So you are thinking about starting to explore the stock market? Needless to say there is a lot of learning to do before you can think about making your first few trades. Knowing when to buy and sell your stock is the key aspect of trading on the stock market that you need to learn all about. If you know which stock buy and sell signals to watch for, you will stand a better chance of finding the profit you seek.

For starters you can use charts and candlestick signals to help you make the all important decision. Many traders use the candlestick signals to identify stocks that could be about to fall or rise.

Of course this all takes a certain amount of time to learn, and it is vital to take the time you need to practice with virtual cash first. Signs such as the Morning Star and the Evening Star will reveal when to buy and sell a particular stock. But you need to be able to recognize them as soon as they appear if you want to make use of them. Research the idea behind other signals such as the Doji Signal, the Hanging Man and the Piercing Pattern to get the most from every trade you focus in on.

In essence then it is easier to gauge when to buy and sell your stock using candlestick signals than it is to do it any other way. If you focused on the actual amounts a stock is worth at any one time, you will see that even though a figure might indicate what could happen next, there is no guarantee you will be right. Candlestick signs do offer a certain fortune telling aspect when it comes to stock buy and sell signals, and as such once you get the hang of them you can expect to be more successful at buying and selling your stock.

It is tempting to research what other traders are doing and to use the same stock buy and sell signals that are working for them. Indeed you can do this, but you should combine it with the candlestick signals to get the best effect. As many have pointed out, these signals have been used for years – long before the internet was even invented.

So if you are thinking that software is the best way to go, perhaps you should look for stock buy and sell signals in another way instead.

If you are thinking of investing your money in the stock market, you will probably come across two distinct types of stocks sooner or later. The first type is known as big, or large, cap stocks and the second is known as small cap stocks.

In the case of the latter, these small cap stocks are the stocks of companies which are – as the name would suggest – smaller in nature. So for example if you think of all the big well known companies worldwide, they will be big cap stocks. The small ones are those which you won’t have heard of for the most part. They are much smaller businesses and thus have a much smaller amount of shares as well.

The question really is whether it is worth considering investing your money in this type of share. After all, if you don’t know anything about the company and it isn’t hitting the headlines on a daily basis, is it really a good investment to be thinking about?

But the key here and what you need to remember is that some small cap investments end up being extremely worthwhile. They may provide a better return than you would get from a selection of big cap stocks, and as such you need to think about all your options before investing in one or the other.

The attraction with small cap stocks is that there is the potential for them to grow by huge amounts. Remember that word ‘potential’ though – as with any other kind of stock this type cannot be guaranteed to bring you huge profits by any stretch of the imagination. The idea is to identify those companies that are small now but have the potential to grow into large companies in the future. Many investors will say they wish they had invested in companies like Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) or Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) when the shares were low, but of course you never know which ones will eventually pay dividends.

So if you want to get involved in small cap stock investing, you need to do your research. Try to identify which type of company you want to invest in and find out as much as you can about it. The trick is to spot a potential trend before it even begins, so you can buy the appropriate small cap stocks and watch them grow before your eyes. This is what every stock investor hopes to see.

If you are looking for suitable ventures to invest your hard earned money in but cannot find any, it may be worthwhile exploring small cap dividend stocks. These can provide big financial returns and are considered a good investment because of their ability to expand.

Interestingly, a majority of investors still prefer large cap stocks and are not aware of the benefits of investing in small cap stocks, which are liable to pay better dividends. Let’s take a brief look at what dividend and small cap stocks are first of all.

Dividend stocks, as the term suggests, are the stocks that ensure massive windfalls at the end of each year and still retain their fundamental sale and purchase value. The investors secure financial benefits with the growth of the company. Thanks to internet expansion, these are now easy to find and are the best source of a passive income.

This holds true for many rich and influential people, who prefer investing in dividend stocks. Meanwhile, small cap stocks are stocks of those companies that are growing and have a small market capitalization. They should also show the promise of further growth.

Investing in small cap dividend stocks can be beneficial for the shareholders. This is because they promise rich returns despite the risks involved. Let’s take a look at the advantages of investing in these stocks.

• There is always the possibility of earning rich dividends when the company grows. While investing in an upcoming business has risks of its own, you never know how far the company might go. The more it grows, the better the profits you are likely to earn.
• Undervalued stocks have more potential to grow, hence the possibility of improved financial gains.
• A company that is new in the market attracts little attention, so its prices remain fairly stable. It is more likely to double its sales at some point than the bigger players. That means more profit for the investors.
• Small cap dividend stocks have lower volatility.

As you can see there are some clear benefits to investing in small cap stocks. You now need to know how to find them and choose the ones you want to invest in. If you have access to a computer and a steady internet connection, this might not be a difficult job as the internet has a host of websites dealing with the stock market. This is where you can find the stocks listed with a word of advice from experts on which ones are the best to pick up at a particular point in time.

The definitions of small cap stocks and large cap stocks do differ according to which source you go to. But with that said, we can still get a rough idea that will suffice for trading purposes. And before you trade in anything you should understand what these terms mean.

The cap part of the term relates to the market capitalization relevant to that company. If you find out how many shares a company has, and multiply that by the cost of each share, this will give you its market capitalization.

You can deduce then that small cap stocks point to companies that are essentially worth less than large cap stocks. But does this mean they are less efficient?

The answer is a ‘sitting on the fence’ answer because it depends on the circumstances behind each stock. For example a company whose shares are very low in price could be in that situation because it has little to offer when compared to some other large cap stock companies. If you think about the idea that people will only pay what an item is worth, you will see the truth in this.

Shares become pricier because a company has more value in itself. So when it comes to searching for small cap stocks that are worth investing in you need to look at the company’s history and potential future. Do they look promising or has the company failed to live up to expectations?

Obviously there are companies who started out as small cap stocks that are now major players. The trick is in finding them before they reach that later stage so you can make some money from buying the stocks when they are cheap. But while this is the ideal solution it does not happen every day and it is very difficult to spot those companies that fit this profile.

Some websites and stock pickers will have you believe they have found the best small cap stocks to invest in that have a huge future. But you should always look at the motivations behind their claims. It simply isn’t an everyday occurrence that certain small cap stocks will transform themselves from caterpillars into butterflies.

So while small cap stocks can be more promising than big cap stocks in some situations, be sure you are acting on solid information rather than a simple hope that you have found an ideal stock to invest in.

If you regularly trade stocks, options and shares you may have heard of binary options trading. However don’t worry too much if the name is new to you – this type of trading opportunity hasn’t been around for all that long as far as the everyday small town investor is concerned.

Things are changing though and if you want to make your trades a little more secure, you might want to find out more about binary options.

To understand what these options are all about, it first helps to understand why they have the word binary included in their name. This word relates to two things, whether they are two numbers or two stars. With reference to binary trading, there are two options – win or lose. As such this form of trading can be a bit simpler to use, provided you understand how it all works.

The best part of a binary option is that it comes with a fixed benefit. So, for example, you might gain a fixed 55% on a particular trade. The amount won’t fluctuate depending on what is going on in the stock market at the time.

It is these fixed amounts that make trading like this easier to understand. You don’t get caught up in wondering whether the stock you have purchased might go up a bit further. You also won’t be tempted to hang onto a stock longer than you ideally should do.

Put simply, you buy a binary option assuming it will go up in price by the time you trade it in. Provided it doesn’t go down in that time period you will get the percentage increase applicable in that situation. So if the increase is going to be 60% and the binary trade has increased in value but dropped slightly in the last few minutes before you trade it in, it isn’t a problem. It only becomes a problem if it drops below the point it was trading at when you bought it.

As such this form of trading is simpler for those who don’t have huge trading accounts or the knowledge to predict small movements within the market. All you have to do is to decide whether a trade will do better or worse for the time that you hold it. It’s not simple, but it is much simpler than the alternative method of trading on the stock market. This is why binary options trading can be better for the beginner.

If you have heard of this method of day trading and you are interested to find out more, let’s start by revealing that it isn’t the easiest method of trading you could try.

A stock option allows you to buy a certain stock as defined by the option itself. This is time limited and fixed at a certain price as well. The key thing to remember is the risk involved, as well as the fact that having this option does not mean you have to go ahead and actually buy it.

You also need to be aware that when you are day trading stock options there are two types you can use. Since all stock can be bought or sold, the two options relate to these two alternatives. If you have a call option it means you are exercising the right to buy that particular stock within the terms of the option contract. If you want the right to sell a stock, you need to have a put option.

So you see it is very important to have the difference between these two clear in your head before you begin. The type of option you go for will depend on what you think might happen to the stock in question at the time the options contract is available and open for. Stocks that look likely to rise in value will be connected with call options, while falling stocks work best with put options.

Of course every options contract you have will involve a certain amount of costs, regardless of whether you go ahead and buy or sell or not. Remember you are only buying the right to perform that action – you are not committing yourself to actually doing it.

Needless to say though, it is not enough to have the option available, because it is time sensitive. If you don’t do anything with it you might regret it. It is possible to redeem the option if you don’t end up buying the stock, but since you are limited on time it is essential to understand and be familiar with what works. If you do not have the level of knowledge required to try and make the most of day trading stock options, you could lose a lot of money in this field.

It is often best to trade in paper money and in practice first, before moving on to the real thing.

If you are going to try your hand at day trading, it pays to find out as much as you can about common day trading strategies. If a strategy is used a lot it generally means it can work really well. So researching this part of day trading and how it works certainly bodes well for the future.

One strategy involves watching out for stocks that are highly volatile. Now of course this can be bad as well as good if they happen to go the opposite way to how you think they will. But volatility can be good since day trading involves buying or selling stocks within the space of a day. You might even buy or sell much faster than this, so watching out for stocks that are volatile within one day rather than being steady over time is a good bet if you want to make some money.

Keeping things simple is another often overlooked strategy within day trading. Some people seem keen to make things more complicated than they need to be, when in fact it pays to simplify things. Decide what you want to achieve and set out to do it. Don’t get bogged down too much in convoluted and complicated strategies because they can lead to you making mistakes. Always keep this in mind when you are considering different strategies to use.

One good strategy particularly for beginners is to think about trading small. This means keeping your investments to a minimum rather than overextending yourself. Many people trade small all the time because if they lose a trade the losses will be kept down as a result. As such this can be a good strategy to use on a permanent basis.

Scalping is another strategy for making money from day trading. Here you will sell a stock virtually immediately once you see the price has made it profitable for you to do so. The very notion of day trading is that no stock is held for very long, so here you need to spot a stock that is on the up, buy it and then sell it again once it goes up again.

As you can see there are lots of common day trading strategies you can use. It doesn’t mean they are all right for you though, so try them out and stick with the ones you like and enjoy using.

