a typical investment portfolio where one might purchase stocks, bonds or real estate. In these instances you are looking for opportunities to buy at a period low and hold, hoping that the price will increase and then sell at a higher price. In effect the typical investor will simply wait for results and hope they are favorable. In currency trading you have more opportunity to control your destiny. You will control your own money and realize with your trading you are not dependent on a market direction.

For example, in your investment decisions in Forex you are able to deal with the dollar on both sides of the market. Consider a Sterling/US currency scenario. When you buy Sterling, it means that you sell USD. The same holds true when you do the opposite. Selling Sterling simply means that you bought US dollars. In other words you can start by selling a currency without first buying it. This ability to invest in both sides of the currencies gives an investor the opportunity to use the two-way market approach as an exact lucrative alternative to the scenario described above with "wait and see" investments.

Currency trading gives you instant liquidity and a flexible investment strategy. Trading currency online expedites the process and increases your opportunity for successful trades. As your knowledge of the market increases, so will your sophistication of trading and opportunity for incredible profits. A Bear Market will no longer be a fact to consider.

How fair is the Forex market?
The Forex market is so large and is composed of so many participants that no one player, not even a large government, can completely control the long-term direction of the market. So, many experts have called Forex the “most level playing field” on earth.

How often does a person have to trade?
The beauty of self-trading Forex is that a person can trade as occasional or often as they want. They can learn to trade longer-term strategies that may require checking the market as little as once or twice a week. Or, they can learn to trade shorter-term methods that may require watching the market a few hours a day.

Do you need a lot of money to trade currencies in the forex market?
No. The minimum deposit required is $5,000. Customers are allowed to execute margin trades at up to 50:1 leverage. This means that investors can execute trades up to $100,000 with an initial margin requirement of $2000. However, it is important to remember that while this type of leverage allows investors to maximize their profit potential, the potential for loss is equally great. A more pragmatic margin trade for someone new to the Forex markets would be 5:1 or even 10:1, but ultimately depends on the investor's appetite for risk.

What is Margin?
Margin is essentially collateral for a position. If the market moves against a customer's position, additional funds will be requested through a "margin call." If there are insufficient available funds, immediately the customer's open positions will be closed out.

What does it mean have a “long” or “short” position?
A long position is one in which a trader buys a currency at one price and aims to sell it later at a higher price. In this scenario, the investor benefits from a rising market. A short position is one in which the trader sells a currency in anticipation that it will depreciate. In this scenario, the investor benefits from a declining market. However, it is important to remember that every Forex position requires an investor to go long in one currency and short the other.

How do I manage risk when I trade currencies?
The most common risk management tools in Forex trading are the limit order and the stop loss order. A limit order places restriction on the maximum price to be paid or the minimum price to be received. A stop loss order ensures a particular position is automatically liquidated at a predetermined price in order to limit potential losses should the market move against an investor's position. The liquidity of the Forex market ensures that limit order and stop loss orders can be easily executed.

What kind of trading strategy should I use?
Currency traders make decisions using both technical factors and economic fundamentals. Technical traders use charts, trend lines, support and resistance levels, and numerous patterns and mathematical analyses to identify trading opportunities, whereas fundamentalists predict price movements by interpreting a wide variety of economic information, including news, government-issued indicators and reports, and even rumor. The most dramatic price movements however, occur when unexpected events happen. The event can range from a Central Bank raising domestic interest rates to the outcome of a political election or even an act of war. Nonetheless, more often it is the expectation of an event that drives the market rather than the event itself.

How frequent do people trade currencies?
Market conditions dictate trading activity on any given day. As a reference, the average small to medium trader might trade as often as 10 times a day.

How long are positions maintained?

As a general rule, a position is kept open until one of the following occurs:
1)
Realization of sufficient profits from a position;
2)
The specified stop-loss is triggered;
3)
Another position that has a better potential appears and you need these funds.




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Why Trade Forex ?

Seeing as you’ve come to the RetailFX site, it’s probably safe to assume that you’ve taken some form of interest in the forex market. But what does the forex market have to offer you?

  • Liquidity ‐ The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world with a daily turnover of just over $3 trillion. The enormous volume of daily trades means that under normal market conditions you can buy and sell currency as you please.
  • There’s no Such Thing as a Falling Market – In the forex market currencies are traded against each other, which means that all profit and loss is relative and one can achieve both whether a currency is going up or down.
  • Accessibility – All anyone needs to take part in the forex market is a computer with an internet connection.
  • 24 Hour Market ‐ The forex market is open 24 hours a day, so that you can trade whenever you hear a financial scoop.
  • Narrow Focus – Unlike the stock market the forex market revolves around more or less eight major currencies. A narrow choice means it’s easier to get a clear picture of what’s happening in the market at any point in time.
  • The Market Can’t Be Cornered ‐ The colossal size of the forex market makes sure that no one single trading entity can corner the market.



