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With all of the current turmoil in the financial markets, most investors no longer know where to put their hard-earned savings. Many Americans have watched their retirement savings drop as much as 30% in the past year, and even experienced investors are at a loss as to what to do next. When making decisions about how to best invest your savings, it is important to consider your tolerance for risk. If you are willing to deal with the ups and downs the stock market will surely bring in the next few years, then the stock market is still a great place for investing. Buying at the bottom of the market can bring greater returns, especially if the investor finds the best stock investments available.

There is no such thing as a perfect investment. The best stock investments are those that meet the needs of an individual investor. Investors who dont mind taking risks with their money are different from highly conservative investors. The best investments for each will be different.

The best stock investments for very conservative investors are stocks that have a history of stability and slow growth. The old favorites, blue chip stocks, are still good bets. Established companies normally have the financial reserves to make it through a long period of economic downturn. Buying stock in these companies while the market it down can give the buyer a bargain price on a top quality stock. Continuing to contribute on a regular basis, no matter where the market is, will provide a long-term benefit. Investors will have the benefit of continuing to increase their market share as the market grows in years to come.

Another alternative to blue chip individual stocks is to purchase Exchange Traded Funds, (Lefts). Look for funds with long-term growth in mind. Several companies offer target date retirement funds, which will balance themselves as the end date nears. Whole market funds are another way for conservative investors to mitigate their exposure to the downturns of individual stocks.

More aggressive investors will find that their best stock investments are different. For this investor, small-cap aggressive growth funds are a good choice. These funds invest in small companies with a potential for earnings growth. The fund managers are constantly investigating new market trends, and balance these funds accordingly. If picking individual stocks, an investor should look for expected earnings per share to be higher than current earnings. This is a good indicator of a business worth investing in.

There is no perfect investment, and all investments have risk. The biggest mistake any investor can make is failure to invest at all. With proper research, any investor can find stocks that will complement their existing portfolio and create long-term wealth.

There has been a lot going on lately – shake down and confusion. During these times human emotion works like this – greed is the accelerator and fear is the break. Many people have been jumping from one pedal to other – or applying pressure to both at the same time – not good for the health of the vehicle.

Property Market:

Agents – can you trust them? – Some have been saying that it is still full tilt boogie and business is strong. I think this is an automatic default response. Some agree that the recent stock market melt down has slowed the property market a bit. Many people are just sitting on their hands and waiting for the dust to settle. The big question is will this market meltdown create the same rush to property that happened after the meltdowns in 87 and 2000.

Of course agents are predicting so but there are few indicators that may hinder that outcome – mainly interest rate fears and housing affordability. Yes property usually doubles in Australia every 9 years but there must be some constraints sometime around rental returns and the ability to purchase a house without a corresponding increase in incomes. At present it takes 7 times average annual income to buy an average Australian home – the highest ratio in the world. Can this keep increasing? Can rental returns keep going up to support the increasing costs of investment properties? Stay tuned for the next thrilling installment!

To put Oz house prices in perspective – the only country if a higher median house price than Australia which is $412,000 is the UK at $472,000. Compare it with other similar countries: Spain $369,000, France $293,000, US and Canada $324,000.

Share Market:

After the revolution I will have all day traders taken out and shot – but in the meantime I am sure many are having a gay old time with the volatility. The All Ords is in a classic support and resistance trading pattern between 5600 and 5750. Day traders love this pattern as they wait to see which way it will break and then rush in – either with calls or puts. I think the break out will be mild and in an upward direction. I think the worst is over but all the uncertainties will keep it in a slow recovery.

One interesting thing with recent market “corrections” is the ferocity. This is due to the prevalence of margin lending. This is also a reason why even the top end of the property market has been affected by the recent downturn. Many people are holding their portfolios on margin – using blue chip shares as collateral and borrowing against them. Fine in a stable market but when there are sharp falls brokers are forced to sell out people on margin calls and the market tumbles even more drastically.

This causes harder than usual sell offs and a hairy roller coaster ride. The banks have been hit the hardest and, although it takes some courage to enter the market again just on yield alone the major banks are giving a good return with the share price way down the dividend yield combined with the imputation credit can give a return of double figures. (pls remember I am not qualified to give financial advice so this is just an opinion).

New developments

I thought I would talk a bit about a few of the things that is happening around the shire. Some of the new developments that are happening are worth a mention.