Penny stocks are stocks in small cap companies that trade outside the major exchanges like NYSE or NASDAQ. They are traded over the counter and are also called OTC or micro cap stocks.

Penny stocks fall into the high risk category of investments because of the many risks involved with them. These include limited liquidity, lack of financial reporting, ease of manipulation and fraud. Many of the spam emails people receive talk about these stocks as a sure fire investment with guaranteed overnight returns. This is not true; in reality investing in these stocks requires very careful planning and dedicated research. The various risks involved are outlined below.

1. Incomplete information available to the public. Information related to micro cap stocks is always more difficult to find. This is because the penny stocks are for companies that are listed on pink sheets. This means they are not required to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They are not open to the public for scrutiny and are not regulated. It is also very difficult to verify the credibility of these stocks.
2. Lack of a record of past performance. For any stock investment, it is imperative to check on the past performance of the stock. But in the case of small or micro cap stocks, the history available is almost negligible. This is because they are generally offered by companies approaching bankruptcy or which are new to the market. Thus, there is a huge risk in investing in a stock that has no credible history.
3. Liquidity. Penny stocks do not deal with ranking stock markets. Instead they are traded over the counter and are thus referred to as OTC investments. Dealing does not happen frequently so if a need arises to dispose of the stocks, it is difficult to find buyers for them. If you cannot sell the stock you are left with little choice other than to lower the prices until you find a suitable buyer. A low liquidity level also gives traders a chance to manipulate stock prices.
4. No minimum standards. Stocks listed on the pink sheet and the OTCBB do not have to fulfill certain standard minimum requirements to remain on the exchange. This is a deterrent for many investors who deliberately look out for the minimum standards that act as a safety cushion and a benchmark.

However, penny stocks can give very good returns in the long run if careful research and planning has been done before buying them. They can be very profitable if you know what you are doing and you know enough to avoid the pitfalls. Consulting an expert in the trade before making a decision is advisable. You will also find many tools and services offered for traders of these stocks that help you get the maximum benefit out of your investment. Signing up with a full service online broker is a good idea.

So which group do you fall into? Are you a tactical or strategic investor? What’s more, do you know the difference between the two?

In reality it helps to be a bit of both, because the situation regarding the stock market could indicate that you are better off having and understanding both skills.

A tactical investor is someone who allows for shorter term changes and adjustments. For example if you spot the beginnings of a downturn in a certain stock that you hold, you might gauge whether to sell that stock and invest the money elsewhere instead. You might also hear of tactical investors being active investors, since they are constantly looking at the overall picture of their stocks and deciding where to go next.

In contrast, a strategic investor is one who looks purely to the long term. They look at the end game rather than all the situations that will occur between now and then. Because of this they manage to weather any short term losses without worrying too much, because they are always looking further down the road at the eventual outcome. They aren’t active in the same way that tactical investors are, because they have a different view of the stock market and their investments. They won’t constantly be changing from one stock to another.

Needless to say you could make or lose money with either method of investing in the stock market. The difference is that you are playing the game in a different way, either looking at short term results or long term ones.

The best thing to do if you are not sure which way to go is to explore both concepts and see which one suits your needs the best. Some people are naturally better disposed to a certain kind of investing, whereas other people will use both methods to help them realize the best return on their money.

So in essence then, we can see that tactical investors are short term thinkers. And strategic investors are long term thinkers. But you can see too that it helps to have skills from both camps. You might want to invest for the long term but if you have enough tactical skills you will know what to do if a situation comes up in the short term which could affect your plans.

The ability to be strategic and tactical in your thinking could change everything.

If you happen to be a new investor in the stock market, you may be asking yourself how to find strong buy penny stocks. This is a question most new investors struggle with as they are learning about how to invest in penny stocks. There is a lot of information out there that can both help and confuse you, so it is important to look in the right places to find good, solid recommendations.

There are two primary ways you can learn about where to find good penny stock tips. You can either do the work yourself, or you can pay someone (or something- like a website) to help do it for you. This decision will most likely be impacted by how much time you have to dedicate to learning the ropes of penny stock trading. If you are a busy individual, you should probably have someone else assist you with this education.

If you choose to get the help of someone else, there are several ways you can do so. First, you can subscribe to an online website or newsletter that can do several things for you, like education and also sometimes these sites offer daily stock tips.

You could instead choose to pay a licensed financial advisor to recommend their choices for you. Often people are fearful of using advisors because of the cost, but many advisors simply charge a processing fee per trade, so you are benefiting from their knowledge and ability to closely monitor the stock market all day. Other advisors may just charge a small commission percentage based on your earnings, which causes them to be financially vested in making the proper recommendations to you as the client.

Your other option is self-study. This takes a lot of time a discipline. You have to learn everything you can about penny stocks, trading, and how to quickly buy and sell your stocks to protect yourself. If you hesitate for even a moment you may miss the opportunity to buy at a competitive price, or you may miss the opportunity to sell something that is tanking. You can study by simply reading as much as you can on the topic, joining a website or newsletter, or taking a course designed to help you learn about penny stock trading.

Either way you go, how to find strong buy penny stocks is a problem all investors deal with, but by either educating yourself thoroughly or utilizing a qualified advisor, hopefully you will be able to tackle this difficult niche and make some money in the process.

Stocks can be a complicated area to understand. And there is arguably no more complicated area than that which concerns taxes. Depending on the amount of time you spend trading the IRS could view your efforts as putting you in one of two categories. You could be a casual trader or you could be an investor, and whatever group you fall into it pays to figure out ahead of time. If you don’t, you will get a nasty shock when tax time rolls around.

Investors will find life easier as there is less paperwork to contend with. Traders have to run their trades like a business, and that means making sure you have a stack of paperwork to back up all your trades. Keeping records as a serious trader is essential because you will need to treat it like any regular job or way of making money. The IRS will want to know how much profit you have made so they can tax you on it.

To be a trader you need to be doing this full tilt though. You may think you could tip into that territory if you are trading on a weekly basis. But you would need to be doing it daily to be able to benefit from the advantages of being viewed as a trader.

As with any business you can claim for the costs of performing that business. For example if you pay a regular subscription to a magazine or website newsletter to gain information that helps you in your job, you can claim for it. This reduces the amount of tax you will have to pay. You do need to be trading regularly and virtually daily to be able to take advantage of the perks of being a trader rather than an investor however, so watch out for this.

If you do not trade with this kind of regularity then you should stay as an investor. But keep an eye on the situation so you know what to expect should it change. If you do eventually get close to becoming a full time trader, make sure you read up on the tax implications first so you know what you should and should not be doing.

As you can see there are benefits to being a trader rather than an investor—but you need to put the hours in to be able to claim them.

Some people trade penny stocks on a casual basis. But a small group of these traders end up doing it full time instead. If being a professional penny stock trader appeals to you, you will need to figure out how it is done.

For starters you need to find out and learn all you can about trading penny stocks. No one goes into this full time without doing their research first. If they do, they won’t be full time for long as trading in penny stocks is not without a significant degree of risk. If you don’t know what you are doing you need to learn the basics before anything else.

Most professionals start off casually and experiment in their spare time before working their way up to a full time position. As such you should already have a trading account you are using to make successful trades on a part time basis.

Demo accounts are a good way to get started if you are just beginning to learn about penny stock trading. This is the equivalent of trading in paper money, i.e. money that does not actually exist. So if you win or lose money you aren’t actually doing either – you are merely practicing to get used to how trading in these stocks works. Once you have some confidence and experience you can move up to using your own money.

Some professional traders will only ever trade with their own money; they’ll just do it full time and make a good living from it. But others move up to trading with other people’s money as well. You may be able to get a job with a company that trades penny stocks if you can prove that you have good experience and a good track record. Some people like the benefits of working for an actual company, while other professionals prefer to go it alone. Either route is a possibility for you if you want to trade in penny stocks on a professional basis.

As you can see, experience and research count for a lot in this field. The more you can learn about penny stock trading in the early days, the more likely it is that you will be able to become a professional penny stock trader later on down the line. Just remember that you won’t get to that position overnight.

Penny stocks can offer a great opportunity to try and make a nice profit on stocks that aren’t on the main stock exchange. Trying to find the next big company and the most active penny stocks is a challenge that many people love.

But when you start getting involved with penny stocks you will want to find the best possible ones to invest in. If you can do this you stand a better chance of making a good profit.

So how do you do it?

The biggest trick is simple – it’s research. You can use the internet for this and the best place to start is with a good search engine. If you look up ‘most active penny stocks’ you will find websites that give you lists of the most promising ones at the moment. You might need to search for them using a tool provided on the site, or they may simply be listed.

Don’t make the mistake of using the information you find on just one site however. Keep researching and look for those penny stock recommendations that keep popping up over and over again. Look at the actual results from the last few days or weeks to see which ones have been performing really well.

In addition many financial websites will list the latest penny stock results. Look at the charts to identify stocks that look promising and check out the websites of those companies for additional information. You can also look for press releases from that company to see if there are any forthcoming events or announcements that could influence how well the penny stock could do in the near future.

It is important to remember though that most active does not necessarily mean the most successful. For example a penny stock that stays around the same value for several weeks could be determined to be fairly inactive. But if that same stock suddenly fell in value and kept falling for some reason, it could be deemed to be active even though you wouldn’t want to buy it and lose money.

The more you learn about patterns in the stock market the more chance you have of finding penny stocks which are active and which provide an opportunity to make money on. The name of the game is information – and the more you have the more likely it is you will find the most active penny stocks on a regular basis.

Futures spread trading can be a very profitable area of trading to get into. It involves buying one contract while at the same time selling another one. The idea is to spread the risk and hopefully come up with a nice reward for doing so.

Spreads can give you a better chance of making a good profit, although it should be clearly understood that while they may be safer than normal stock trading, they are not ‘safe’. There is still the chance of losing money if you aren’t careful. And in some cases this loss is not merely restricted to the capital you put in initially. So always be sure you know what you are doing.

The good news is that profiting with futures spread trading means identifying trends that can continue for several weeks at a time. This means you can profit without the need to keep looking at what is happening all the time. Of course this makes it sound easy and it is not necessarily the case. You should always be well aware of what you are doing and only trade with cash you can afford to lose.

If you want to profit with this type of trading you do need to have some kind of strategy in place. For example when will you start a particular trade and what criteria will you need to do so? Similarly at what point will you exit that trade? If you don’t have a specific plan in place you could find yourself hanging on trying to get that extra ounce of profit out of the trade. And of course that could lead to hanging on too long and losing the lot. So, a plan which is followed every step of the way is the best way to begin.

