optionsXpress launched a project called the Trading Quotient Test and the results show your TQ.

Essentially the test is just like any other IQ test except questions are only related to the financial markets. The faster and more correcly you answer questions; the higher your TQ. The TQ will eventually help you see where your weaknesses and strengths are as a trader.

If you are a registered user, then you can compare your score with all types of group, and even track your personal results.

Whats your TQ?

Many of the best in the business have constantly been quoted saying the same thing and it can be summarized as such:

Most traders don’t make great profit trade after trade. In fact we may just scrape by day after day, until every now and then a trader hits that trade or couple of trades in a certain time frame. That is when all the hard work pays off, and that is when traders have the most fun.

Sure it has been quoted better, but you get the idea. Often times new traders enter the game thinking they will make home run after home run. When that doesn’t happen, they get scared and perhaps quit. Even traders who have been around for some time could forget those couple of great payoffs that creates the trader’s legacy.

As time goes on, eventually these traders lose sight of what they are doing. They may get discourage and lose focus.

Your Trade Will Come

With proper due diligence and persistence, every trader will have those trades. As long as we keeping tracking the markets, watch, and observe what is going on in the market, every trader will make that money.

Contrary to what you may have heard, trading is not a game for the weak. It takes constant mental focus, and unless a trader can see the big picture, then it will be hard for he/she to become successful.

Just Keep Tracking the Market

The most important discipline for a trader is to not chase after a trade. Just like lions do in the wild we want to sit, wait, and observe when the best time to pounce on an investment is.

As long as you keep tracking the markets, eventually that big trade will come. Unexpectedly, it will literally hit you in the head.

Once you see that profit in your account, you will be amazed of how easy that trade seemed to be. To make matters better, it will almost feel like you can’t lose, and other great trades will come rolling in.

…thus, a trader is in a zone, and we remember why we got tied up with trading in the first place.

Now if only we didn’t have to deal with that messy time of realizing the zone is over…

]]> http://thewildinvestor.com/are-you-in-the-zone/feed/ http://thewildinvestor.com/fantasy-football-meets-the-trading-floor/ http://thewildinvestor.com/fantasy-football-meets-the-trading-floor/#comments Sat, 13 Sep 2008 04:08:58 +0000 TheWild1 http://thewildinvestor.com/?p=1215 Updown.com is social network for virtual investing. In addition to giving members $1,000,000 in virtual money to invest, UpDown.com provides a platform for investors to improve their skills through collaboration, competition and aggregated wisdom. Major media outlets describe it as “fantasy football meets the trading floor,” UpDown.com is the only free investment platform that allows members to earn money with zero risk of financial loss.

How do you earn the the free money you ask? Through their many frequent cash prize competitions. For fun or competitively traders can work in groups or solo. Essentially this platforms allows you to practice your trading style of choice. You can also make money by just outperforming the market.

UpDown users get a risk free, challenging and informative online community to practice investing and earn real money without any risk. It also allows people to collaborate with others who share their passion for learning about the stock market, including how to leverage creative investing strategies to make their money work for them, instead of vice versa! Shared virtual investing enhances real world returns.

There is one competition with $10,000 in prizes and no entry fees. They are also awarding monthly leaders. With these kind of deals, users can safely practice their own trading, while hopeful enough to still make some real money.

Although I wish you could see holdings of other users (they are working on that), the Harvard bred site already boast over 70,000 users and still growing. With those type of numbers, there should be constant activity at all times. I especially like that, since I tend to get distracted very quickly.

So get signed up and used to the system because TWI hopes to create a contest in the near future, with cash prize of some sort.

Usually when you perform a Google search for salary comparisons, you are given an average salary for the overall type of work (i.e accountant, consultant, doctor), but these type of results can often time be misleading or simply pointless. Companies are able to compensate their employees different from others, and that is what most people are interested in.

I came across a site called Glassdoor.com. By collecting data from employers, employees, and other resources, the site is able to pull in detailed salaries for particular positions at many different companies. Besides salary information, users can find reviews of working at the company as well.

