Category Archives: Educational

How Paper Trading Options can prepare you for Success

It has long been said that in order to become an expert, you will first need 10,000 hours of practice. Though this number is obviously a rough estimate—and will vary tremendously depending on what you are doing—there is no doubt that practice is a very valuable thing.

In the world of trading, the need for practice is especially important. Without a strong familiarity with market mechanics, various financial assets, and technical indicators, you will quickly find yourself losing money. Even if you don’t have 10,000 hours to spend practicing and fine-tuning your trading strategies, making a conscious effort to familiarize yourself with the market in advance will pay off in the long-run.

trading strategy

Credits: AlphaBeta FX

In order to prepare for big trades and maximize their average rates of return, many traders will begin by trading in a simulated environment that allows them to experiment without actually risking any capital. Then, once they believe their trading strategies are ready, these strategies can be tested out on the actual market.

This form of practice trading is frequently referred to as “paper trading”. In this article, we will discuss the importance and meaning of paper trading, how to efficiently use your time as a paper trader, and how paper trading can be specifically applied to the options market. By taking the time to hone your trading skills in advance, you will put yourself in a position for success.

What is paper trading?

Paper trading is a term used to describe various methods of simulating a trading environment, without requiring traders to commit any actual money. There are multiple different uses of paper trading. Some individuals will trade on paper in order to familiarize themselves with trading as a whole. Others will use this technique to test different trading strategies.

The best paper trading systems will make it easy for traders to backtest their approach using the historical record. This way, instead of waiting for new data to emerge, traders can immediately see how a position would have fared if it had been entered into at a specific point in time.

For example, a paper trader might have a new swing trading strategy that wants to make sure is protected against the risks of a pending recession. While paper trading, they can “go back in time”, pretend to purchase shares of a specific stock in 2007 (following a swing), and see if that stock would have increased or decreased in value. This will signal to traders whether their strategy is moving in a productive direction or if they need to go back to the drawing board.

How can I get started paper trading?

There are many different paper trading platforms available for you to choose from. When comparing the paper trading options you have available, make sure that there is a sizable dataset available that allows for backtesting. Other features to look for while comparing include the use of live market data, the ability to test different price points (opening, closing, midday, etc.), the use of different financial assets (such as options), and the ability to hold positions of different sizes.

Most paper trading platforms are similar to one another, though it will still be worth your time to compare your options. We recommend using the platform Thinkorswim. ThinkorSwim has an innovative, free (for 60 days) platform that is easy to use and is incredibly flexible. The platform is supported by TD Ameritrade, allowing it to have access to the historical data it needs in order to be useful.

How can I effectively use the time I spend paper trading?

Because the window for free paper trading on platforms like Thinkorswim is usually limited, you will want to use your time as efficiently as possible. In order to develop an effective paper trading strategy, you will need to do a considerable amount of planning in advance.

  • Identify Potential Trading Constraints: things such as the marginal cost of trading, time constraints, and capital restrictions should all be identified in advance.
  • Choose a Few Favorite Technical Indicators: technical indicators are a crucial part of almost every trading strategy. When trading options, paying attention to the relative strength index, Bollinger Bands, and moving averages will be very important.
  • Open Realistic Positions: the purpose of paper trading is to prepare you for the real world. Though it can be tempting to be reckless when you’re not risking real money, opening realistic positions will help you develop a more productive skillset.
  • Back Test your Strategy in Multiple Scenarios: even if purchasing 10,000 shares of XYZ stock in 2002 would have been a good idea, that doesn’t necessarily mean your strategy is fool-proof. Testing your strategies in multiple settings can help you be more confident in your final approach.
trading strategy

Credits: stockmarkethacks.com

There are no substitutes for experience and education. The more time you can commit to paper trading, the more prepared you will be once it’s time to actually enter the market.

What are the nuances for paper trading options?

Options are contracts that allow you (but don’t require you) to purchase or sell an asset at a specific price at a specific point in the future. Options contracts typically move along with their underlying asset, though the options market itself is still unique in many ways.