With that said though you should always look at ways of improving on your plan. Don’t change it all the time without real reason for doing so, but always look for signs that you could do better. Part of your plan should be to have a point at which any losses you experience are cut quickly. You will make losses from time to time no matter how good your plan is. So it is vital to know where your entrance and exit points are and to stick with them.

Futures spread trading can be highly profitable if you know what you are doing and you stick to your plan.

While it is true that you can trade in margins to make more money in less time, it is not generally advised to be a good bet for beginners. However, if you are familiar with the stock market and how it works, you have to start somewhere with margin trading. So let’s take a look at some of the basics and go from there.

With normal trading you trade using things you own. But with margin trading you are borrowing what you trade with from your broker. This means that there is more potential for things to go wrong. It’s easy to borrow more than you can afford to pay back because you don’t have to pay for it initially. But be aware that if anything goes wrong you could end up owing a lot of money in a very short amount of time.

This is why margin trading for beginners is not strictly a good idea. With other forms of stock trading you can only lose what you have. So if you have $1,000 in shares and it all goes horribly wrong you only lose that $1,000. If you are involved in margin trading though you could end up losing a lot more than that.

The best way to start is to find out all you can about how it works. You also need to be very aware of the potential for losses. Getting involved without having this understanding is liable to make you head for disaster.

Leverage is another aspect you need to be familiar with. Basically if you are holding $1,000 in shares and you think you are going to be making a good profit on them, you know you could make more profit if you had more shares. By borrowing from your broker you can realize that amount of profit, without holding the shares yourself.

If the market is good you can indeed make more money by margin trading. But if the market doesn’t go in your favor it will lead to your losses mounting up a lot more quickly. This is where people go wrong and end up owing a lot of money.

So the trick here is to know exactly what you are doing and not to be tempted by ifs and maybes. If you are tempted in this way then margin trading may not be suitable for you at all.

Source: The Associated Press, Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer, August 19, 2010 10:27 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers appear to be laying off workers again as the economic recovery weakens. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November.

It was the third straight week that first-time jobless claims rose. The upward trend suggests the private sector may report a net loss of jobs in August for the first time this year.

Initial claims rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Homebuilders and other construction firms are laying off more workers as the housing sector slumps after the expiration of a popular homebuyers’ tax credit. State and local governments are also cutting jobs to close large budget gaps.

“The rise in initial jobless claims over the past three weeks makes it difficult to maintain confidence in the recovery and suggests the labor market is backtracking more than we first expected,” Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, wrote in a note to clients.

Stocks tumbled on the fear of more layoffs and weak job growth. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 122 points in morning trading. Broader indexes also declined.

Jobless claims declined steadily last year from a peak of 651,000 in March 2009 as the economy recovered from the worst downturn since the 1930s. After flattening out earlier this year claims have begun to grow again.

Dye said that claims showed a similar pattern in the last two recoveries, but eventually began to fall again. The current elevated level of claims is a sign employers are reluctant to hire until the rebound is well under way. That’s what happened in the recoveries following the 1991 and 2001 recessions, which were dubbed “jobless recoveries.”

The increase suggests the economy is creating even fewer jobs than in the first half of this year, when private employers added an average of about 100,000 jobs per month. That’s barely enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising. The jobless rate has been stuck at 9.5 percent for two months.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose by 8,000 to 482,500, the highest since December.

The number of people continuing to receive benefits fell by 13,000 to 4.5 million, the department said. The continuing claims data lags initial claims by one week.

But that doesn’t include millions of people receiving extended unemployment insurance, paid for by the federal government. About 5.6 million unemployed workers were on the extended unemployment benefit rolls, as of the week ending July 31, the latest data available. That’s an increase of about 300,000 from the previous week.

During the recession, Congress added up to 73 extra weeks of benefits on top of the 26 weeks customarily provided by the states. The number of people on the extended rolls has increased sharply in recent weeks after Congress renewed the extended program last month. It had expired in June.

Private employers added only 71,000 jobs in July. But that increase was offset by the loss of 202,000 government jobs, including 143,000 temporary census positions.

July marked the third straight month that the private sector hired cautiously. Economists are concerned that the unemployment rate will start rising again because overall economic growth has weakened significantly since the start of the year.

In a healthy economy, jobless claims usually drop below 400,000. But the recent increases in claims provide further evidence that the economy has slowed and could slip back into a recession. Many analysts are worried that economic growth will ebb further in the second half of this year.

After growing at a 3.7 percent annual rate in the first quarter, the economy’s growth slowed to 2.4 percent in the April-to-June period. Some economists forecast it will drop to as low as 1.5 percent in the second half of this year.

When you are reading about penny stocks you will probably come across the phrase OTC penny stocks. But what are they and how do they affect you if you are thinking of buying some of these shares?

The initials OTC stand for ‘over the counter’ and once you start delving into this area of penny stocks it is easy to understand what it means. As you will see, this type of penny stock is rather different from the more mainstream type of stocks.

Here is the difference. With a large company the penny shares will probably be traded on the New York Stock Exchange or a similar exchange. But in order for a company to have their shares traded in this way they must have enough of them to warrant being traded on a proper exchange.

If the shares can’t be traded on a big exchange because there aren’t enough of them, they will be traded over the counter instead. So when you see OTC penny stocks you will instantly know that you are dealing with a company that is smaller and possibly brings with it slightly more in the way of risk as well.

Of course you need to be very careful no matter what type of penny stocks you invest in. They are generally viewed as risky investments as the companies are smaller and have less value than bigger companies with more expensive shares. But there is always the hope that you will find a company that eventually does extremely well and rewards you with a nice return on your shares.

Over the counter penny stocks do require you to be even more careful than you would be investing in general penny stocks though. Although lots of dealers are around to help you make these trades you stand more chance of coming across companies that will not provide you with a good investment. Another term you will come across with regard to this type of stock is ‘unlisted’. This basically means it is not listed on a main exchange.

It is up to you whether you want to try investing in OTC penny stocks. Some people like this type of stock but for others it represents too much in the way of risk. Only you will know – after additional research – whether trading over the counter is suitable for your needs and appetite for risk.

Let’s start with the idea of short selling itself. This refers to the practice of selling something you do not actually own yourself when you make the sale. This is generally a financial product such as a particular type of share for example.

But what is the short interest ratio itself? Simply put, it is the volume of shares sold short that are outstanding for a particular company. This figure is then divided by the average daily volume of that stock. This gives you the ratio you need.

This ratio is an important one to be aware of if you are considering shorting stock yourself. It gives you an idea of what may happen to the stock in the near future. It should be pointed out that you should never take it as set in stone that a particular event will happen; it merely gives you a gauge of how much short seller interest there is in any particular stock you are looking at.

The ratio basically gives you an idea of what short sellers think might happen with a particular stock. If the ratio is quite high it could indicate that short sellers think the price will improve over time. The opposite is also true – if the ratio is low it can point to the belief among short sellers that the stock will stay down instead of increasing in value.

The short interest ratio can therefore help you gauge how short sellers view a stock and what may happen to it in the near future. You shouldn’t use it as your sole means of making a firm decision on which stocks to buy or sell though. Similarly if you are shorting stocks yourself the ratio can be useful to know, but it should not form the only part of the decision making process.

If you are new to this part of the stock market it can pay dividends to work out the short interest ratio in practice for a few different stocks and then see what happens afterwards. It gives you an idea of how the ratio works in practice, and how often the results truthfully indicate how the market will turn out. The more you can learn about the ratio the better, as it will give you a greater understanding of how it works.

This can be a tricky one. After all, if we all knew which small cap stocks to invest in we’d all be enjoying huge returns on our investments.

But in some cases the lack of success with this type of stock investment is down to a lack of research and knowledge. If you want to focus in on a particular niche sector, you need to figure out which one is going to be right for you. And you cannot do that by closing your eyes and sticking a pin in a bit of paper.

So how can you find the all important right sector for you?

Firstly you should think about identifying a sector that you have a natural interest in. If you do this you will find it easier to get the information you need – and your own knowledge could also come in handy. You won’t often find a huge amount of information about small cap stocks, so the more you know personally the better the odds are of finding something suitable.

Google should also be your friend when you are looking for specific stocks to invest in. Simply searching for ‘small cap stocks’ plus the sector you are interested in will produce some results initially. You will also find websites and experts that focus in on these stocks alone. You may find it helpful to make notes and lists of potential companies to invest in as you go along. You can then go into those in more depth and find out all you can about them.

One thing you need to remember is that this kind of stock is highly volatile. Since you are essentially investing in the potential future of a company you need to buy the stock and hang onto it, rather than selling it at the first opportunity. This is how many people play the market with these stocks.

Remember too that identifying hot sectors can also be useful. For example green issues and any similar sectors are well worth looking at for obvious reasons. A company which has some good ideas for saving the planet in some way could be one to watch for the future.

As you can see, finding the best small cap stocks in a particular sector is partly about making the most of what you know and partly about finding out what you don’t. Getting the combination right could pay off for you in the long term.

When you are new to the stock market there are a lot of terms you will come across that are going to be confusing to you – at least at first. The trick is not just to find out what they are; it’s to become familiar with them and what they mean.

A good example of this is common stock and preferred stock. These are basically two different forms of stock that you can buy. The names will give you a rough idea of what to expect, but don’t make the common assumption that you are better off buying preferred stock. While the names do refer to what each stock is all about, they can give you the wrong idea to a certain extent.

Most people end up buying common stock when they start dipping their toes into the stock market. Common stock is common knowledge, you might say. Basically when you buy this type of share you are buying shares in a company or organization. Most people are familiar with this kind of stock but when it comes to preferred stock you might be a bit confused as to what it means.

Preferred stock is concerned with stockholders. Some companies have stockholders that are called preferred stockholders. In contrast if you bought shares you would be a common stockholder in that company.

The advantage of being a preferred stockholder is that you will get preference in receiving a payment for your shares. Needless to say this can be a good thing, but it depends on how you want to invest in shares in the first place. It is easier to be a common stockholder than it is to be a preferred stockholder, and many people like the flexibility of this as they can buy and sell shares whenever they see fit to do so.

You do often stand a better chance of receiving a healthy income from your shares if they are of the preferred variety. However you also need to bear in mind that because preferred shares are slightly more secure than common shares, they won’t bring in the potential of a much higher income. As with all types of shares you need to do your research before deciding which ones to invest in and which ones to steer clear of. It could depend largely on whether you want an ongoing income from your shares or something a bit different instead.

Do you know what the difference is between the technical and fundamental analysis of stocks? You should do, because it could affect how you actually play the stock market.

Let’s make one thing clear before we go further. It doesn’t matter what type of stocks you are looking to invest in, or which ones are currently doing well or badly. What you are looking at here is what aspect of the available information you want to work with.

