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Here’s a list of books to remind myself of what to read. Always take notes and treat investing like it is your job.

I Am Currently Reading:
Breakthroughs in Technical Analysis

by David Keller

Recommended Readings: (my top favorites are in bold)

* A Complete Guide to Technical Trading Tactics by John L. Person
* A Short Course in Technical Trading by Perry J. Kaufman
* Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein
* Beating the Street by Peter Lynch and John Rothchild
* Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
* Bollinger on Bollinger Bands by John A. Bollinger
* China Shakes the World: A Titan’s Rise and Troubled Future by James Kynge
* Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher
* Contrarian Investment Strategies in the Next Generation by David Dreman
* Creating Wealth: Retire in Ten Years by Robert G. Allen
* Dave Landry on Swing Trading by Dave Landry
* Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns by Thomas Bulkowski
* Enhancing Trader Performance by Brett N. Steenbarger
* Entries and Exits: Visits to 16 Trading Rooms by Dr. Alexander Elder
* Evidence-Based Technical Analysis by David R. Aronson
* Financial Fine Print: Uncovering a Company’s True Value by Michelle Leder
* Financial Freedom Through Electronic Day Trading by Van K. Tharp
* Financial Shenanigans: Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud by Howard M. Schilit
* Fire Your Stock Analyst by Harry Domash
* Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
* Fortune’s Formula by William Poundstone
* Four Steps to Trading Success by John F. Clayburg
* Getting Started in Chart Patterns by Thomas Bulkowski
* Getting Things Done by David Allen
* Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
* Hedge Fund Masters by Ari Kiev
* Hedgehogging by Barton Biggs
* High Probability Trading by Marcel Link
* Hot Commodities by Jim Rogers
* How Charts Can Help You in the Stock Market by William L. Jiler
* How I Made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market by Nicolas Darvas
* How to Buy Stocks by Louis Engel
* Inside the House of Money by Steven Drobny
* Intermarket Analysis: Profiting from Global Market Relationships by John J. Murphy
* Investing with Exchange-Traded Funds Made Easy by Marvin Appel
* It’s When You Sell That Counts by Donald L. Cassidy
* Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques by Steve Nison
* John Neff on Investing by John Neff
* Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street by Michael Lewis
* Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager
* Mastering the Trade by John F. Carter
* Methods of a Wall Street Master by Vic Sperandeo
* Millionaire Traders by Kathy Lien
* New Market Timing Techniques by Thomas R. DeMark
* Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham
* Option Volatility & Pricing: Advanced Trading Strategies by Sheldon Natenberg
* Options for the Stock Investor by James B. Bittman
* Options, Futures and Other Derivatives by John C. Hull
* Pit Bull: Lessons from Wall Street’s Champion Day Trader by Martin Schwartz
* Pivot: How One Simple Turn in Attitude Can Lead to Success by Alan R. Zimmerman
* Professional Stock Trading: System Design and Automation by Mark R. Conway
* Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre
* Rule #1: The Simple Strategy for Successful Investing by Phil Town
* Screening the Market by Marc H. Gerstein
* Secrets For Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets by Stan Weinstein
* Stock Market Primer by Claude N. Rosenberg
* Studies in Tape Reading by Rollo Tape
* Sun Tzu on Investing by Curtis Montgomery
* Technical Analysis Explained by Martin Pring
* Technical Analysis of Stock Trends by Edwards and Magee
* The Art of Low Risk Investing by Michael Zahorchak
* The Dick Davis Dividend by Dick Davis
* The Disciplined Trader by Mark Douglas
* The Essays of Warren Buffett : Lessons for Corporate America by Warren E. Buffett
* The Four Pillars of Investing by William J. Bernstein
* The Future for Investors by Jeremy Siegel
* The Global-Investor Book of Investing Rules by Philip Jenks and Stephen Eckett
* The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
* The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham & Jason Zweig
* The Master Swing Trader by Alan S. Farley
* The Maui Millionaires by Diane Kennedy and David Finkel
* The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
* The Misbehavior of Markets by Benoit Mandelbrot and Richard L. Hudson
* The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing by Jason Kelly
* The New Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager
* The New Money Masters by John Train
* The New Science of Technical Analysis by Thomas R. Demark
* The New Trader’s Tax Solution by Ted Tesser
* The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias
* The Psychology of Trading: Tools and Techniques by Brett N. Steenbarger
* The Secrets of Economic Indicators by Bernard Baumohl
* The Single Best Investment: Creating Wealth with Dividend Growth by Lowell Miller
* The Stock Market Jungle by Michale Panzner
* The Stock Trader’s Almanac 2007 by Yale Hirsch
* The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
* The Vital Few vs. the Trivial Many by George Muzea
* Timing the Market: Using the Yield Curve, TA, and Cultural Indicators by Deborah Weir
* Trade Stocks & Commodities by Larry Williams
* Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom by Van K. Tharp
* Trader Vic II–Principles of Professional Speculation by Victor Sperandeo
* Trading Classic Chart Patterns by Thomas Bulkowski
* Trading for a Living by Alexander Elder
* Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence by Mark Douglas
* Trading Rules by William F. Eng
* Trend Following by Michael W. Covel
* Trend Trading: Timing Market Tides by Kedrick Brown
* Ugly Americans by Ben Mezrich
* Unconventional Success by David F. Swensen
* Understanding Options by Michael Sincere
* Way of The Turtle by Curtis M. Faith
* Way of Warrior Trader by Richard D. McCall
* When to Sell by Justin Mamis and Robert Mamis
* Winning on Wall Street by Martin Zweig
* Yes, You Can Time The Market by Ben Stein