The way the site breaks down really enhances its features. For example, lets say we want to see how much a Deloitte Tax Consultant makes. According to Glassdoor.com, they have pulled in a figure of $60,000. For the same positions we can also see the range in salaries, bonuses, and other forms of compensation that have been recorded. You can also edit your search to a specific location and/or amount of experience.

Maybe you already have a job, but considering jumping companies for better pay. Well, Glassdoor also allows you to compare your salary to that of other competitors.

Even if you aren’t interested in finding or comparing jobs, Glassdoor.com is a pretty fun service to play around with. They also have a pretty interesting blog you may want to follow.

Finviz

Finviz.com is a pretty efficient service that I recently came across. Basically you can scan through various stocks, see a great overall depiction of what is going on in the markets, and search stocks by chart patterns.

When you first visit the site it is apparent that the group decided to avoid the glitz and glam. There are really no pictures and you just see long lists of stock symbols and charts; however, it actually helps make the site more functional. By just hovering over a stock symbol, you will be able to see a thumbnail view of the stock. This saves you tons of time because you don’t have to wait for any type of loading or switching back and forward between pages.

It is actually pretty intuitive to manage your way around the site. The setup basically allows everybody to feel like the site was custom made for them.

Scan Charts by Pattern

Probably one of the best features of Finviz is their ability to easily scan charts for the specific pattern you want. For example, I ran a scan for a head and shoulder pattern and received around 30 good leads.

Easily Share and Publish Charts

The chart that is shown above was not saved or screen captured. Finviz created an option that allows its users to easily publish their charts. I did not add any annotations or drawings.

Best of all you can either use a static chart (snapshot of when you looked at it) or you can use a dynamic one (updates as the market does). You can really do it with all the services they have on this site.

Market Maps

If you get bored looking at the regular stock charts, then you can always check out their Market Maps. These maps allow you to see an overall picture of what is going on in the market at a certain time.

Again the was no screen capture or saving I had to do, to share the map above.

Much More

The more you begin digging into the site the more features and services you realize Finviz has. Basically if you want some type of visual representation of a stock, sector, or overall market you can find it there.

You don’t need to register or create any type of user name in order to use the site.

I am assuming that Finviz is supposed to represent Financial Visualization, which it does really well. You can learn more about it by watch their video tour or just check them our for yourself.

StockHouse -

A powerful community of investors trading ideas on high growth investment sectors, market trends, small cap stocks and more. Dig into hot industries including natural resources, alternative energy, information technology, digital media and biotech using boards, blogs, groups, articles, charts and other financial tools.

It is certain that trading is nowhere how it was a decade ago. With the web 2.0 movement, many investors are able to come together to try and help each other reach a common goal… GET RICH!

StockHouse has a couple different products available to its members. Some require a paid subscription, while other remain free. Although prices are not high at all, free users can still get a lot out of the site.

Online Community

Just like any social community you can create your profile, select information that interest you, and find other users with similar patterns and likings.

Probably one of the coolest features about this social network, is the ability to share your own contents, charts, and portfolio. By creating your friend database, you can see what other people are looking at.

Depending on your contributions to the community, users will be ranked and awarded reputation. Think of it as becoming an authority on the stock market.

Newsletters

Once you create your user id, members have the option of creating a portfolio and then receiving information about those specific stocks straight to your inbox. Its kind of like creating your personalized news aggregator.

There are also a variety of other informative newsletters that can be selected to help learn more about the market activity.

Message Boards

Just like any community there are also message boards. Ideas, recommendations, and advice can be shared here. See what others are trading and share your opinions. Just beware of those trying to persuade you to buy a junk stock.

***

Overall the community that Stockhouse offers is somewhat a breath of fresh air. With some new features and different services offered, it tries to separate itself from the 10 billion other investor communities out there.

Create your free account over at Stockhouse.com and friend me at TWI_Amey.

Wesabe

But what if I told you there was a site out there that will give you financial advice geared only to YOUR needs? The other day I was pointed to the site Wesabe. Essentially it is a financial account aggregator, which gives you tips based on your spending and money habits.

