Monthly Archives: August 2008

19/08/2008
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Stock Market

Futures

Futures are one of the types of financial instrument. It is suitable for all speculators out there. Futures are suitable for only those who are not scared of losing and are not greedy.

Trading in Futures originated from Japan during 18th century. They were basically trading in silk and rice. A futures contract is a type of derivative instrument, or financial contract, in which two parties agree to transact a set of financial instruments or physical commodities for future delivery at a particular price. In other words, we are trading virtually. We just honor the contract and keep terms with it, that’s it. If you buy a futures contract, you are basically agreeing to buy something that a seller has not yet produced for a set price. But participating in the futures market does not necessarily mean that you will be responsible for receiving or delivering large inventories of physical commodities – remember, buyers and sellers in the futures market primarily enter into futures contracts to hedge risk or speculate rather than to exchange physical goods.

Trading in Futures is one of the riskiest and complex financial instruments and hence you don’t find many people in this region. But this is quite interesting. You can mint or lose money big time. This is actually wonderful. In my future articles I will write more about this.

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17/08/2008
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Random Thoughts

Forgiving and Being Forgiven

Forgiveness is a virtue. Not everyone on earth can forgive others for their mistake and not everyone can ask for forgiveness for their mistake. I was thinking about my mistakes that I have committed so far and was wondering whether will I be forgiven or not if I ask to forgive me for my mistakes.

It is very natural to make mistakes in life. If one does not commit any mistakes it just means he has not done anything in life. I am one of the people who learn only from my mistakes no matter what. Until unless I feel that I have made a mistake I won’t agree with anyone that it is my mistake but if I feel that it is my mistake I ensure that I don’t repeat it next time. After all it is boring to make the same mistakes again and again. I don’t make mistakes that often, but blunders. I live life like that only. I don’t like small things in life, for me everything has to be big even mistakes i.e. blunder.

I have tried to forgive people who have made mistakes or hurt me. Honestly speaking I have failed most of the time. It is very difficult to forgive others for their mistake even if they realize and apologize to you and ask for forgiveness. I don’t know how far I will be successful in forgiving others (I am trying hard). I feel it’s divine to forgive others; if you forgive others for their mistakes then I am sure you can call yourselves GOD. I mean it. These days it is hard to find people who have larger heart who can forgive others for their grave mistakes. I wish to be one of them who forgive others but …

Forgiving others for their mistakes actually helps you and makes you great in the other person’s eye if he genuinely asks for forgiveness. He will surely treat you with great respect from then on. I think one of the greatest qualities of Messenger of God or GOD himself is forgiveness because I have realized that it is a very big thing to forgive others. We all crib about others for the mistakes that they have committed, shower them with curses if we are hurt, and ensure that they are hurt from our actions. This is a normal human being. I am just like this. I want to change and have made progress in this region. I try to forgive others for their mistakes and even those who hurt me very badly. I have realized that if I have grudge against them it is no harm for them but for me, I will be thinking about them day and night and will be sad with what I am going through instead if I forgive them for their mistakes (whether they ask for forgiveness or not) I will be happy about myself and if the other person is genuine even he will be happy after realizing that I have forgiven him. I think this is a good way to lead life instead of having hatred feelings towards them and by loving them.

Mistakes happen in life and we can never be perfect. We can always try to become perfect but that is something that can’t be done over night. Everything that we do can be done in a better way. Being human is very difficult in the present situation but I want to be a human. I have seen people cursing on roads if they come in the way of our driving.

Learn from your mistakes, ask for forgiveness and forgive others for their mistakes even if they don’t ask for forgiveness. Enjoy life, after all we have just one life and let’s lead it happily.

Forgive and you will be forgiven…

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16/08/2008
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Stock Market

Investment Vehicles

There are various Investment Vehicles. Some of them are as follows :

1. Bonds

2. Stocks

3. Mutual Funds

4. Options

5. Futures

6. Forex

7. Real Estate

8. Gold

9. Commodities and so on….

I will briefly describe some of the Investment Vehicles in the future articles. I am particularly interested in the following : Stocks, Options, Futures and Real Estate.