Why Invest in Gold?
Historically, gold has been a proven method of preserving value when a national currency was losing value. If your investments are valued in a depreciating currency, allocating a portion to gold assets is similar to a financial insurance policy. In the past year, the climb in the price of gold above $700 per ounce is due to many factors, one being that the dollar is losing value.

Reasons to say NO to Gold

Gold doesn’t pay income or interest.
Except for the last four years, gold has been in a bear market after a peak in 1980.
Central banks have tons of bullion which they occasionally threaten to sell.
If you don’t count the last four years, gold stocks have not done well.
Since gold funds have made big moves over the past four years, it’s time for them to drop back.
Your broker probably won’t recommend gold funds.
Reasons to say YES to Gold

The dollar is weak and getting weaker due to national economic policies which don’t appear to have an end.
Gold price appreciation makes up for lost interest, especially in a bull market.
The last four years are the beginning of a major bull move similar to the 70’s when gold moved from $38 to over $800.
Central banks in several countries have stated their intent to increase their gold holdings instead of selling.
All gold funds are in a long term uptrend with bullion, most recently setting new all-time highs.
The trend of commodity prices to increase is relative to gold price increases.
Worldwide gold production is not matching consumption. The price will go up with demand.
Most gold consumption is done in India and China and their demand is increasing with their increase in national wealth.
Several gold funds reached all-time highs in 2006 and are still trending upward.
The short position held by hedged gold funds is being methodically reduced.
U.S. government economic policies over the past decade have systematically projected the U.S. economy down a road with uncontrollable federal spending and an uncontrollably increasing trade deficits. Both will cause the dollar to lose in international value and will increase the price of alternative investments, such as gold.
With the recent devaluation of many international currencies, the U.S. dollar was the international safe haven of last resort. We are seeing signs of this ending due to many financial factors, the most important one being a falling dollar.
There are over One Trillion dollars ($1,500,000,000,000) of U.S. debt owned by foreigners which could be repatriated under certain conditions. This could cause a major decline in the value of the dollar and a soaring gold price.
If you believe in ‘buy low, sell high’, gold is still low, but climbing.
Independent opinions on investing in Gold

A perspective on gold … from The Privateer

Different opinions about gold … 321Gold page

A page for silver investors

Real World Ways to Invest in Gold

Gold bullion. - Refiners produce gold bars from one gram to 400 ozs.
Gold coins. - The most popular are one oz coins such as the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, the South African Krugerrand, and the Austrian Vienna Philharmonic. They are easy to keep and transport and closely match the price of gold with a small premium. More specific details.
Numismatic coins. - Older coins which fit the description of collectibles have a premium to the value of gold included in the coin. The holder is dependent upon an accurate and fair appraisal.
Gold certificates. - A certificate which represents ownership of gold bullion held by a financial institution for convenient and safe storage. There is a fee for storage and insurance.
Gold futures and options. - A futures contract traded on one of the futures exchanges, such as the COMEX in New York. This method is generally leveraged and options provide price movement much more than that of gold itself. It can be used to sell short and can be used to benefit from a drop in the price of gold.
Gold Mining stocks. - Stock ownership of a company traded on one of the exchanges. The price movement is dependent not only upon the price of gold, but also upon the future of the corporation and management. It’s price movement is almost always more than the movement of gold itself. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) is one way to invest in stocks.
Jewelry. - Representing the largest consumption of gold each year, jewelry is a major method of savings in developing economies.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)- Perhaps the safest method of buying and owning gold by buying shares in a fund based solely on the existing market price of gold. No leverage or storage problems. GLD, GDX, and SLV.
Gold Mutual funds. - A relatively safe method of buying and owning gold stocks allows the owner to diversify among many stocks and allows the investing decisions to be made by a professional. Investment methods vary among funds and provide many different styles of portfolio management for an investor to choose from. Prices move faster and further in both directions than the price of gold.
Why Invest in Funds?