The best paper trading platforms will make trading options as easy as trading stocks or any other financial assets. However, there are still quite a few nuances that need to be accounted for:

  • Options Markets are Inherently Volatile: options experience wider price swings than their underlying assets, resulting in higher risks and higher potential rewards.
  • Options can be used for Hedging: options can be used for limiting the potential downside of a position and are excellent risk-management tools.
  • Options come in Many Different Forms: call options, put options, hybrid options, and other options all cause this particular market to be inherently more complicated.

Options trading is generally more difficult than stock trading, meaning you may need to spend some extra time trading on paper. Don’t let FOMO deter you from getting the experience you need to be successful.

Conclusion

Just as you wouldn’t let a doctor, a pilot, or any other professional operate without any experience, traders require experience as well. Though there may not be a “trading school” like there are med schools and law schools, paper trading gives aspiring traders the experience they need. After testing your strategies on paper and making an effort to better understand markets, you will find yourself in a position to succeed.

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How Online Internet Radio Can Contribute To Your Business

The radio as a mode of mass media has contributed to the success of a lot of businesses. It is common for businesses to create jingles, send to radio stations and pay for play time. Over time, as people listen to the station, they get to hear such jingles and patronize the businesses. Hence they are able to make sales and earn more profit. This article will discuss various ways that online internet radio such as CNN radio live streaming can contribute to your business.

Online Internet Radio

  1. Advertise to a Large Audience

Do you have an online store that people can make orders from every part of the world? Chances are that you will also want to advertise on the media that have a wide reach. Local radio and television stations without an Internet presence, as well as newspapers, mostly have a limited reach. However, adverts on online Internet radio will easily improve the audience you can reach with your products and services. Online radio stations can be listened to, by anybody with an Internet connection anywhere in the world. Putting your advert on a radio station that broadcasts to every single country in the world with large followership will be a huge boost to your new or existing business.

  1. New on the Go

Information is very important for everyone and that is why it is always emphasized that an individual must be informed. Once you have an online radio station that you love their scope of news and how they give the news, it will be easy to always listen to your favorite news on the station. Perhaps, you love to listen to their 12: 00-noon news because they cover both local and international news in details. You can thus, just switch on your phone or computer and connect to the station once it is 12:00 every day, irrespective of where you are. All you need is your gadget and Internet connection. Occasionally, there might be news that will provide an opportunity for your business. You might hear about an invitation from a private multinational or government organization to bid for a contract. You will be able to bid and you might get the project at the end. This would be a big boost to your business.

  1. Business Radio Stations

There are also a lot of online radio stations that concentrate on business news and information. They give business news about a particular country, internationally or a combination of both. Imagine you are looking forward to migrating to a new country or city. There will most likely not be a local radio station in your city that will concentrate on talking about that country. From the internet, you can easily search for a local radio station of that country or the particular city you are targeting with a presence online. By listening, you will get all the information you need to plan your strategy.

  1. Starting an Online Radio Station

If you have been thinking of starting a radio station, you can start an online radio station. Considering how easy it is to stream videos to the internet through some social media platform, you can be sure that there are websites that allow you to stream audios from your phone or other gadgets online just like that. You can easily start an online radio station but probably a different genre such as comedy, business, music or entertainment.

  1. Easy Switch Between Local and International Stations

If you are in a country, you might have an online or local radio that provides you with local news and then switch to CNN radio online streaming to listen to international news.

Conclusion

Generally, there are several ways your business can benefit from online Internet radio. Apart from the fact you can start your own online radio station, they can be instrumental in giving your company a global reach through an advert. General news and business information, both at the local and international level, could improve your techniques and strategy to boost your business.

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Cheap single entry visas for the US tourists in Vietnam – what you need to know?

The hike of the Vietnam visa costs for US citizens had sparked up a lot of rages. It has forced the Vietnamese government to restore the cheap rates of Vietnam visa for US citizens within a short period of time. This makes it an ideal nation for the ones in search of a cheap escape destination from their busy schedule – be it students, backpackers or any other resident in the US. The restoration of the cheap services has brought in a lot of praises among the visitors. And it not limited to the single entry options only. Rather it offers cheap service options for visas for 3 months, 6 months and 1 year as well.

visit vietnam

Types of visa options for US citizens planning to visit Vietnam

Vietnam allows multiple types of visa options for the citizens of the United States of America. It includes both single and multiple entry options as mentioned below.