So what is technical analysis? This is a process of picking stocks according to their performance. Chart patterns are used to see what each stock has been doing in the past, and this information is then used to try and predict where it could go in the future. This technical information is something you should become highly familiar with if at all possible. The more you learn about it and understand it, the more chance you have of buying and selling at the right times.

In contrast, fundamental analysis looks into the companies which hold the stocks. The task here is to find out what you can about the company and make a decision about buying or selling stock by using that information. Needless to say this requires you to keep ahead of different companies and their financial information.

It is important to understand that no particular approach is right or wrong. In fact it could be said that a lot depends on the person using the approach. Learning about the technical and fundamental analysis of stocks is something that you need to do to figure out which one suits you best. Most people find that one or the other is the way to go for them, and it could depend on whether you are better off handling and understanding charts rather than raw information.

The point is that you can do well using either method, or you could do badly. Some reports have indicated that technical analysis has been proven to be successful, even though some technical analysts have had varied success over the years. A lot depends on the health of the stock market at any one time.

In the end, learning about the technical and fundamental analysis of stocks means that you can decide which method is going to be the best one for you. There is no right or wrong answer.

The Dow Theory is certainly the most celebrated, complicated, and least-understood interpretation of market action, probably because neither Charles Dow, who founded the Dow Jones Company, nor any of his various disciples has ever defined the theory precisely.

In essence, the Dow theorists hold that there is a primary movement in the market at all times — a kind of basic tidal action.

Then there is a secondary movement, which might be likened to waves.

And finally, there are the ripples on the surface that represent the daily movements of the prices.

The Dow theorists contend that it is possible to tell when either the primary or secondary direction changes by comparing the actions of the various averages, such as the Dow Jones Averages.

When they move in the same direction for a given period of time, either up or down, they are supposed to indicate a significant change in the direction of the market, which will hold good until the two averages “confirm” each other again in an opposite direction.

This is what the “market experts” are talking about when the i.e. say “the rails confirmed the industrials” — or when they worry publicly about the failure of one to confirm the other.

Dow theorists contend that by their somewhat nebulous formula, they have been able to forecast every significant movement in the market for many years. Other analysts, looking at the same set of facts, dispute the Dow Theory’s record.

They say it can only be made to look good when the forecasting has become history. Nevertheless, many financial editors continue to expound the Dow Theory and various Dow disciples appear in the advertising columns from time to time, offering a letter service, usually short-lived — to explain the market action in Dow terms.

Very often, the investors will encounter what appears to be a striking contradiction between the news and the market reaction to that news.

There is one simple explanation for such paradoxes:

Let us assume that the stock market has “discounted” the news. The big traders — “the people supposedly in the know” — were certain that i.e. a special dividend was coming, because the X Company’s profits had been increasing spectacularly.

They had already bought or sold in expectation of these developments, and when the actual news-breaks attracted public interest in the market, the professionals seized their opportunity:

They sold when others bought or bought when everybody else was selling.

If you have read the papers or you go online frequently you will no doubt have heard of the consumer price index. But do you actually know what it is?

This index has a real purpose and once you understand what it is you will see why it is so frequently used. Basically speaking, the index is a measure of how much certain items cost to buy. The items which are in this virtual ‘basket’ change on occasion to reflect the most accurate general type of goods we buy.

For example if you compare the contents of the consumer price index today to the contents as they were in the 1950s, you will find they are very different. This is because life has changed a lot since then and some items have fallen out of favor while others are more popular and are bought regularly.

The index is frequently updated and published to give the person in the street an idea of how far their money will take them at present. It is updated every month and is widely available to access.

When you look at what is included in this basket though, you will see that it isn’t all about what you can actually buy and fit in there. The term is relative, and some regularly bought items such as services (e.g. water services) are also in there.

Now obviously we would like to see the cost of items go down as well as up. But whichever way they go if they travel too far in one direction it isn’t good news. The index itself tells us a lot about inflation – the more the prices go up, the higher inflation is. And if they go down by a long way, this is called deflation.

So the next time you hear about inflation or deflation having an effect on the economy, think about this index of prices. If you take a look at it you will see that the prices will have gone up or down respectively.

The history of the index stretches right back to the first World War, so as you can imagine the items included in there today are very different. But the purpose remains the same – the consumer price index tells us how far our money will stretch in today’s climate. And as such it is the best way to keep an eye on what inflation is doing.

Have you ever heard of an economic moat? We have this term in our language thanks to Warren Buffett, one of the world’s most famous (and richest) investors. He took the idea from the way a moat protects a castle. The moat provides a barrier between the castle and the land around it, so no one and nothing can get in easily.

But how does this compare to an economic moat?

The term in this context refers to the advantages a business enjoys over its closest competitors. These advantages are economic and competitive in nature. The best example of an economic moat enjoyed by a company is if its competitors cannot replicate that company has a particular method or mode of doing business that.

For example, let’s say you and I both sell business cards independently of each other. I have found a supplier who will give me the basic stock for half the price we are both currently buying it for. This means I can knock down my prices, which in turn will probably give me a competitive advantage and form the economic moat that will separate me from you.

The chances are however that you will work out what I am doing eventually and go to the same supplier. This will get rid of my economic moat and we will be back in direct competition again.

A good example of an economic moat that cannot easily be broken down concerns Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC has a secret recipe that no one knows, except for a select few within the company. This recipe is for the coating that goes on its chicken.

Every other competing company has its own recipe for a similar coating – but it is not the same and it never will be, because KFC’s recipe is protected. This recipe provides it with an economic moat that keeps it ahead of all the other fried chicken places in the world. When you think of buying fried chicken, the chances are you think of KFC. This is the power of the economic moat in action.

If you have a business of your own you need to think about how you can create your own economic moat. It is more powerful than you might realize, and once you have a good one it will give you the edge over your competition.

The most popular market index you will have heard of is the Dow Jones Index, also know as the Dow Jones Industrial Average. But this isn’t the only index in use. Regardless of which ones you follow however, it is always a good idea to learn more about these market indexes and what they represent.

Basically speaking the market index tells us what is happening in that particular part of the stock market. So regardless of whether it measures a hundred different stocks or a thousand, it provides a way of getting an overall picture of how well those stocks are doing – or of course, how badly. Some market indexes represent a wide-ranging picture of the market because they include lots of different types of stocks. Others focus in on a more specific area, such as dot com businesses for example. So it is possible that one index could look quite positive while another looks more pessimistic. This would be the case if dot com businesses were doing well in a market that was performing badly in general.

A market index represents all of the stocks in the market it is focusing on. You will probably have heard about the Dow being down a certain number of points, or up a certain number of points for example. The points represent how much value has been gained or lost on specific shares.

So broadly speaking if ten shares go down in value and the rest stay the same, the index being used will drop in points. The more value is lost, the bigger the points deficit is. In contrast if those ten shares go down and twenty others go up by a large amount, the index as a whole will go up in points.

As you can see a market index of any kind can only give a broad picture of what is going on in the market on any one day. Thus it should really only be used as a guide to the market and nothing else. If you look at a falling index you would be right in thinking this was bad for the stock market in general. And you would be right, but you need to remember that word ‘general’.

Typically speaking market indexes provide an initial picture. They do not reveal the story of individual stocks unless you look closer, and this is what many new stock market investors must remember.

Once you start thinking about investing in penny stocks you will want to find ones that give you a good return. Good penny stocks will help you build a worthwhile portfolio.

But why stop there? Why not abandon good stocks and go for great ones instead?

You cannot be half hearted when you think about investing in penny stocks of any kind. It’s no good simply studying a list of penny stocks and picking the ones you think might work. You need to be highly selective with your investing otherwise you won’t get the returns you are looking for.

Too many people get the idea to invest in good penny stocks but they don’t spend enough time researching the market or trying to ascertain which stocks could give them some good returns. It really does pay to stand back and keep your money in your pocket for a while until you have some knowledge of the market and you have identified some worthwhile stocks to invest in.

You can see what the most important factor is here. You need to feel positive about every investment you make. After all you won’t be investing in your good penny stocks only to forget about them as soon as you have them. You will need to monitor how well – or badly – they are performing so you can judge when to sell them or how long to hang onto them for.

That task will be made more difficult if you don’t feel passionate about the penny stocks you hold. You will need to research the company that provides the stock. You’ll need to find out what they do, what plans they have for the future and whether there have been many news stories or announcements about their performance and so on over recent weeks and months.

Now if you don’t have any interest in medical companies you aren’t likely to feel passionate about researching them and investing in them. Alternatively though, you might be very into green companies – those that have an interest in improving the future of our planet. If you felt passionate about that kind of stock, do you think you could find a great stock to invest in?

Of course you could.

So you can see why good penny stocks sometimes aren’t enough. Go for great instead – you will be glad you did and the whole process will be made even more enjoyable.

Governments and cities issue bonds called municipal bonds, which can be bought by anyone looking to invest in this type of bond. One of the key advantages they usually offer is that no federal taxes are due on them, which makes them rather appealing to many people.

But if you hold municipal bonds you will want to keep tabs on municipal bond prices. This is necessary because you will want to know what the typical yield is for them. Every bond has a yield and this will tell you how much you can expect to earn with that bond.

One of the best places to go for information on the latest municipal bond prices is the Bloomberg website. This contains a lot of up to date information you can benefit from. Make sure you scroll down the page to reach the municipal bond section.

As you can see, prices are included here for bonds ranging from two years to thirty years in duration. Make sure you check the details for the municipal bonds you hold, so you can ensure you are looking at the right set of information.

The current yield and previous yield are both given here, so you can see whether the percentage amount has gone up or down. In some cases it may stay the same, but it pays to check on a daily basis to see what the situation is.

The best part about this chart is that they color code it so you can see at a glance whether the yield has gone up or down. If you see a figure in green it means the yield has improved, whereas a figure in red means it has decreased. This provides a quick and easy way to tell what the particular municipal bond is doing.

It also provides a one-month, six month and even a one-week prior yield figure, so you can see the longer-term performance of any particular municipal bond as well.

Keeping an eye on all your investments to see how they are performing is always a good idea. And this certainly applies to municipal bonds too. You may want to bookmark this particular page on the Bloomberg website so you can return to it daily to check the performance of the municipal bonds you currently hold.

Most people know what internet message boards are. They provide a place where you can get together with other people who have similar interests to you and exchange information and messages with each other. It should come as no surprise then to learn that there are penny stock message boards available as well. These focus on the penny stock market and lots of people who have a big interest in these frequently go on the message boards to discuss options and opportunities.

But which are the best boards to visit?

Stock Hideout is one of the first ones you should take a look at. It has chat rooms, social groups and message boards, and it is a very active site as well. This means you can join and get into discussions with people straightaway, although it is usually best to explore the site in a bit more detail first.