The 22 funds evaluated by EagleWing Research can be bought, sold, or exchanged on any market day, do not have a storage or liquidity problem and will quickly send you a fund prospectus upon request. Each is easy to get into and to get out of.

In general, gold funds:
a. Provide professional management and diversification within the gold sector.
b. Are more volatile than the S&P index.
c. May or may not have any correlation with the general market.
d. Move daily with the price of gold, but not always.
e. Move proportionally more than gold, up and down.

Which gold fund?

When selecting a fund, an investor should be aware of significant differences between funds:
a. Investment style…………….Very conservative or daring.
b. Type of load…………………Front-end, Back-end or No-load.
c. Expense ratios………………Varies from .4% to over 2%
d. Portfolio turnover…………..Varies from 2% to over 500%.
e. Fund sizes…………………….Varies from $30 mil to over $3 billion.
f. Net Asset Value(NAV)…..Varies from $4 to over $60.

Some funds have special relationships with discount brokers.
Some funds invest in South African mining stocks.
Some funds allow hedging, shorting and option writing.
A few funds have heavy bullion holdings.

Since 1989 sixteen gold funds have dissolved(quit) and seven more have changed management.

One gold fund terminated as recently as November 2001.
One new fund started in June 2002.
Some funds are closed to new investments.

By John Schroder

Clients often ask us, “Is it true. Is it really possible to invest tax free with an offshore account”?

Yes, It is true. But there are some things you need to be aware of when contemplating your investment strategy.

For example, most people do not know that US brokerage accounts titled in the name of a foreign person or entity are exempt from capital gains. As a result, there is no “Tefra” or back-up with- holding on profitable stock trades. Clients of course are required to complete a W-8 form, stating it is a foreign account in order to take advantage of this (if the account is titled directly in the name of offshore structure or foreign client).

However, while the US is a good place to do your stock investing, it is not advisable for “fixed income” investments. Fixed income investments would include any type of interest bearing investment, such as Bonds, Bank Certificates of Deposit, Bank Savings Accounts or Commercial Paper. The reason for this is, while capital gains are exempt, US Banks and Brokerage Firms are required to with-hold up to 30% of any dividend or interest payment at source. Stated another way, any US account coded with a “W-8″, will result in an immediate deduction by the computer system when the interest payment is credited. Banks and Brokerage Firms then in turn must remit this “Tefra” or tax deduction to the IRS within 30 days. You can of course file a tax return the following April, claiming this money back. But with plenty of tax-free higher interest bearing alternatives readily available elsewhere, why even bother?

Many countries do offer special incentives for investors to deposit their money without local
taxation. In some jurisdiction, bank account interest is completely tax-free for both locals and foreigners alike. An example of a so-called “high tax” country that imposes high income taxes on it’s citizens, but absolutely no taxes on bank account interest for foreigners, is the country of Sweden. In fact there are a number of other “high tax” jurisdictions that have this same policy. In these cases, many countries would with-hold income tax payments directly “at source” for their own residents or citizens, but allow foreigners (or a foreign entity such as a Foundation or Company) to enjoy bank account interest 100% tax-free. If an account is coded as “foreign”, it does not even get included in the reporting information the bank would send to the local government. So in essence, you have a tax-free bank account in a country not even considered to be a tax haven, (but for you as a foreigner, it is).

The other option is to do your banking in a country that offers completely tax-free banking, regardless if you are a local resident or not. Such countries on this list would include Panama and the Dominican Republic. In the case of the Dominican Republic especially, investors have the opportunity to earn up to 8% or more with US Dollar Bank Certificates of Deposit or 90 day commercial paper. Since the only reason why any financial institution would report bank account information is for the assessment of taxes, and there is no local taxation on bank account interest in these two countries, there is no local reporting that takes place. With that said, there certainly is no reporting to foreign governments as well.

Setting Up An Anonymous Brokerage Account

Almost all non US or “Offshore” Banks maintain a relationship with a US Bank or US Stock Broker for the purpose of providing access to the US markets for their clients. There are two ways that this is done. One of these ways is known as a “fully disclosed” basis, where in effect all accounts carried with the US Bank or Broker are directly in the name of client.

