Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Investing Time and Money in You
Invest time and money in you (you are worth it)
Get comfy this is a long one
Beware of free advice!I hear this statement time and time again, most recently from Robert Kiyosaki(from Rich Dad) and Dean Graziosi ( Real Estate Expert). Be aware of who is giving you advice. Does this person have a vested interest in you? Do they have something to gain from the advice they give you? When talking investments like stocks, FOREX, Real Estate, and so on what is their experience? Are they currently invested?
These are just a few of the questions you might want to ask these "guru's" and yourself. So you are giving me some tax advice, are you an accountant or a lawyer? So you think buying Real Estate is a bad idea. Do you own any property? Have you owned property in the past?
Sometimes this free advice can end up being costly to you. Maybe you are talked out of a trade that takes off and makes mad money, maybe you are talked into a trade that bombs and looses all or worse more than your initial investment. When you talk to that friend, family member, or co-worker all they can say is whoops. They do not have to take any responsibility. They don't have to give you due diligence you are not a client. Due diligence that is a key word to remember. You do the back-round checking and research. You must do the fact finding and number crunching. Almost every type of investing I do is self-directed. This includes trading stocks, forex, and commodities. I have just one person to blame or congratulate, me. Because of this I am always investing time and money in my financial education. You can always learn more.
I feel that quality learning involves an exchange. You trade some of your money for knowledge. This transaction really has more value. I know that when I pay for a book, course, class, seminar, etc I pay more attention. My focus is sharper and my desire to learn is greater. One of the best things about knowledge is once you learn something it can never be taken away from you. That is real value. Even if you spend just one dollar that will change your mindset verses something that is free. You will find on the internet and everywhere in the marketing world that information that starts off as free will 99% of the time lead you to a product to buy. I don't like sticker shock, and I don't like this bait and switch technique. You can see on my blog the items I promote have an up front price tag. Take a look at some of these offers and find one that matches your comfort level of spending. A wonderful habit I have is to upgrade my training by using profits to purchase said training. That is a win win, and a great feeling. To give you a specific example way back in 1998 a bought a Ken Roberts Commodities trading course for $250. This gave me the knowledge and education to be comfortable getting into the commodities market. I then funded my trading account with $3,000 to start trading options. Once I made a profit on a few trades I re-invested in an upgrade training course from Ken Roberts called The Round Table which cost me $600. Then took another position with the initial investment. In essence I bought more knowledge with the houses money. This is different than getting something for free. I paid for the education. Used this information to make an investment, made some profits, and paid for more education. This is a process I continue to repeat. This is also a great investment strategy which I will get into at a later time.
If you are reading this blog you are someone who is an active investor. Keep learning and keep investing in your financial education...No one wants your money to make more money than you do!
Shawn Ravenscraft
Get comfy this is a long one
Beware of free advice!I hear this statement time and time again, most recently from Robert Kiyosaki(from Rich Dad) and Dean Graziosi ( Real Estate Expert). Be aware of who is giving you advice. Does this person have a vested interest in you? Do they have something to gain from the advice they give you? When talking investments like stocks, FOREX, Real Estate, and so on what is their experience? Are they currently invested?
These are just a few of the questions you might want to ask these "guru's" and yourself. So you are giving me some tax advice, are you an accountant or a lawyer? So you think buying Real Estate is a bad idea. Do you own any property? Have you owned property in the past?
Sometimes this free advice can end up being costly to you. Maybe you are talked out of a trade that takes off and makes mad money, maybe you are talked into a trade that bombs and looses all or worse more than your initial investment. When you talk to that friend, family member, or co-worker all they can say is whoops. They do not have to take any responsibility. They don't have to give you due diligence you are not a client. Due diligence that is a key word to remember. You do the back-round checking and research. You must do the fact finding and number crunching. Almost every type of investing I do is self-directed. This includes trading stocks, forex, and commodities. I have just one person to blame or congratulate, me. Because of this I am always investing time and money in my financial education. You can always learn more.
I feel that quality learning involves an exchange. You trade some of your money for knowledge. This transaction really has more value. I know that when I pay for a book, course, class, seminar, etc I pay more attention. My focus is sharper and my desire to learn is greater. One of the best things about knowledge is once you learn something it can never be taken away from you. That is real value. Even if you spend just one dollar that will change your mindset verses something that is free. You will find on the internet and everywhere in the marketing world that information that starts off as free will 99% of the time lead you to a product to buy. I don't like sticker shock, and I don't like this bait and switch technique. You can see on my blog the items I promote have an up front price tag. Take a look at some of these offers and find one that matches your comfort level of spending. A wonderful habit I have is to upgrade my training by using profits to purchase said training. That is a win win, and a great feeling. To give you a specific example way back in 1998 a bought a Ken Roberts Commodities trading course for $250. This gave me the knowledge and education to be comfortable getting into the commodities market. I then funded my trading account with $3,000 to start trading options. Once I made a profit on a few trades I re-invested in an upgrade training course from Ken Roberts called The Round Table which cost me $600. Then took another position with the initial investment. In essence I bought more knowledge with the houses money. This is different than getting something for free. I paid for the education. Used this information to make an investment, made some profits, and paid for more education. This is a process I continue to repeat. This is also a great investment strategy which I will get into at a later time.