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What is Forex (Foreign Exchange)?

Foreign Exchange (FOREX) is the arena where a nation's currency is exchanged for that of another. The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world, with the equivalent of over $1.9 trillion changing hands daily; more than three times the aggregate amount of the US Equity and Treasury markets combined. Unlike other financial markets, the Forex market has no physical location and no central exchange (off-exchange). It operates through a global network of banks, corporations and individuals trading one currency for another. The lack of a physical exchange enables the Forex market to operate on a 24-hour basis, spanning from one zone to another in all the major financial centers.
Traditionally, retail investors' only means of gaining access to the foreign exchange market was through banks that transacted large amounts of currencies for commercial and investment purposes. Trading volume has increased rapidly over time, especially after exchange rates were allowed to float freely in 1971. Today, importers and exporters, international portfolio managers, multinational corporations, speculators, day traders, long-term holders and hedge funds all use the FOREX market to pay for goods and services, transact in financial assets or to reduce the risk of currency movements by hedging their exposure in other markets.

MG Financial, now operating in over 100 countries, serves all manner of clients, comprising speculators and strategic traders. Whether it’s day-traders looking for short-term gains, or fund managers wanting to hedge their non-US assets, MG's DealStation™ allows them to participate in FOREX trading by providing a combination of live quotes, Real-Time charts, and news and analysis that attracts traders with an orientation towards fundamental and/or technical analysis.




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Forex Glossary

ADX (Average Directional Index) — standard technical indicator that measures the strength of a trend.

Ask (Offer) — price of the offer, the price you buy for.

Aussie — a Forex slang name for the Australian dollar.

Bank Rate — the percentage rate at which central bank of a country lends money to the country's commercial banks.

Bid — price of the demand, the price you sell for.

Broker — the market participating body which serves as the middleman between retail traders and larger commercial institutions.

Cable — a Forex traders slang word GBP/USD currency pair.

Carry Trade — in Forex, holding a position with a positive overnight interest return in hope of gaining profits, without closing the position, just for the central banks interest rates difference.

CCI (Commodity Channel Index) — a cyclical technical indicator that is often used to detect overbought/oversold states of the market.

CFD — a Contract for Difference — special trading instrument that allows financial speculation on stocks, commodities and other instruments without actually buying.

Commission — broker commissions for operation handling.

CPI — consumer price index the statistical measure of inflation based upon changes of prices of a specified set of goods.

EA (Expert Advisor) — an automated script which is used by the trading platform software to manage positions and orders automatically without (or with little) manual control.

ECN Broker — a type of Forex brokerage firm that provide its clients direct access to other Forex market participants. ECN brokers don't discourage scalping, don't trade against the client, don't charge spread (low spread is defined by current market prices) but charge commissions for every order.

ECB (European Central Bank) — the main regulatory body of the European Union financial system.

Fed (Federal Reserve) — the main regulatory body of the United States of America financial system, which division — FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) — regulates, among other things, federal interest rates.

Fibonacci Retracements — the levels with a high probability of trend break or bounce, calculated as the 23.6%, 32.8%, 50% and 61.8% of the trend range.

Flat (Square) — neutral state when all your positions are closed.

Fundamental Analysis — the analysis based only on news, economic indicators and global events.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) — is a measure of the national income and output for the country's economy; it's one of the most important Forex indicators.

GTC (Good Till Cancelled) — order to buy or sell of a currency with a fixed price or worse. The order is alive (good) until execution or cancellation.

Hedging — maintaining a market position which secures the existing open positions in the opposite direction.

Jobber — a slang word for a trader which is aimed toward fast but small and short-term profit from an intra-day trading. Jobber rarely leaves open positions overnight.

Kiwi — a Forex slang name for the New Zealand currency — New Zealand dollar.

Leading Indicators — a composite index (year 1992 = 100%) of ten most important macroeconomic indicators that predicts future (6-9 months) economic activity.

Limit Order — order for a broker to buy the lot for fixed or lesser price or sell the lot for fixed or better price. Such price is called limit price.

Liquidity — the measure of markets which describes relationship between the trading volume and the price change.

Long — the position which is in a Buy direction. In Forex, the primary currency when bought is long and another is short.

Loss — the loss from closing long position at lower rate than opening or short position with higher rate than opening, or if the profit from a position closing was lower than broker commission on it.

Lot — definite amount of units or amount of money accepted for operations handling (usually it is a multiple of 100).

Margin — money, the investor needs to keep at broker account to execute trades. It supplies the possible losses which may occur in margin trading.

Margin Account — account which is used to hold investor's deposited money for FOREX trading.

Margin Call — demand of a broker to deposit more margin money to the margin account when the amount in it falls below certain minimum.

Market Order — order to buy or sell a lot for a current market price.

Market Price — the current price for which the currency is traded for on the market.

Momentum — the measure of the currency's ability to move in the given direction.