Basically you can sign up for a free account, link your bank and/or credit accounts (up to 12 for a free account), and monitor everything you are doing on one page.

You will be able to see all your account activity just as though you were looking at a statement or had you logged into your bank account online. By going through each item in your accounts, you are able to tag them. For example, if one item was from Giant, then you could tag that as groceries. Now every time there was something from Giant it will automatically be tagged groceries. Obviously there is a purpose for all this.

Targeted Tips and Advice

As you tag each item, you will be given links to different relative articles in the Wesabe database that gives some tips on how to better that specific item. In the Giant example, you will be linked to an article that shows you how to save money on grocery shopping.

You can set goals, join groups, and interact with all of the numerous members already signed up. You can also find other options based on member reviews. For instance, maybe you were considering eating at Wendy’s, but other members recommend Taco Bell.

The main purpose is to get financial advice geared specifically for YOU and it can all be for free. Check out their tour video below or head directly to Wesabe [VIDEO ENCLOSED].

INO - 4 FREE videos that show you how to trade better.

Most money market accounts either have one set interest rate or will vary depending on the value of the account; however, they rarely ever head above 3%.

Now M&T Bank is introducing their M&T Bank eMoney Market Account. As long as you are able to spare the minimum balance of $1, owners will be able to enjoy an interest rate of 3.25%. There are no monthly fees, they are FDIC insured, and you have 24/7 access to your money.

You are allowed 4 withdrawals per month, with a $1 penalty for each one after; on the other hand, you shouldn’t be taking out money so many times from your savings in one month.

Try out their savings calculator for yourself and see how they match up against the national saving average. Visit their site to get started.

Wikinvest allows users to edit interactive charts of different companies. For example, if Apple (APPL) recently saw a run upwards and you know why, then you can add it to the chart for everybody to see.

Be careful of believing everything you read though, as most of the comments will come from people of all sorts of investing background; nonetheless, it is always interesting to see other people’s take on things.

Other than stocks, contributors can also add ideas to different concepts such as: rising oil prices, credit crunch, or subprime.

Overall it is a pretty substantial free service, that, at the very least, gets you thinking. With already over 100,000 contributors, you know everybody will have their own view.

Start contributing to your favorite stock now.

The book can be summarized in a few words: oil has peaked and we are all doomed.

Ok, so maybe that is a little harsh, but that is point the authors are trying to get across. It is not all gloomy. The main concept of the book is teaching readers how they can profit from the peaking of the oil, hence the book title.

What type of alternative energy sources are on the rise and where can you find locally generated energy? Profit from the Peak tries to clue investors in.

The books starts out clearly stating the problem:

Peaking [oil production] will result in dramatically higher oil prices, which will cause protracted economic hardship in the United States and the world.

According to their studies, the United States oil production peaked in the 1970’s. I wasn’t even born yet, and the best had already been behind me? In 2005, the US consumed its one trillionth barrel. With roughly 70% of US oil already consumed, the entire supply should be finished off around 2050. As we drive closer and closer, problems will only get harder and more costly unless we find some sort of solution.

The oil crisis doesn’t just impact us. Many other countries around the world are on decline as well. As less and less countries are able to create substantial production, it will only create a stronger monopoly and more turmoil.

Overall Profit from the Peak tries to make the reader into an energy expert. They first teach the problems, what causes them, and what we can expect in the future if we don’t change. After they have drilled the sense of urgency into us, the authors begin to shows us the solutions; such as the sun, geothermal, and much more.

The recommendations of the authors don’t just come from anywhere. They spent years researching and studying the problem and solutions. There are tons of charts, graphs, and diagrams to back up, so you are not bored with text upon text.

Here is a note from one of the authors about this book.

It is definitely a must read if you finally want to understand what all the commotion is about oil prices and learn how to “profit from the peak.”

Get a Free Copy

Leave a comment and by the end of next week I will select a lucky winner to receive a free copy of Profit from the Peak. Must be part of the contiguous United States.