If you are reading this blog you are someone who is an active investor. Keep learning and keep investing in your financial education...No one wants your money to make more money than you do!
Shawn Ravenscraft
Monday, January 17, 2011
Internet Marketing
With over 1.5 Billion internet users it makes sense to figure out a way to take advantage of this market. It is red hot and primed to continue it's explosive sales growth. Like many other types of investing it is all about setting up a system where your money works for you. You can only work so many hours in a day, but the entrepreneur wants his or her money to work 24/7. The market is out there, and it takes some time and effort to find where your business will fit in. A word of caution. We are bombarded with spam that are filled with get rich quick internet marketing schemes. It is easy to get suckered into parting with your hard earned cash with the promise of it making untold wealth. The only problem is most of the time that wealth is going from your pocket into a SCAM artists bank account. I consider myself pretty smart and investment savvy, but have been taken for a couple of rides. It is easy for these companies to take your money, but very difficult and time consuming to get your refunds. I will have more on the last company that SCAMMED me. I will name names and give you details.
From the street of learning the hard way, take some advise from someone who has already made a few costly mistakes signing on with the wrong company. DO YOUR RESEARCH! When you find what seems like a good opportunity take these two steps for piece of mind:
1. Look up that company through the Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Review.
2. Google search said business and see what is on the first page. Look for the SCAM headings .
Good luck and keep investing
V/R
Shawn Ravenscraft
From the street of learning the hard way, take some advise from someone who has already made a few costly mistakes signing on with the wrong company. DO YOUR RESEARCH! When you find what seems like a good opportunity take these two steps for piece of mind:
1. Look up that company through the Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Review.
2. Google search said business and see what is on the first page. Look for the SCAM headings .
Good luck and keep investing
V/R
Shawn Ravenscraft
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Why Invest?
Why should you invest? Which is riskier to invest or not to invest? My answer like many others is that not investing is much riskier. The average inflation rate is more in the 2-3% range, so this is what you need to make just to break even. Most savings will give you a 1-1.25% return. A 5 yr CD goes for around 2.02%.
So even a conservative investor can see that you really need to have your money make more money for you. Those dollars have to be your employees going out getting you various returns. In this highly volatile markets people are buying notes at negative returns for the safety of parking their money.
Most money managers, planners, investors, and so on will tell you these truth's:
1.You should have a retirement fund 401/IRA etc.
2. You should have 6 months plus worth of savings for emergency's
3. You should set up a portfolio that caters to your needs, time frame, and risk tolerance
It is true that with stocks, bonds, and cash you can weather many financial storms.
Using other investment options like forex trading and options trading with stocks or commodities is where you go for more aggressive returns.
So make sure you cover #1 and #2. When you get to #3 you should be using all risk capitol. Money that can go away and not interfere with you life and all of the wonderful recurring monthly bills that come with it.
Where ever you chose to put your risk capitol, make sure you are comfortable with those markets, and have an entry and exist strategy for every move. For me any area that has liquidity, and you can put exact limits on loss or profits is where you want to be. I am a big fan of making initail investments and knowing that or less is the most I can loose.
So even a conservative investor can see that you really need to have your money make more money for you. Those dollars have to be your employees going out getting you various returns. In this highly volatile markets people are buying notes at negative returns for the safety of parking their money.
Most money managers, planners, investors, and so on will tell you these truth's:
1.You should have a retirement fund 401/IRA etc.
2. You should have 6 months plus worth of savings for emergency's
3. You should set up a portfolio that caters to your needs, time frame, and risk tolerance
It is true that with stocks, bonds, and cash you can weather many financial storms.
Using other investment options like forex trading and options trading with stocks or commodities is where you go for more aggressive returns.
So make sure you cover #1 and #2. When you get to #3 you should be using all risk capitol. Money that can go away and not interfere with you life and all of the wonderful recurring monthly bills that come with it.
Where ever you chose to put your risk capitol, make sure you are comfortable with those markets, and have an entry and exist strategy for every move. For me any area that has liquidity, and you can put exact limits on loss or profits is where you want to be. I am a big fan of making initail investments and knowing that or less is the most I can loose.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Links to check the markets
I am always checking the markets. Constantly flipping between cnbc and bloomberg on cable. I also wanted to share web sites I visit to get my quotes. Information is key. Some of these sites give you specifics like stock, forex, and option quotes, and some just give you "talking heads" market commentary. Even though most of the time I do not follow the masses, I still need to know what they are doing..
https://www.google.com/bookmarks/l#!threadID=GuOzAv_2xIVQ%2FBDQ-dZQoQjfiQxdYl
Just copy and paste this into your browser..