Kiah

Kiah Apartments are on Cavanbah Street between Shirley Street and the railway line. They have just been open for inspection. Not exactly beach front but close. This was a long time in coming this development with the developer facing the usual amount of hurdles and obstacles. They are up market 3 bed 2 story units with a starting price around $1.8M. No bargains there.

The Butter Factory

Just north of Mitre 10 on the south side of Jonson Street is being made over into The Butter Factory. Ten very swish architect designed apartments and some retail will retain some of the old structure from the Norco Butter Factory days. Prices here start at $950K for 1 bedroom and up to $1.5 for 3 bed. Go online and look as they look good and that sounds reasonable.

Sea Drift

Just at the southern roundabout in town in Browning Street is another Eric Freeman development of units between $500K – $750K each. Apparently these have been selling well and are good value for money but I have not inspected. Stage 2 and 3 are yet to be released so probably a safe off the plan buy. This one and the previous two are marketed by Byron Bay First National.

Crosby Caravan Park

Opposite the Byron Golf Course on Broken Head Road the old Crosby Caravan Park (like most of the local caravan parks) are more than a face lift but a complete overhaul. This one is interesting in that they are offering 2 bed pre-fab units that start around $340,000. It is leasehold not freehold and body corporate is $100 a week – so you never own the land, just the building and a renewable 100 years lease. You can live in them or holiday let – or both.

Will be interesting to watch what happens with the Suffolk Park Caravan Park which is zoned “Community Use” as donated to council in a more relaxed time when nobody would ever of guessed it become such valuable real estate.

North Beach – Becton Site at the Byron Beach Resort

After all the years of strife I think that what finally is going to happen here will be good – and leave lots of natural habitat. I think it will be a win for the community as they seem like they are going to do a good job – sensitive aesthetic development, regenerate some bush and still be a good space for community events like the writers festival. Also it looks like good value – 1 bed apartments start at $380K, 2 bed beach house for $630K and bigger homes at 1.2 and 2M. Everybody is wondering how they are going to police the 3 month limit on owner occupier as it is licensed for holiday let – I know of a few people lining up to settle in for the long term.

Epicentre

Well the old landmark is finally flattened – thank god what an eyesore. But the end of an era now that the whaling and meat abattoir is no longer a Byron feature. 19 residential lots are planned. Prices are not yet decided but would have to $1.5M at least.

The only other piece of news is that it looks like we have had the wettest and coolest summer in over 20 years and that has had an impact on retail and holiday letting.

When starting out investing in the share market, it can be difficult to know and find out all the information you will need. One identity that you will deal with all the time is your broker. Your broker has a wealth of information and is available for you to help you make all the right choices.

How to Select A Broker That Will Work for You

Your investments mean a lot to you and will definitely play a large role in your future. Making sure that your investments get the best treatment and care you want for them is very important and will be reflected in the broker you choose. Here are some tips on how to choose the right broker that will provide the services you want for your investments.

Decide On Your Investment Goals

Before you start to look around, it is important that you decide what your goals are for your investments. This needs to be your first step because the type of broker you need depends on your goals – besides that, you will have to tell him or her what your goals are anyway.

If you simply want someone to handle your decisions for you, then you will want one type of broker (discount broker), but if you want more than that, like advice and tips, another kind (full-service) will be needed.

Choose Between Full-Service Or Discount Broker

A full-service broker can do much of what you are looking for, if you need advice, tips, and other direction or help with your investments. Other types of full-service brokers can even go beyond that if they are licensed financial planners. This would give them options to handle other investments for you including trusts, life insurance, and more.

A discount broker, on the other hand, will simply execute your plans. There is no advice and very little interaction except when you need some changes in your investments, or stocks.

Compare Services

After you have selected about three brokers whose services look good to you, you will want to compare each of the services that they offer. Every broker may vary in the services they provide for your investment, but only you have an idea of what you will need. As you look at their list of services, be sure that you get the services you want. If you should decide that you might need more services later, be sure to select one that will do those services as well, this way you do not need to start over in your search for the broker of your choice.

Understand the Fees Involved

Fees will vary among brokers, too. Some may give discounts in various situations so make sure you discover where you will get the most service for a good price from a reliable broker.

Get Referrals

As you should do when you choose any kind of professional, it always pays to get some referrals. These can come from your friends, or from the broker. Check them out and make sure that the individual really has had some kind of relationship with the broker (other than being a relative or friend) and is familiar with the quality of service being offered. This will help you make wise choices and have fewer headaches with your investments in the future.