If you click on the stock boards link at the top of the page you will be taken into the relevant area of the site. This is where you will see stocks grouped according to their market capitalization, including sub penny stocks which focus on the smallest value penny stocks on the market today.

Next up are the Hot Stock Market Forums. This site has lots of different areas to browse through, including a penny stock message board which usually has quite a few members browsing and adding comments to. Elsewhere you can find plenty of stock market information and details of other stocks as well, if you want to invest in higher priced ones. This board is very detailed and has plenty for you to explore.

The Hot Penny Stocks website can also be useful. This is packed with live chat features that you can instantly sign up for and use. As such it varies slightly from the usual message board feature, but we have included it because it offers something different and it is very active with people chatting about penny stocks.

InvestorsHub.com, also known as iHub, is an interesting resource, if you can separate the nonsense, spam messages, and board “bashers” bad-talking stocks. One thing that’s good about iHub, on the other hand, is the fact that this penny stock resource lists the top 15 most active stock market forums. Again, make sure to do your own research because you’ll want to separate fact from fiction, especially when you go to put your money where other people’s mouths are!

So you can see that there are plenty of opportunities for you to find what you need with regard to penny stock information. If you are new to the market you can think about joining one or more of these communities to get chatting with people who are further along the road than you are. Penny stock message boards can be very useful in lots of different ways.

The chances are pretty good that if you have invested in the stock market to any extent, you will have purchased common stocks. These are basic stocks that will either go up or down in value depending on what happens within the company. They differ from preferred stocks because a preferred stock provides a fixed dividend, whereas common stocks do not.

There are some real advantages to holding common stocks however, so it is worth considering the whole picture before deciding on what you want to invest in. For example while common stocks do receive dividends, they can also become more valuable and lead to a bigger profit over time. This can understandably be a big draw for a lot of people.

You need to think about the amount of risk you are willing to take as well. For example if you want to get a regular guaranteed dividend from your shares then common stocks won’t be ideal. But if you want to try for a bigger profit and you are prepared to take the risk that you could lose their value, common stocks offer a lot of potential.

Another advantage of owning common stocks is that you can sell them whenever you want to. If your plan is to hold them for a short amount of time then you can do; alternatively you can hold them for years if you wish. You wouldn’t get this degree of freedom with preferred stocks.

This aspect of dividends is a key thing to remember when it comes to common stock. For example you cannot be guaranteed to receive dividends on a regular basis. If the company you have invested in starts to struggle and does not succeed in making a profit, you may not get any dividends at all. In this situation a preferred stockholder may still get theirs, as they are above you on the scale of who gets paid and when.

This is the most important aspect to remember with common shares. You are lower down on the scale of things so this provides you with a riskier investment. But with that risk there is also the possibility of reaping a bigger reward, so you need to decide what suits you the best.

In the end many common shares have successfully led to big profits for those that held them. And other people have lost out on their investment. You must decide whether the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to common stocks.

If you are new to trading penny stocks it pays to get things right from the very start. With that in mind, here are five tips you should definitely be putting into action.

1. Make sure you research each stock. This cannot be emphasized enough. You shouldn’t be picking penny stocks because you like the name of the company or you want to buy stocks in a specific area. You need to know why you are buying them. Is there good news coming out of that company? Does it bode well for the future? Do all the research you can – it will pay dividends later with any luck.
2. Spread any degree of risk you can. Don’t invest everything in a single stock. Penny stocks are volatile and if you want to make money you should invest in several of them at once. This way, even if you lose out with one you still have others that could come up trumps.
3. Only invest what you would be happy to lose. Are you thinking of investing $2,000 in penny stocks? Would you be in trouble financially if you lost that money? If the answer is yes, don’t do it! Never bet the whole farm – only bet what you are content with losing.
4. Don’t look for huge gains all the time. This is a big mistake lots of people make with penny stocks. Yes, there is the potential they could explode and make you rich. But it’s an exception. Most of the time the increases will be small. This means you need to know when your stocks have increased all they will. Becoming too greedy can be a common downfall if you miss out on selling at the right point.
5. Know when to sell. This continues from the point made above. Don’t hang on for an imaginary higher value if it doesn’t look like it is going to happen. Play it safe, take a smaller profit and look for another potentially profitable stock to invest in instead.

As you can see there are plenty of tips and hints that can make a big difference to your penny stock investments. And here is one final bonus one to finish with – make sure you know how the market works and how to buy and sell before you start. Buying is one thing, but you need to know how you would sell before you actually need to do so.

We’d all love to make some money out of hot penny stocks. But it’s not as easy as you might think to find them – and if you aren’t careful you could get taken in by scammers. You need to find hot penny stocks on your own if you really want to find something worth investing in, but this is where lots of people go wrong.

Let’s take a closer look at this. If you have been looking into buying penny shares for some time you may have heard of ‘pump and dump’ penny shares by now. This refers to a scam which you should avoid at all costs.

Now there are several worthwhile sites out there which give good information and advice when it comes to penny shares. But other sites are not so scrupulous. They will rave about a particular share in order to try and get lots of people to buy it. When that happens the price can go up – and that is when the person who recommended the stock in the first place will sell the stocks they had previously bought.

Needless to say they will make a profit. But you will end up with shares which are probably worth less than they were when you bought them. This is the downside of a hot penny stock. You need to ask yourself why such a stock is deemed to be hot in the first place. If it is only because someone says it is, and you cannot find any information to back that up, run in the opposite direction and stay well clear.

The types of hot penny stocks you want to go with are the ones where the company shows great promise for the future. You should never take the word of a single investor when it comes to investing your own money. Be prepared to do your own research in order to answer the question of whether you want to seize the penny stocks which appear to be hot.

Of course we’re not saying that you shouldn’t take anyone’s advice. What we are saying is that you should always consider the motives behind it. Watch from a distance and observe which people recommend which stocks – and then see what happens afterward. There are indeed pros and cons to going for hot penny stocks. You just need to sort the wheat from the chaff before you decide what to buy.

We all want to take advantage of tax breaks on our savings if we can. But it becomes even more important to do so when we are saving for our retirement.

If you have a 401k plan, it is vital to keep up to date with what the contribution limits are, as they can change on an annual basis. As it happens the limits for 2010 are the same as they were in 2009. But the year before that – in 2008 – they were lower.

For 2010 the limits are once again higher for those who are over the age of 50. People in this age group will be able to put a maximum of $22,000 into their 401k plan. People who are younger than this can put the lower amount of $16,500 into their plan.

The good news is that you don’t pay any tax on the money you put into your own 401k plan. This does not apply to any money you take out of the plan when you finally reach retirement age however, so it pays to bear this in mind if you happen to be close to that age now.

When you get to the age of 59 it becomes possible to withdraw some of the money you have put into the plan. But the longer you leave the money in there the more interest it can accrue. The rules relate to compound interest which is tax free, so of course you will benefit more from the plan the longer you keep the money in there.

Most people opt for fairly safe investments when it comes to their 401k plan. Since the money is for their retirement they do not want to risk it any more than is necessary.

There is also a Roth 401k plan which might be worth considering. This has the added benefit of letting you withdraw the cash without being taxed on it, provided you meet a couple of conditions. This makes the account more desirable for some people, since you can withdraw the money without being penalized in a tax sense if you are over the age of 59 and a half. You also need to have had the account for a minimum of five years.

As you can see there won’t be much change during 2010 as far as the limits for 401k plans are concerned.

Most people know something about penny stocks (a.k.a small cap stocks).  And if you are thinking of getting started in the stock market it is easy to understand why penny stock investments are so attractive.

The price per stock is a lot lower than many other major stocks, which of course is why they are called penny stocks.  This makes them more attractive to many investors who only have a limited amount of cash to invest.

In a sense then some people do increasingly look to the penny stocks to provide them with a ‘way in’ to the stock market.  But there is a lot of misinformation floating around concerning these stocks and if you aren’t careful you can end up investing in something you really don’t know an awful lot about.

It is hard to give a blanket statement about whether or not penny stock investments are on the rise.  But we can look at certain areas of small cap stocks more closely to see whether they conform to this idea.  For example some have said that any type of stock which has a connection to renewable energy and green issues is a popular one to buy at the moment.  The reasons for this are clear – these companies are invested in the future and as such there is a good opportunity there for the small cap stocks they have issued to go up in value.

But once again there are no guarantees, so in a sense even if investments do increase there is no certainty that you would make money from them.  And in addition to this the daily picture on small cap stocks changes a lot.  Rather than looking at whether investments on the whole are rising (and if they are they are barely noticeable) we should be looking at which stocks are rising on a daily basis.

The most important thing to remember with small cap stocks is that they are far more volatile than ordinary and more expensive stocks.  As such they aren’t suitable for every investor, and many people who give them a try rapidly lose interest when they discover that they aren’t as easy to make money with as some would have you believe.

Whether or not penny stock investments are increasing is a question we could ask on a daily basis.  And the answer may well differ just as frequently too.  The moral is to consider them carefully before diving in.

If you are thinking of investing your money in the stock market, you will probably come across two distinct types of stocks sooner or later. The first type is known as big cap stocks and the second is known as small cap stocks.

In the case of the latter, these small cap stocks are the stocks of companies which are – as the name would suggest – smaller in nature. So for example if you think of all the big well known companies worldwide, they will be big cap stocks. The small ones are those which you won’t have heard of for the most part. They are much smaller businesses and thus have a much smaller amount of shares as well.

The question really is whether it is worth considering investing your money in this type of share. After all, if you don’t know anything about the company and it isn’t hitting the headlines on a daily basis, is it really a good investment to be thinking about?

But the key here and what you need to remember is that some small cap investments end up being extremely worthwhile. They may provide a better return than you would get from a selection of big cap stocks, and as such you need to think about all your options before investing in one or the other.

The attraction with small cap stocks is that there is the potential for them to grow by huge amounts. Remember that word ‘potential’ though – as with any other kind of stock this type cannot be guaranteed to bring you huge profits by any stretch of the imagination. The idea is to identify those companies that are small now but have the potential to grow into large companies in the future. Many investors will say they wish they had invested in companies like Coca Cola or Microsoft when the shares were low, but of course you never know which ones will eventually pay dividends.

So if you want to get involved in small cap stock investing, you need to do your research. Try to identify which type of company you want to invest in and find out as much as you can about it. The trick is to spot a potential trend before it even begins, so you can buy the appropriate small cap stocks and watch them grow before your eyes. This is what every stock investor hopes to see.

Stock options trading is a more advanced way of getting involved in the stock market. As such it is not recommended for beginners because of the more in depth nature of how it works. But let’s take a look at what is involved in order to see whether it might be for you.