  1. Single entry visa for one month – it allows the visitors from the US to enter Vietnam only once and is allowed to stay up to a period of one month.
  2. Multiple entry visa for one month – visitors from the US are allowed multiple entries to the nation with the period of one month
  3. Single entry visa for three months – allowing the visitors one-time entry to Vietnam and allowed to stay in the nation for 3 months at the max
  4. Multiple entry visa for three months – US citizens can enter and leave Vietnam multiple times during the period of 3 months
  5. Multiple entry visa for six months – permits the US citizens multiple entries to Vietnam and allows a maximum stay of 3 months during each entry or till the visa lasts
  6. Multiple entry visas for one year – it is same as the multiple entry visa for six months except that the US citizens are allowed multiple entries and exit to Vietnam for a period of one month. Similar to the previous options, a maximum stay of three months is allowed during each entry

Charges

The charges for processing the visa of US citizens are very cheap. These cheap rates make Vietnam an ideal option among the students, travelers, and businessmen from the US. The rates mentioned below include the fees for processing the visa as well as stamping the same. That means the visitors will not be required to pay any extra charges when they arrive in Vietnam.

  1. $80 for a single entry visa for a tenure of one month
  2. $135 for multiple entry visa for one month period
  3. $110 for single entry visas for three months
  4. $160 for multiple entry visas valid for three months
  5. $180 for multiple entry visas functional for six months
  6. $220 for visas permitting multiple entries to Vietnam lasting for a year. The San Francisco Consulate office is known to charge $215 for the same process thought the reasons for the reduced charges are not known.

If you are planning to get your visa upon arrival in Vietnam, then it is necessary for you to know that the stamping charges can vary anywhere within the range of $25 to $135 depending upon the type and tenure of the visa.

Documents required

Similar to any other procedural visa application, the US citizens need to present the following documents to avail a tourist visa for a Vietnam tour:

  • Application form for the tourist visa in Vietnam
  • A couple of 2 X 2-inch passport size photos although a single one may be sufficient
  • Money order or a cashier’s check payable and the Vietnam embassy as the fees of processing the visa. A combined money order/check can serve the purpose for multiple applicants who are applying together.
  • Pre-paid stamped envelope carrying self-address to be sent to the Vietnam Embassy. This will be used to return the documents of the visitors. Apart from DHL, visitors can choose any of the tracked mail service providers including UPS, FedEx, and USPS.
  • The original passport for the visa stamping process. If you are applying for visa stamp on loose leaf, you may provide a colored copy of the page of the passport. The validity of both the options is equal.

Time for processing the visa applications of US citizens

Vietnam visa services are available in multiple speed options depending upon the requirement of the visitors. Those include:

  1. Normal service option and it takes up to a couple of working days to get done with the processing
  2. Urgent service option that provides the visa facilities within one working day
  3. Super Urgent service that allows visa processing within one to four working hours
  4. Services in non-working hours. It includes any time of Saturday, holiday or the regular day after Vietnamese time of 4 pm. The service is not available during night time

Where to apply for a visa?

Vietnam visa for US citizens can be applied in multiple ways. One can apply for it upon arrival in Vietnam or just apply for it beforehand before boarding. The option of e-visas is also applicable. Apart from this, the US citizens are also allowed to apply for their visas at the Vietnam Embassy located in the state of Washington DC. They can also apply for the visa at any one of the other Vietnam Consulate Offices in the nation. San Francisco, New York, and Houston host the consulate offices. You can check out their websites to know more about the process.

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The Complete Guide to Creating a Website for Your Startup

Every new entrepreneur focus to build a good setup for himself to get some earnings from his ideas. The focus is to produce something that is unique and according to the market trend. First off all you have to find an idea and then to implement it. But implementing sometimes need a platform and that platform decides how you can introduce the product to the customers.

In the past, the products are represented by going home to home and that require much effort to do so. Hence, they always want something or the platform on which they can promote their products. Nowadays we use many of the new platforms to promote our products, for example, social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and websites. In this article, we will discuss about the websites. A website is a platform that is needed to promote the business as through website the customers can find all about the business and you don’t have to go home to home to promote the products. The fact is that you need some tips to make the best website so that it can grab the attention of the customers. In this article, you will find some of the best tips to make your website more interesting. So let’s follow the following steps.