What is meant by Bonds?

Bonds are the safest and the lowest yielding investment vehicle that one can get. Bonds are issued by the Government and certain companies. When you buy the bond, it means you are lending your money to these people and they in turn assure you to pay back your money with interest. It is risk free if the government is stable or the company is doing pretty well such as Power Corporation. The safety and stability, however, come at a cost. Because there is little risk, there is little potential return. As a result, the rate of return on bonds is generally lower than other securities.

I have described about Stocks and Mutual funds in my previous articles.

Now for Options and Futures, I will write about them in detail in the future articles. Since it is totally a vast topic and I need to explain much in that. It is really very interesting and I would love to explain you that in detail.

I think Gold and real estate everyone knows about it.

Commodities and Forex is of my interest as well. I have not played much with those so I can hardly tell you what it is. I too am learning about them. Once I get to know I shall update you.

Keep Visiting and Happy Investing.

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15/08/2008
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Personal Finance

Investing is not Gambling

Investing means putting your money work for you and you not working for money. In other words, money works for you and the value of money increases after certain period of time. We have a tendency to work hard, sometimes very hard for money. I have realized that it is not at all necessary to work very hard to make money. You can make money if you are little smart, thats it. If you think that only working hard gets you money then think again, there are finite number of hours and you have to work more hours and if you work more hours then when will you enjoy with your hard earned money? No leisure then what is the fun of working hard?

There are many different ways you can go about making an investment. This includes putting money into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, or starting your own business. Sometimes people refer to these options as “investment vehicles,” which is just another way of saying “a way to invest.”

Investing is not Gambling. Gambling is just putting your money at risk and the outcome is not sure, you may or may not win and you always hope to win. It is just about luck and nothing else. Investing is not about luck, it is about taking calculated risk. RISK is part of investment and you can’t completely be sure of making money but the probability is high that you will make money. A investor does some ground work and expects some solid profit after considering the risk associated with the investment where as a gambler just invests and prays so that the investment he made provides him the profit.

To make it clear, consider this. A gambler buys stock based on a “HOT TIP” and does not know much about the company or anything related remotely to it whereas a Investor buys stock only based on the analysis and thorough investigations that he performs and expects considerable amount of profit for his investments.

My personal view is that, you can be an investor or a gambler, I am sure you can make money either being an investor or gambler. But be clear with your path. I don’t wish that you claim to be an investor but you act like a gambler.

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15/08/2008
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Random Thoughts

India and her 61 years of freedom

Dear Indian all over the world,

I wish you all a Very Happy Independence Day.

I was just thinking about our independence and how we got it. Today most of us have celebrated Indian Independence.

I agree we are not as good as other nations but still I love my nation. I know that India is still a developing nation and we are making millions of mistakes. We all fall that is part of the game, only thing that is important is how soon we get up after falling. I am sure India and Indians don’t just keep falling or lie there only, after falling but in fact get up as soon as possible and move on with life. This is what it makes things wonderful.

Some issues do bother me and I do think about it such as politics, infrastructure, people and their welfare, nation’s security, terrorism, inflation and all other issues that bothers you as well. But I see this as a challenge for the nation to become a super power in the coming few years. I am sure every country which is super power today would have struggled to become one by undergoing various problems. We might not look into it in very detail but that is the truth. History is always written in such a way that it does not mention much about the sufferings and pain, it projects only the joy. I am sure that this is not the truth. No nation can claim to be prosperous without undergoing toil.

We should be proud of India for its achievement. Agreed that we are not doing great progress but we are in the right direction. I am proud to be an Indian any day. I am sure we will be a Super Power in just few years and will be self sufficient and also provide goods for other nations to help them. I always believe in sharing. The more we share, the more we obtain. This is what I have learnt and I practice the same.

Be PROUD to be an INDIAN.

JAI HIND! Vande Mataram.

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