Basically speaking, stock options give seasoned investors more opportunities to try and make some money. As you discover more about this subject you may see a stock option referred to as a contract. If you have a stock option you basically have the right to buy or sell it if you wish. You can also use them to offset a loss or trade them as you see fit. As you can see, because you have more than one option it can get a little confusing initially as to what is the best course of action once you have stock options.

The important thing to remember is that you can have stock options without ever actually holding the stock itself. This explains why you have the option to buy or sell it. For example you could have a particular stock option and never actually take the step of buying it. Since stock options exist for fixed time periods they will eventually run out. You might find you can make a good profit on one by selling it before it runs out. Alternatively if you leave it too long it won’t be desirable to other people who are looking to buy that stock, simply because it is near its expiration.

You can also buy an option to sell the stock at a specified price if you wish. Let’s say you are hoping the stock will rise but you don’t know by how much. In this case the option to sell is a kind of insurance that will protect you if the stock actually doesn’t reach that level, or even worse if it falls. You would still be able to exercise your option to sell at the price you previously agreed on.

You can see where stock options get their name. But you can also no doubt see that it is essential to have a good working knowledge of every aspect of them before even attempting to get involved. If you don’t you could end up losing money because of the risk involved in trading them.

Source: ChartFilter.com

Why should the rich guys have all the fun? The small investor can seek out huge returns too…if they know how.

Technical analysis that uses statistics for forecasting price fluctuations is one approach. However, because it is difficult to track changes in fractions of a penny, there simply isn’t enough data to be able to analyze. Therefore, you have to keep an ear to the ground when you trade penny stocks.

One of the biggest forces that drive penny stock prices is hype. Whether it’s online in discussion forums or chats, or offline with publicity and press, hype can cause swings in penny stock prices.

Are you looking to trade penny stocks to earn a good return on your money? Penny stocks can be profitable for some, but it can also be a money-losing experience.

What should you watch for when you trade penny stocks?

What are some strategies that professionals and amateurs use when dabbling in the penny stock trade?

One technique that some experts who trade penny stocks implement is to focus on a particular stock. Get to know the stock inside and out; that is, get to know the company behind the stock, any news about that company, and anything else that might affect the stock price. Target one stock, listen to the buzz, and see how the stock responds. The louder the buzz gets, the larger the potential for a big price swing.

Many people who trade penny stocks are small-time investors who don’t have more than $1,000 of investment capital. These people trade penny stocks because it gives them more shares for the money.

Where they might be able to buy dozens of shares in a major exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange, they can buy hundreds when they trade penny stocks. The potential for loss is big, however. It’s almost closer to gambling than investing. The money used is strictly risk capital. Once the money is gone, it’s gone.

Another subset of people that trade penny stocks are amateur investors who use the buy and hold strategy. They purchase a stock and retain it for long periods of time, hoping that the stock skyrockets at some point in the future.

Unfortunately, this strategy hardly ever pays off in the way that the investor had hoped. In the long-term, the stock could end up being completely worthless.

Trading penny stocks can be a profitable, and even fun way to invest. It certainly isn’t a traditional method of investing, and is unlike old standbys such as bonds and mutual funds. However, trading penny stocks isn’t for all people.

You should have a high tolerance for risk, a willingness to analyze every minutiae of your penny stock, and some intestinal fortitude. Have fun with penny stock trading, but don’t expect to stumble into the next WalMart for pennies on the dollar.

And remember, as with anything else in life with high potential for gain there is also high potential for loss. Do your homework, follow your rules, and plan to prosper.

Penny stocks represent an area of the market that some people will not touch at all. But for others they can give the chance of getting a high return on their investment. Of course they can also be fraught with danger, and for this reason you need to think about which penny stocks will be the best ones to invest in.

Penny stocks get their name from the fact that they are low priced. Many of them are worth just cents each – oftentimes less than a dollar. This means that even the smallest investor can buy plenty of shares in a company that has penny shares on offer. The trouble is that these shares are more volatile than those on the main stock market. This is not to say that all other shares are safer and will always guarantee you a profit. It just means that penny shares are usually associated with companies that are fairly new or not of a large size.

This makes it even more important to choose the best ones to invest in. The market capitalization of a company can be an indication of which ones to opt for. This is discovered by multiplying the price of the share by the number available. The resulting figure needs to be quite small in relation to other companies to qualify it as a true penny share. But of course different people have different ideas on what limits to work to.

In addition to this some will happily trade in shares that are less than five dollars apiece. But for others the only true penny share is that which does not go above a dollar in value per share. You can see that there is no one definite stock that makes for the ideal investment.

Some of the information that will help you decide which ones to invest in comes from other sources as well. It doesn’t always come down to pure figures. You need to look into the background of each company and decide whether they are about to get bigger and achieve more success. If you think they are then they could be worth investing in. Otherwise you may wish to look elsewhere.

In short everyone has their own methods for finding the best penny stocks to invest in. What is your method? If you don’t have one, now is the best time to figure one out.

If you have been reading up about buying and selling penny stocks, you may well have heard about short selling, or shorting penny stocks. But what does it mean?

For starters, we all know that stocks can go down in value just as easily as they can go up. And this is where short selling comes in. The idea is that it is still possible to make money if the price of a stock decreases rather than goes up.

Some people used to think that this could not occur with penny stocks. But it has been proved otherwise and many people do now attempt to do it. The best rule to remember though is to steer clear of shorting penny stocks until you are very experienced in dealing with them under normal circumstances. The more you know about them in general the more chance you have of successfully shorting stocks.

The biggest difference between this type of trade and a normal penny stock is that with short selling you don’t own the stock you are trading with. You need to look for stocks that are falling in value. You short sell them and then hopefully buy them for less than you sold them for. If the stock increases in value rather than going down you will lose money as a result.

As you can see, this is a very different type of trading than simply buying penny stocks and hoping they go up in value. Its promise lies in the fact that you can still make money even if a particular stock loses value but you need to have experience and knowledge to have a hope of making it work for you.

The key is to spot those penny stocks that are inflated in price. You can then short sell them and make a profit as they lose the value they didn’t really have in the first place.

If you are already trading penny stocks you may need to look for another broker if you want to practice short selling as well. Not all of them handle this type of trade, so make sure you find one that does and find out what their requirements are regarding having a margin account. This is the account you will need if you are going to give this type of trading a go.

Remember though that shorting penny stocks is very different from buying and selling them normally. As always, do your research before trying it.

It’s time to unwrap a MONSTER! We have been researching The Earth Corp. (PK: FTEC)? and it may just be that FTEC has what it takes to be our biggest alert yet! As you know, we are not quick to make such bold statements. So why would we say such a thing?

Watch This 2 Minute Video to Find Out :
DISCOVERY.COM/WHATODOR

If you start researching FTEC you know what we mean… this company has it all:

FTEC’s “What Odor?” was featured on Discovery Channel’s “PitchMen!”

FTEC’s infomercials were hosted by world famous television marketer Billy Mays, advertising “What Odor?” and generated enormous revenue for the Company.

FTEC is GREEN! GREEN is still HOT, and GREEN is not going away anytime soon. The Company’s product line is environmentally friendly, 100% non-toxic, and biodegradable.

We’ve seen some amazing “Green Product” companies over the years that have made investors a TON. FTEC has that same appeal: that same easy to relate to / easy to understand company with a VERY COOL background that could send the Company flying!

Products include “What Odor?”, “What Stain?”, “What Dirt”, “What Wound?” and “PaPurr”.

FTEC plans to introduce two new products this year: “What Stain?” and “What Wound?”

Possibly the greatest part is that this company is a relatively new issue! Not too many people know about this yet. Sure, people may know the product or saw it on TV, but in the investment community few know about it, few are aware that it’s now a public company. And this could be just the type of company that they love to sink their teeth into! It has all makings of a GIANT!

We’re confident that you might be hearing quite a bit about FTEC in the future, so remember you saw it here first!

Click Here: Watch The 90 Second What Odor Commercial Staring Billy Mays As He Gets Sprayed By A Skunk And Sticks His Head In A Litter Box

This is the kind of thing we get excited about. This is not your average pinksheet company. FTEC is not just a company with an idea… they are a well established, groundbreaking enterprise with BIG names behind them. Their products have generated serious revenues!

FTEC’s products are available for purchase through many different locations both on the internet and in-store, including:

Amazon.com (Click to see product on Amazon)

For The Earth Corp. (PK: FTEC)

For The Earth Corp. manufactures and markets biodegradable and environmentally friendly products that remove odors and dirt. Their product line also includes cat litters. The Company is focused on offering a diverse range of environmentally friendly, 100% non-toxic and biodegradable products, including “What Odor?”, “What Stain?”, “What Dirt?”, “What Wound?”, and “PaPurr”.

The Company’s mission is to only manufacture biodegradable, environmentally friendly products that provide effective and sustainable solutions for humans, animals and planet Earth.

Here are two of the Company’s top selling products:

What Odor?

FTEC’s What Odor? Multi-purpose odor eliminating spray is their flagship product. What Odor? has been featured on Discovery Channel’s “PitchMen.” Several infomercials for What Odor? were also hosted by world famous television marketer Billy Mays.

What Odor? doesn’t just cover up an odor, it completely eliminates the odor! It is 100% biodegradable, non-toxic, non-hazardous, safe for children, safe for pets and environmentally friendly. The formula incorporates counteraction technology, but expands considerable beyond it in that the odor will be eliminated and won’t return. What Odor? Is able to react in both liquid and gaseous forms and works on even the most complex and intense combination’s of organic and inorganic odors.

The following are a few of the benefits provided by What Odor?

1. Eliminates odor opposed to only masking it
2. Contains active ingredients that break down the odor
3. Tested to be more effective than other products in the market
4. The product is non-toxic, non-hazardous, non-reactive, non-flammable and non-corrosive
5. What Odor? Is 100% completely biodegradable. Now that is “GREEN”
6. Can be used on fabric, upholstery and carpet

The product works by eliminating urine/fecal, vomit, kennel, pet bedding, skunk, smoke, diaper pails, restroom, kitchen, garbage, bar, wait station, drink dump, sink, garbage disposal, fish, sports equipment, tent, camper and RV odors.

PaPurr

FTEC’s environmentally friendly cat litter PaPurr is made from 100% recycled paper and contains no additives. Unlike competing paper based litters that are in pellet form, PaPurr is granulated so it feels and works like traditional clay litter.

FTEC’s products are available for purchase through many different locations both on the internet and in-store.

The Company is currently doing research on all natural acne and pain reliever products. FTEC is planning to introduce two new products in 2011, What Stain? And What Wound? Part of their growth strategy they also plan to create a retail sales team, an industrial sales team and an international sales team in order to assist growth into the global market.