Happy trading,
Shawn Ravenscraft
https://www.google.com/bookmarks/l#!threadID=GuOzAv_2xIVQ%2FBDQ-dZQoQjfiQxdYl
Just copy and paste this into your browser..
Happy trading,
Shawn Ravenscraft
Friday, January 7, 2011
Commodities
I love commodities and have been trading them since 2000. When I first started the only way you could buy commodities was by owning a futures contract or to purchase an option. I assume we all know what commodities are but here is a list of the ones that I watch and trade the most:
Coffee
Sugar
Corn
Oil
Gold
Cotton
Orange Juice
Wheat
Most of the time I simply trade options. You can make it complicated or simple, and I prefer simple. I don't get into selling puts or calls. If I think the market is going up I will buy a call option. If I think it is going down I will buy a put option. This way I can never loose more than my initial investment. Most times I will pick up a option on the other side for insurance in case the market moves the other direction. A caution with options. You want to exit your positions around 30 days before they expire. Otherwise if they are out of the money they end up worthless. Remember options are time sensitive. Like all investments you must have a game plan which includes an entry and exit strategy.
Now we have another option to trade these markets with out actually leveraging the physical commodity. You can by ETF's (exchange traded funds) These trade just like stocks on the NYSE exchange. Here is a list of a few of them.
Coffee
Sugar
Corn
Oil
Gold
Cotton
Orange Juice
Wheat
Most of the time I simply trade options. You can make it complicated or simple, and I prefer simple. I don't get into selling puts or calls. If I think the market is going up I will buy a call option. If I think it is going down I will buy a put option. This way I can never loose more than my initial investment. Most times I will pick up a option on the other side for insurance in case the market moves the other direction. A caution with options. You want to exit your positions around 30 days before they expire. Otherwise if they are out of the money they end up worthless. Remember options are time sensitive. Like all investments you must have a game plan which includes an entry and exit strategy.
Now we have another option to trade these markets with out actually leveraging the physical commodity. You can by ETF's (exchange traded funds) These trade just like stocks on the NYSE exchange. Here is a list of a few of them.
- Natural Gas (NYSE: UNG)
- SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD)
- iShares Silver Trust Fund (NYSE: SLV)
- PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (NYSE: DBA)
- iPath Dow Jones-UBS Copper Fund (NYSE: JJC)
- iPath Dow Jones-UBS Sugar Fund (NYSE: SGG)
Welcome to Ravenscraft Investments
INTERNET MARKETING AND SALES
The Internet is amazing. We all use it. More of us are getting comfortable buying off of it. Some of us are profiting from it. I know most of us have ebay-ed an item or sold an item on amazon. stay tuned for links to download-able e-books and other products I have for sale. Modern technology at it's finest. Great products and great deals. Give them a click and take a look. We live in a world of instant gratification. When we want something we want it now. I am no different. With these e-books, you find one that interests you, pay for it and download it. It's instant and yours! You don't have to wait for the mail or even for an auction to end. Can it get any better than that? Don't worry I still will have drop ship items so you can go old school and have items mailed to you. It is all about the consumer and what he/she wants. If you can find that and provide great value than you have e-commerce. If you are on the business side you have created residual income.
One of my main investment arm's is Real Estate, which is another way to create residual income. You will find that when it comes to investing you need Passive (real estate) income and Portfolio (stocks bonds FOREX, etc) income to truly diversify. Buying different types of stocks IE oil stocks, tech stocks, consumer stocks, financial s, etc is NOT diversified. It's all paper. When the stock market goes down your paper goes down, so it is really one basket of investments. You aren't the Easter bunny do not put all of your eggs in one basket! You need to make your money make more money for you. You need to have multiple investment streams in different areas. Investing is a lifestyle not one specific thing. When you get attached to a type of investment you get into trouble.
Please leave some comments. I take investment topic requests, plus I like to hear what other people are interested in. More to come......
Welcome to Ravenscraft Investments
Well, I finally had to make a blog spot to make a one stop option that will contain and provide links to all of the happenings for Ravenscraft Investments. I am always moving, always active, and always posting.
So where to start? How about a rundown of areas of investment interest, and then a list of the areas I am currently invested in;
FOREX
COMMODITIES
STOCKS
REAL ESTATE
EBAY
CASH
BONDS
INTERNET MARKETING
Have I caught any one's attention yet? When it comes to investing their are two types of people. Those who are active and interested in investing, and those who want to have someone invest their money for them. Which is your preference? As to blogs keep flowing you will find that I cater to both......
So where to start? How about a rundown of areas of investment interest, and then a list of the areas I am currently invested in;
FOREX
COMMODITIES
STOCKS
REAL ESTATE
EBAY
CASH
BONDS
INTERNET MARKETING
Have I caught any one's attention yet? When it comes to investing their are two types of people. Those who are active and interested in investing, and those who want to have someone invest their money for them. Which is your preference? As to blogs keep flowing you will find that I cater to both......
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