Market Trends

The main thing to start the business is to find out what people are desiring from the companies. You need to understand that what are the basic products, you can introduce to the market so, that it gains more and more attention from the customers. So you have to find what the market trends are and what the necessary steps you may take to attract the customers.

Use of Graphics

You may also find that people are attracted through pictures. To use the graphic content on the website may increase your traffic and generate a good income. Always try to provide some of the picture related to the product you are selling. It may make your website looks more interesting and at the end, many of the customers would attract towards your website. You can also compare various previously designed WordPress themes to setup the layout of your own website. But you have to remember one thing that always provides a suitable and attractive picture with good resolution so that the customer could not get bored after seeing it. The main purpose of this step is to make more money while starting your new business.

Suitable Domain

Suitable domain means that always buy a good name for your website for example if your website is about food related items then you must pick the name like www.foodies24/7.com as this name describe what type of content it acquire or what type of product that customers can get from it. You may also try some funky names to make the website more interesting and the customer would be attracting from the name. Always try to make your website look more and more interesting this will also increase the traffic and generate more income for you.

Domain Registration

Domain registration is also important to make sure that your website remains always available and anyone can find. For example, if the website is www.foodies24/7.com then if any customer enters just foodies24/7 then he will automatically redirect toward it. This is important for the customers to make sure that the website is giving the best content. You may also gain the trust form the customers if you have a registered website. The customers also know that the website is not a fraud but giving the best things. This will make your website to get top of the list.

Giving the Motivations

From my point of view, if the website motivates the newcomers that they can also make some money form the website then you can also get more money as many of the customers or viewers promote your website. They also tell others to visit your website and increase the traffic for you.

Conclusion

In the end, I would like to say that for the new entrepreneur, it is important to provide the best for the customers so they can come to him always. It is also important for the new entrepreneur that he must choose a platform to promote his business. You can attain much profit if you follow the above steps.

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CompTIA IT

IT Fundamentals Certification | CompTIA IT Certifications – What We Need To Know?

This exam is about CompTIA IT fundamentals. Included in this exam are some of the software and hardware relating to the world of computers. Questions that are included here are varied and does not a follow a pattern. There will be technical terms that you will be encountering, and your reasoning skills will be tested if it is on point. Basic questions about the central processing unit of the computer are also found here.

Filled with situational questions that will test your critical thinking skills to the maximum, these are about the proper decision you have to make in selecting the right program for your computer, etc. Definitely, your broad idea in the world of IT and computer would be tested. The exam would mainly feature the usually used operating system in computers and the proper way of setting up network connectivity.

CompTIA IT

Also, the exam will be assessing your knowledge of the different types of programs or applications. The process of making it work will also be considered. But the focal point is if you know the true purpose behind those software applications. In the world of computers as of now, the need for an IT specialist to know about security is vital. You will also be evaluated if you are educated on the matter of online security.  Your knowledge of the concept of integrity and secrecy will be useful if you have learned them.

Being an IT specialist, your intelligence will also be tested in terms of browsing. How do you properly browse the internet and the finest custom web browsing?

There are also different areas where the test will be paying attention to. Like terminologies that are used in the world of IT. The technical terms and their denotation. Concepts used in IT will also be observed and will be applied to situational questions. These are given to test if you have sufficient grip and knowledge on that certain concept. Not only that, questions about software applications are included, but there are also questions that will test your comprehension of concepts on programming. You will also find some questions regarding the proper installation process of some secondary devices to a personal computer or a laptop.

Not only will the test be focusing on the fundamentals regarding hardware and software but also database fundamental. Your learnings in the area of the database will be put to the test as you are questioned on the areas of database structuring, its purpose, and concepts. Your comprehension and familiarity with the database will be verified. Overall the exam is made to emphasize the skills and comprehension of one person in the area of IT. You can learn all about CompTIA FC0 U51 by going to ITExams. Identify the rudimentary skills of computing and being able to explain them. Also, in the areas of database, software programming, infrastructure, and security. You will be tested if you are viable and essential to be a part of the workforce in the realm of IT. So these kind of tests are essential for you but believe in yourself!

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