Company’s websites:
www.fortheearthcorp.com
www.whatproducts.com
www.papurr.com

Earlier this week FTEC released a press release which can be accessed here:

For The Earth Corporation and What Odor?(R) Multi-Purpose Odor-Eliminating Spray: Keeping People and Pets Together

Conclusion

There are many investors that experienced the gains provided by some of the big, sexy stories that have hit the pinksheets over the years who would sure like to experience such gains again. FTEC could have that same kind of feel. This may be the time to experience it all over again!

At its current level FTEC could have significant upside! It’s just getting its feet wet as a public company, what do you think will happen when the investment community finds out? This could be an explosive situation!

We urge all of our subscribers to conduct their own research and to get themselves in a position to benefit from this groundbreaking opportunity!! Don’t Miss it!

Also, remember when you are in a position to profit it is often wise to do so.

Very Best Regards,

PennyStocksClub

- – - -

We do not have a position in the above featured company

PennyStocksClubexpects to be compensated upto five thousand dollars by a third party, to provide marketing services for FTEC. Our emails may contain forward looking statements, which are not guaranteed to materialize due to a variety of factors.  We do not guarantee the timeliness, accuracy, or completeness of the information on our site or in our newsletters. The information in our email newsletters and on our website is believed to be accurate and correct, but has not been independently verified and is not guaranteed to be correct.

mPhase Technologies is introducing a revolutionary Smart Surface technology enabled by breakthroughs in nanotechnology.

In addition to the Smart Surface technology, mPhase recently introduced its first product, the mPower Emergency Illuminator, an award-winning product designed by Porsche Design Studio.

More information about the company can be found at http://www.mPhaseTech.com.

Sounds complicated, I know, so I’ll break it down for you, and also tell you why the chart and trade setup on this one look so good.

Batteries haven’t really been changed for many years, multiple generations. Only small changes have bee made.  XDSL is making big strides in battery technology and developing next generation batteries that have major improvements over current standard batteries.

XDSL is focused on commercializing its first Smart Surface enabled product for military and commercial applications…the Smart NanoBattery.

XDSL collaborated with the very well known and respected Bell Laboratories to develop a new technology that utlizes Smart Surface technology and they came up with the Smart NanoBattery.

XDSL has developed a battery with a shelf life of at least 20 years prior to manual activation, meaning that it will provide the full capacity of its charge decades from now, without deterioration or corrosion.

From what I’ve seen, this battery literally has the potential to revolutionize the battery industry.  The smart battery has near infinite shelf life, environmentally friendly design, fast ramp to power, programmable control, and direct integration with microelectronic devices.

Besides being an ideal candidate for their technology, batteries are the perfect choice for XDSL for another reason.  The world battery market is $70 billion today!  The industry is driven by the expansion of portable devices and the demand for lighter and longer lasting batteries. It’s a humongous industry with needs that are an exact match for what XDSL is providing.

This is what most caught my attention.  The US government is investing heavily in battery sector innovation and have recently allocated $2.4 billion in stimulus funds.

XDSL received a $750,000 dollar Phase II STTR grant awarded from the US Army to develop a micro-array lithium battery for mission critical SRAM backup application.  This company sounded so good it felt a little too good to be true.  Seeing a 3/4 million dollar grant from the US Army definitely shows me this company is the real deal.

Up until now XDSL’s technologies have been primarily used for military applications.  Now XDSL is making their technologies available to consumers and people are getting excited.

You should go to there website and check out the videos they have that explain how the technology works in more detail.  This company has great technology, has been awarded grant money by the US army, and has been featured in a well known magazine.  The company looks like it’s ready to grow explosively.

Now let’s get to the rubber band like trading situation we have that just may be ready to SNAP us into profits.

If you look at the pattern that XDSL has been trading in, you’ll see something that happens over and over.  XDSL has a few down days in  row, then, has 1 or 2 big UP days.  So it’s a volatile company, it moves up and down a lot, but it seems to trade in a fairly reliable pattern.

Well XDSL has been down 2 days in a row.  The chart looks ripe for another pop.  Since we are kind of at the bottom of the chart, this can help minimize the downside as well.  Trade with caution (watch out for gaps, use a tight stop, etc.) and make sure of positive momentum.  Sub pennies are extra volatile, so be extra careful.

They can also be EXTRA PROFITABLE.  Past sub pennies have been,by far, our biggest percentage gainers.  Keep a very close eye on XDSL since it looks totally ready to fly.

Be quick to the draw, check out XDSL before the bell opens.

Happy Trading,

The Penny Stocks Club President

We do not have a position in the above featured company

To view our full disclaimer, please visit http://pennystocksclub.com/disclaimer/.

Hello Traders!

The Club‘s back with a new pick! FCCN is our day trade pick for Monday.

Spectral Capital Corporation (PINK: FCCN) is focused on the acquisition of a significant portfolio of properties for mining activities.

In September 2010, FCCN purchased an interest in mineral properties in the Chita region of the Russian Federation. This includes the Kadara and Kaltagay license, which is located in the Mogochinsky district of the Chita Region, which has several gold mines in production.

Additionally, FCCN owns a 47% interest in a 20-year license for the prospecting, exploration, and production of gold all other metals on 18,200 hectares, or nearly 45,000 acres, where “development and exploration activities are currently being undertaken.”

FCCN has acquired a 65% interest in “two very large mineral properties, both of which have the potential to yield gold and other minerals that would create massive value.” These properties are reportedly located in “regions where significant gold has been found.”

Last month, FCCN received a Letter of Interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank to provide funding. According to the press release detailing this development, the proposed financing is for $167.5 million, “which represents not just the resources needed to meet [the Company's] contractual commitments, but also the resources needed to begin large-scale production.”

FCCN‘s acquisition in the Republic of Kazakhstan reportedly “meets or exceeds the gold potential” of the Company’s Chita property in Russia. As of February 7th, FCCN announced its expectations to extract gold from the Kazakhstan property “within the next 12 months.” Additionally, FCCN plans to apply for funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank for the development of the Kazakhstan property “within 60 days or less.”

More recently, FCCN issued a 10-K, disclosing their intentions to solicit an even larger amount, $367.5 million, from the U.S. Export-Import bank. Additionally, the Company intends “to begin small-scale production,” and have been “informed that similar operations in the region and/or in other areas of alluvial gold deposits are able to produce more than $10-$20 million annually in net gold revenue.”

On Friday, FCCN experienced increased trading volume, and gained nearly 12%, before closing the day up 6.06% in the green.

We want all Club members to put FCCN on their radar!

As always, we ask members of The Club to conduct their own due diligence.

<< FCCN website >>

<< FCCN headlines >>

Happy Trading,

The Penny Stocks Club President

We do not have a position in the above featured company

To view our full disclaimer, please visit http://pennystocksclub.com/disclaimer/.

Hello Traders!

WOW. what an exciting day today with IOSA with some excellent gains for the day.  During all the excitement some of the club members suggested looking for a sub penny with potential of similar activity.

We think we may have found one, it is Universal Detection Technology (OTC: UNDT)

This stock looks like it could be a strong Day Trade!!!

Currently UNDT’s chart speaks volumes. UNDT has seen a dramatic increase in volume over the past 72 hours showing that investors are taking notice of the recent company developments.

UNDT is a leading supplier of detection technologies for biological, chemical, and radiological weapons. As the threat of bioterrorism increases worldwide, UNDT is committed to providing the latest research and development that improves early-warning monitoring technologies and counter-terrorism training programs to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health threats.

UNDT’s detection equipment tools and training references have been invaluable tools for Homeland Security, Anti-Terrorism/ Special Forces, First Responders, Commercial Shipping Companies, Port Security, Airport Security, and Border Patrol.

With an expertise in developing bio weapons detection tools and training, UNDT’s portfolio of capabilities includes detection equipment and services for chemical weapons, radiological weapons, and toxic mold and biohazards.

UNDT has over three decades of monitoring experience and is positioned strongly in the industry to partner and to equip its domestic and international customers with the tools necessary to prevent a potential terrorist attack with chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) weapons through early threat detection. UNDT’s detection devices are exported to a growing number of international markets, including South Korea, France and Canada.

With the world wide community’s increased funding of antiterrorist measures, this creates a multitude of opportunities to experience potential increases in revenue streams for companies such as UNDT.

UNDT’s handheld assays include the T-S-5 five agent biodetection kits, which can detect the presence of five lethal agents in one test and in less than three minutes.

The kits have already been certified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as an approved product for Homeland Security and have been evaluated extensively by the U.S. DoD and U.K. military. UNDT’s security and pollutant detection experience extends into other products and services, including radiation detection and chemical detection.

UNDT has been demonstrating this by consistently establishing relations with new partners and clients.

UNDT released news yesterday where it stated that it was bringing advanced Israeli explosives and IED simulant technology to the US security market through a deal with Tamar Security Technologies, a company which provides training and equipment to Israeli security and other organizations.

“The IED threat has garnered recent attention with the news that Al-Qaeda had actually been able to smuggle explosives onto aircrafts in printer cartridges. UNDT’s new IED simulants can be used to train guards on how to spot components of explosives such as detonators.”

“Tamar (www.tamar-explosives.com) is a certified service provider for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Its team of experts also carries out research, laboratory trials, data collection and database development for some of the world’s leading firms and security agencies.”

To read more about UNDT check out their website HERE.

View UNDT headlines HERE.

Happy Trading!

The Penny Stocks Club President

************************************************************************

We do not have a position in the above featured company

To view our full disclaimer, please visit http://pennystocksclub.com/disclaimer/.

Hello Traders!

We’re excited to bring you The Club’s latest alert, IOSA.

Information Systems Associates, Inc. (PINK: IOSA) is a leading provider of turnkey data center management solutions, and has a suite of services, including data center, inventory, and asset management, software, and optimization. IOSA‘s customer list includes big names like GE, Northrop Grumman, Verizon, Comcast, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

As most data collection practices are slow and prone to large margins of error, IOSA developed a proprietary technology, known as On Site Physical Inventory (OSPI) software. IOSA‘s OSPI provides a tool set that allows customers to create a highly accurate set of their current information technology (IT) inventory and assets.

IOSA‘s technology gathers information which is then imported into software, enabling businesses to make important decisions on data center management that ultimately leads to the optimization of resources, cost reductions, and significant return on investment.

Regardless of size, all organizations require an accurate data set for their existing IT asset infrastructure. IOSA‘s technology helps companies and organizations take advantage of considerable cost reductions and efficiency, which may only be achieved through data center optimization methodologies.

Why do customers consistently choose IOSA?