In essence, the foreign or offshore bank is really acting as a sort of branch office in this regard. With this type of relationship, the client would receive a statement directly from the US Bank or Brokerage Firm, since of course “they know who you are”. Not necessarily the best route to take, if confidentiality and privacy are your goals.

The other and more common type of relationship, is through what is known as an “Omnibus Account” or “Custodial Account”. With this type of relationship, the client is not disclosed to the US Bank or Brokerage Firm at all. Instead, the foreign or offshore bank has one master account, titled in the name of the bank, which is being used to execute and carry all investment activities of the bank’s clients. Your brokerage account is then directly carried with the offshore bank, and any statements would come from them. In reality, your offshore bank is really performing what is called “sub-accounting”, which means that they are “breaking down” the master-account and are issuing a monthly statement to you with your holdings and activities. The US Bank or Broker does not know who the underlying clients are, or what investments each client owns. They simply know that they have a “custodial account” or “omnibus account” with “ABC Offshore Bank”, that happens to be valued at say ten million dollars.

This really is the best route to take, because what you in essence have is an anonymous US brokerage account (just remember what we said earlier about capital gains vs. interest or dividends) with the same SPIC or insurance protection of any other direct client that maintains an account with them.

The only down side to some offshore banks or offshore brokers are the fees involved. In the past, anyone that has dealt with some of banks in the Bahamas or Europe can tell you that full service brokerage fees look like a good deal after getting a rate schedule from some of the offshore banks offering similar brokerage services. The good news is, that is starting to change, and there are some very good banks in both Panama and The Dominican Republic offering very very competitive fee schedules.

For additional information about establishing an offshore account or offshore structure for tax-free investing, please contact our office.

As the tumultuous summer stock season continues, at least enjoy a nice day off filled with fireworks!

I’m soliciting for writers, if you are interested drop a note to admin@helpfulfacts.net.

Next week, I’ll discuss a not so new strategy on investing, but it is certainly effective and any disciplined investor should follow.

Investing money doesn’t need to be a big deal. As a child, you may possibly have sold lemonade on the front lawn in the summer. Your mommy bought the lemons, as well as the sugar. You made the lemonade and then you took your business outside onto the street.

Perchance you made a profit, maybe you didn’t. The point is, if you were dealing with a crowd of other lemonade vendors, you’d think of approaches to make yours more adept. Perhaps the best way to invest your money for this lemonade stand would be to buy the highest quality of lemons, maybe throw in a lot of ice plus get some bright streamers or balloons to make your lemonade stand stand-out from the rest.

As adults, most of us basically aren’t educated enough to be able to understand what our top techniques to invest cash should be. There are so many possibilities. You have the 401K and IRA funds, mutual funds, stocks as well as commodities, day trading, Certificates of Deposit as well as bonds. These are long-term investments with varied risks and payback amounts. These also call for loads of paperwork, tax reporting and the inevitable special schedule to fill out. If you can afford it, it’s probably best to employ a professional to keep up with all these different varieties of investments.

Your financial condition will decide the scope of your investment prospects. Starting up a small business on the internet probably only needs a little investment but it also needs loads of potential as a business idea. In this case, your top way to invest money in your business would be to start out with your business plan, your product or products and an advertising drive.

If there’s a market for your product and you manage to get a foothold in that market, you might well be able to give up your day job. Many individuals, with suitable planning as well as a quality product, have comfortably begun businesses that make a good living. And they’ve probably spent very little controlling the business once it’s off the ground. An online business allows you total freedom of movement. You may be holidaying in Greece while still advertising your products and receiving income.

Some persons believe the absolute best way to invest cash is in land or a house. It’s a difficult case to argue with, if you time your purchase to maximize your return.

If you explore real-estate market trends, you’ll uncover cycles of boom and bust markets. Remember the dot.com bust? While times were rich and interest rates were relatively low, dot-commers were purchasing mansions in Lake Tahoe for awfully high prices. A couple of years afterwards, house prices fell back into reality, and many people found themselves lumbered with a mortgage payment that didn’t match up to the current market value of the house. Many found themselves faced with foreclosure.

If you save your money and have some patience, you’ll be the one with cash in a buyer’s market. As a durable long-term investment, land may well prove to be your finest way to invest cash. Land often appreciates in value, over time. Given well thought-out lawful arrangements, you could pass the value of this investment on to your kids, tax free. Now that’s what I’d call the best way to invest cash!

Then you you know 2006-2007 is not a good year for the men’s bball team.  Guess we’ll be rooting for the Lady Huskies this year!  Rant and complain all you want!  Hopefully, next year we’ll be singing the praises!