Moving Average (MA) — one of the most basic technical indicators. It shows the average rate calculated over a series of time periods. Exponential Moving Average (EMA), Weighted Moving Average (WMA) etc. are just the ways of weighing the rates and the periods.

Offer (Ask) — price of the offer, the price you buy for.

Open Position (Trade) — position on buying (long) or selling (short) for a currency pair.

Order — order for a broker to buy or sell the currency with a certain rate.

Pivot Point — the primary support/resistance point calculated basing on the previous trend's High, Low and Close prices.

Pip (Point) — the last digit in the rate (e.g. for EUR/USD 1 point = 0.0001).

Profit (Gain) — positive amount of money gained for closing the position.

Principal Value — the initial amount of money of the invested.

Realized Profit/Loss — gain/loss for already closed positions.

Resistance — price level for which the intensive selling can lead to price increasing (up-trend).

RSI (Relative Strength Index) — indicator that measures of the power of direction price movement by comparing the bullish and bearish portions of the trend.

Scalping — a style of trading notable by many positions that are opened for extremely small and short-term profits.

Settled (Closed) Position — closed positions for which all needed transactions has been made.

Slippage — execution of order for a price different than expected (ordered), main reasons for slippage are — "fast" market, low liquidity and low broker's ability to execute orders.

Spread — difference between ask and bid prices for a currency pair.

Standard Lot — 100,000 units of the base currency of the currency pair, which you are buying or selling.

Stop-Limit Order — order to sell or buy a lot for a certain price or worse.

Stop-Loss Order — order to sell or buy a lot when the market reaches certain price. It is used to avoid extra losses when market moves in the opposite direction. Usually is a combination of stop-order and limit-order.

Support — price level for which intensive buying can lead to the price decreasing (down-trend).

Swap — overnight payment for holding your position. Since you are not physically receiving the currency you buy, your broker should pay you the interest rate difference between the two currencies of the pair. It can be negative or positive.

Technical Analysis — the analysis based only on the technical market data (quotes) with the help of various technical indicators.

Trend — direction of market which has been established with influence of different factors.

Unrealized (Floating) Profit/Loss — a profit/loss for your non-closed positions.

Useable Margin — amount of money in the account that can be used for trading.

Used Margin — amount of money in the account already used to hold open positions open.

Volatility — a statistical measure of the number of price changes for a given currency pair in a given period of time.

VPS (Virtual Private Server) — virtual environment hosted on the dedicated server, which can be used to run the programs independent on the user's PC. Forex traders use VPS to host trading platforms and run expert advisors without unexpected interruptions.




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What is Forex?

FOREX - the foreign exchange market or currency market or Forex is the market where one currency is traded for another. It is one of the largest markets in the world.

Some of the participants in this market are simply seeking to exchange a foreign currency for their own, like multinational corporations which must pay wages and other expenses in different nations than they sell products in. However, a large part of the market is made up of currency traders, who speculate on movements in exchange rates, much like others would speculate on movements of stock prices. Currency traders try to take advantage of even small fluctuations in exchange rates.

In the foreign exchange market there is little or no 'inside information'. Exchange rate fluctuations are usually caused by actual monetary flows as well as anticipations on global macroeconomic conditions. Significant news is released publicly so, at least in theory, everyone in the world receives the same news at the same time.

Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product and is traditionally noted XXX/YYY, where YYY is the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX currency is expressed. For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.2045 dollar.

Unlike stocks and futures exchange, foreign exchange is indeed an interbank, over-the-counter (OTC) market which means there is no single universal exchange for specific currency pair. The foreign exchange market operates 24 hours per day throughout the week between individuals with forex brokers, brokers with banks, and banks with banks. If the European session is ended the Asian session or US session will start, so all world currencies can be continually in trade. Traders can react to news when it breaks, rather than waiting for the market to open, as is the case with most other markets.

Average daily international foreign exchange trading volume was $1.9 trillion in April 2004 according to the BIS study.

Like any market there is a bid/offer spread (difference between buying price and selling price). On major currency crosses, the difference between the price at which a market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") to a wholesale customer and the price at which the same market-maker will buy ("bid") from the same wholesale customer is minimal, usually only 1 or 2 pips. In the EUR/USD price of 1.4238 a pip would be the '8' at the end. So the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.4238/1.4239.

This, of course, does not apply to retail customers. Most individual currency speculators will trade using a broker which will typically have a spread marked up to say 3-20 pips (so in our example 1.4237/1.4239 or 1.423/1.425). The broker will give their clients often huge amounts of margin, thereby facilitating clients spending more money on the bid/ask spread. The brokers are not regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (since they do not sell securities), so they are not bound by the same margin limits as stock brokerages. They do not typically charge margin interest, however since currency trades must be settled in 2 days, they will "resettle" open positions (again collecting the bid/ask spread).

Individual currency speculators can work during the day and trade in the evenings, taking advantage of the market's 24 hours long trading day.





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