After you go through each of these steps, you will probably find that only one or two will still look good to you. All you need to do then is to add one or two other deciding factors – such as how easily can he or she be contacted, office hours, unique services, special training, and more – then just go with the one that looks best.

For further information on

Rarely do you see an investor who keeps all their eggs in one basket, and for good reasons too. Diversifying your education and creating multiple streams of income is a very important part of wealth creation. Different areas you might draw an income from include your job (if you have one), share trading, property investing and internet marketing.

On top of this you might have your own business on the side, however the best place to start, in my opinion is internet marketing to at least create a 2nd income on top of your day job.

With the right information it is quite easy to get started in internet marketing and it won’t cost you a fortune to start. Most people start with their hobbies, either creating a product or service for that market or simply writing articles and posting in blogs and promoting an affiliate product.

If you are just starting out this can be a great way to create another income without breaking the bank. From there you can of course head into the property market or the share market. Alternatively you can start in property or shares and use internet marketing to complement your investing and fill in any shortfalls you may have.

Either way you will need to get educated to ensure you succeed in all areas and fast track you way to wealth and financial freedom. There are plenty of products on the market today offering home studies or seminars, so make sure you have a good look around before committing to one.

What you should be looking for is a program that will teach you the basics in a variety of areas so you can make a start in each area, and then as you become more advanced then can continue your education to learn advanced strategies that will accelerate your wealth creation.

Atlanta Ga – In today’s shrinking mortgage battlefield the industry giants are moving into smaller markets at a rapid pace like never before. Nationally, the real estate market is considered to be a “buyers market” creating great deals for the would-be home purchaser. Smart investors are buying homes like crazy right now because they understand that the market will eventually return. The same is true for savvy mortgage companies as well.

The near demise of subprime lending and tightened competition have seriously affected the budget of mid to small sized lenders. The problem is that most of your medium sized lenders are not in a position to expand their operations and the smaller ones are closing their doors all together. This has left the “door” wide open for “big boys” like Countrywide, Bank of America and others to go on the market share offensive.

These mortgage giants are moving deeper into the local market place due to the void left by collapsing companies. Traditionally these companies wouldn’t risk offending their local correspondents with direct advertising in the local markets with the saturation level we are seeing. Correspondent lending represents a large portion of their business. However the local correspondent lending is down dramatically which offers justification for moving into these once taboo smaller markets. The next wave of advertising appears to be of the “no closing cost” variety.

Both Countrywide and Bank of America (BOA) have launched their new “no fees or closing cost” campaigns. At Lendfast.com we have always warned our readers to be wary of marketing “gimmicks” that sound good in advertising but are less attractive in black and white. No closing cost loans are not free, in most cases just the opposite. Attorneys do not work “for free”. Appraisers, closing agents, escrows, prepaid interest and state and local taxes do not go away when you close a “no closing cost mortgage”. If you do not include the fees in the closing cost the lender must pay them. If the lender pays them they will sell you an interest rate above what you qualify for, period, end of story.

The last round of advertising “gimmicks” focused on low payments that were based on negative amortizing loans. Do you remember the ads that would say something like “$250,000 mortgage for only $475 per month”? These advertisements were very popular over the last 3 years and perpetuated by the larger mortgage companies, with the exception of Wells Fargo. This it one of the reasons that securitized loans are not performing well on the secondary markets and mortgage companies are in trouble. Too many people were put into bad loans and are losing their houses. When this happens the loans that are grouped and sold on the secondary market are sold at a loss as opposed to a profit. This causes banks to raise prices and close departments.

At lendfast we believe that the mortgage giants are good companies and would do well without having to repackage their products. No closing cost advertising is nothing more than putting a different bow on the same product they have been selling for years. Just to hit this point home, let’s think logically about the “no closing cost mortgage”. The inference is, that if the lender is “paying” the closing cost on the loans they close you are now receiving a better deal by way of lower closing cost. Doesn’t this mean the bank would have to dip into their profit to pay the closing cost causing them to earn less profit on the loans they originate? Recently Floyd Robinson at BOA has been quoted as saying this in reference to their employee pay plans:
“The compensation plans have not changed with this (no closing cost) product. I won’t get into how we compensate our associates. But we haven’t changed our methodology or the amounts based on this product.”

We at Lendfast can can tell you exactly how BOA and others compensate their associates, commission. If they have not changed how they compensate their commissioned associates it’s fair to assume they haven’t changed their profit level on their loans either. Remember the first rule of business, nothing is free and no one works for free.