• IOSA‘s data center management solution combines IT asset inventory, tracking, analysis and optimization
• IOSA has a deep understanding of the data center environment and the demands place on them by business units
• IOSA has expert knowledge of IT asset data capture with industry leading technology and business processes
• IOSA‘s unique, proprietary software speeds up the data collection process while maintaining a high degree of accuracy
• Track record of delivering successful projects to meet time and budget requirements
• IOSA has trusted partners with top data software vendors
• IOSA has the ability to understand its customers’ business requirements and deliver positive data center centric solutions

According to IOSA‘s website, there are approximately 6,600 data centers in the United States using in excess of 12 million server computers, with growth of 2.5% annually. On a global scale, that number moves from 12 million to a whipping 32 million servers. This industry has seen tremendous growth, exceeding $5.5 billion in 2009, and IOSA is looking to cash in on the opportunity.

An average initial sale totals $80,000, and with 6,600 data centers, IOSA holds the potential of generating more than $500 million in sales in the United States alone. Based on the number of servers in the world, IOSA‘s market’s in the ballpark of $1.4 billion in initial sales, with approximately $300 million in recurring annual revenue.

Today, IOSA closed the day up 3% to $0.17, which is more than 25% off its 52-week high of $0.23 per share.

Check out the IOSA website HERE.

View IOSA headlines HERE.

Happy Trading!

The Penny Stocks Club President

Hello traders!

HRTE is sitting at its 52-Week Low and a possible bounce back could be happening soon!! This one has been trading at 50% higher than it’s current PPS for the last couple of Months and now at these new low levels we could see a comeback…. Here is some information to get you started on your research of HRTE:

About Here Enterprises, Inc. (HRTE.PK)
Here Enterprises is a developer of wind power, our nation’s fastest growing renewable energy resource. The Company is engaged in planning, developing, acquiring and operating wind farms in the United States to generate clean, profitable wind energy. Here Enterprises is developing wind energy projects which co-locate wind farms with commercial businesses in order to maximize cash flow for each project.

The market demand for wind power is growing rapidly, spurred by New and improved federal and state incentives, optimistic private equity investors and sustained consumer demand.

Here Enterprises, Inc. (HRTE.PK) has a Relationship established with wind technology provider A&C Green Energy of Dallas, Texas, who’s founded in 1999.
The company’s turbines are currently generating wind power in North America, Central America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe. A&C Green Energy specializes in manufacturing, integrating and marketing highly efficient small wind systems including its Talon and PowerMax+ small wind generators, inverters and poles.

In addition to offering ideal acreage and wind speeds for a wind farm, Cycle Ranch hosts an established motocross speedway business with ongoing revenue

Their latest acquisition, one of the top five motocross tracks in the nation already has ongoing revenue! And HRTE plans to make it better! A double barrel cash flow strategy if you will, HRTE aims to co-locate a wind energy facility with the existing commercial business, and so it begins!.

Recent News!!!

Here Enterprises Conducting Wind Turbine Site Selection at Cycle Ranch

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Here Enterprises Inc. (Pink Sheets: HRTE) today announced the Company is conducting site selection at its fully owned subsidiary and national motocross track Cycle Ranch near San Antonio, Texas. Site selection is a term used in wind turbine technology and refers to wind analysis for the precise positioning and site location for a wind turbine to best harvest the renewable wind energy.

Site selection is made from data that is collected using local historical farmers almanacs as well as advanced meteorological models with online site suitability tools using national and local weather records, weather satellites, and meteorological stations reporting hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly wind records that provide detailed analytical site selection information.  Site selection is a step prior to ground breaking and preparing for the tower and wind turbine installation with concrete foundations for each turbine.

“Here Inc. is finding the best position for each wind turbine to keep the generation of electricity production curves as high as possible. Each of our wind turbine’s direct-drive, gearless, brushless design allows continued performance in an extremely wide range of conditions with no parts that require regular maintenance,” saidMark Ryun Here Inc CEO/President.

READ FULL STORY HERE!!

START YOUR OWN RESEARCH NOW

Company: Here Enterprises
Visit Company website
Visit Yahoo Finance

Happy Trading,

The Penny Stocks Club President

************************************************************************

We do not have a position in the above featured company
To view our full disclaimer, please visit http://pennystocksclub.com/disclaimer/.

Hello Traders!

Tonight, we’re bringing our members an excitable mining stock that has literally doubled its price per share in the past two months. This stock is SIRG.

Sierra Resource Group, Inc. (OTC: SIRG) is a junior exploration and mining company committed to the discovery and development of gold, silver, copper and other mineral resources.

SIRG‘s Chloride Copper Project consists of 37 unpatented lode mining claims and 12 millsite claims located in the Wallapai District of Mohave County, Arizona. Copper mineralization at this property is in the form of mineralized lenses contained within a paleochannel a few thousand feet long and up to 750 feet wide.

Other interesting highlights include:

• Completion of an NI 43-101 compliant technical report
• Estimated 2.22 million tons, or 27.5 million pounds, of copper grading 0.625%
• Copper prices rising on demand speculation

In fact, copper prices have increased more than 50% in the past twelve months.

Considering current prices, SIRG could literally be sitting on more than $100 million in copper resources.

After a period of persistent rumors circulating about the Company’s relationship with a Bolivian mining concern, SIRG issued a press confirming the signing of a Letter of Intent with Kony Minera S.A. on December 15, 2010 for a “potential joint venture regarding an alluvial gold placer mining project near Santa Cruz, Bolivia.”

While SIRG gained a modest 4% in Friday’s trading session, the Company’s exciting news came after market close, which means this stock could be due for even more of a positive market reaction.

As always, we suggest our members conduct their own due diligence.

SIRG website

SIRG headlines

Happy Trading,

The Penny Stocks Club President

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Good day, Good evening, and good morning

Today I want to introduce to what I believe is a great company that began making some moves today and is ready to become a player in the twenty two billion dollar Alcohol Addiction Treatment industry……

More than seven percent of the population ages 18 years and older or 13.8 million Americans have problems with drinking, including 8.1 million people who suffer from alcoholism. And the costs financially are staggering. Alcohol dependence and abuse cost the US over $220 billion a year. For the sake of comparison, this was greater than the amount of money spent to combat cancer ($196 billion) and obesity ($133 billion).

Fresh Start Private (Public, OTC: CEYY) is a company that has created an innovative alcohol treatment program that empowers patients to succeed where other programs have failed. There are several key components to their unique treatment philosophy that differentiate them from other programs and provide patients with a Fresh Start at life.

While patient counseling is a key component of any treatment program, it is often not enough on its own to help a person stop drinking. That is why Fresh Start Private’s key program is built around a state-of-the-art, minimally invasive, biodegradable implant of naltrexone

Watch this Amazing Alcohol Addiction Treatment Video

As an oral tablet, or through an intramuscular injection, naltrexone which is a medication that blocks the effects of drugs known as opioids. Originally used to treat dependence on opioid drugs, it was recently approved by the Federal Drug Administration as treatment for alcoholism.

Once only available internationally – US Patients will now have access to this ground breaking Naltrexone Implant, which helps patients overcome urges to abuse alcohol by blocking the euphoric effects. FSPM clients are treated with a slow release dose that lasts for a year, giving the Company a higher success rate in the treatment of alcoholism than other methods.

Click to read more about Fresh Start Private’s Unique treatments

Fresh Start Private intends to open a new treatment clinic in the United States every 60 to 90 days. The Company is also in discussions with major health insurance provider to pay for all or a portion of the treatment fees.

FSP stresses that the best way to do a detox treatment is under the supervision of a medical professional, preferably in a treatment center like their own.  At Fresh Private Start, patients will be exposed to healthy foods as well as receive the therapeutic support that they need.

For more information, visit the company website at http://www.freshstartprivate.com/.

Testimonials from actual patients of Fresh Start Private treatments

Watch this Amazing Alcohol Addiction Treatment Video

Recent News

Fresh Start Private CEO to Be Featured on MoneyTV

Dr. Andrade to Outline Recent Developments and Corporate Goals for Alcohol Treatment Company

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – 01/26/11) – Fresh Start Private (OTC.BB:CEYY – News), a leader in the alcohol treatment and rehabilitation industry, announced today that its CEO, Dr. Jorge Andrade is to be featured on MoneyTV this Thursday.

Dr. Andrade will be speaking about recent developments at Fresh Start Private including a new licensing agreement with Merit Management Services, LLC (Merit) who will be opening up to five Fresh Start Private (FSP) Treatment Centers within the next twelve months.

Dr. Andrade will also speak about the new corporately owned clinic in Orange County, California and will also outline the Company’s marketing tactics for the up-coming year providing insight into potential benefits for patients and stakeholders alike.

Fresh Start Private Begins Airing of National Television Commercials Including CNBC, CNN, FOX and MSNBC

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – 01/25/11) – Fresh Start Private (OTC.BB:CEYY – News), a leader in the alcohol treatment and rehabilitation industry, announced today that its first television commercials have begun to air on national networks.

Under a previously announced agreement with TVA Productions (TVA), Fresh Start Private (FSP) spots will run sometime on the following networks:

• CNBC
• FOX NEWS
• FOX BUSINESS
• CNN
• MSNBC
• HEADLINE NEWS
• THE WEATHER CHANNEL

More than seven percent of the population ages 18 years and older or 13.8 million Americans have problems with drinking, including 8.1 million people who suffer from alcoholism.

FSP operates the only alcohol treatment program that offers their single-administration, licensed long-acting, Naltrexone implant procedure. Naltrexone has been approved for use by the FDA within the United States for the treatment of alcohol addiction.

Watch the internationally aired commerical now

Hello Traders!

Our last pick, SOPV, gained a conservative 5%, this solar stock traded 543,095 shares, or more than 10 times its 10-day average volume.

While SOPV could potentially receive more positive attention this week, our attention turns to a penny stock that closed up 10.81% at $0.41, its high of day.

This stock is GENM.

Genmed Holding Corporation (OTC: GENM) is an international company focused on delivering low-cost generic medicines directly to distribution chains in Europe and other countries.

On Friday, GENM issued a report on the size and scope of the European Union’s generic drug market, which consists of several countries comprised of more than 365 million people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of over $14.4 trillion.

This press release also tells us:

• “Major expansion of generic pharmaceutical sales is expected in EU countries such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Austria.”

• Generic pharmaceuticals in the top eight markets (United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan) represented $62.6 billion in revenue in 2009

• Generic pharmaceuticals account for 72% of the total U.S. pharmaceutical market, with estimated of sales exceeding $100 billion worldwide this year.

GENM has several competitive advantages:

• GENM has taken the necessary steps to acquire distribution licenses in Romania, Holland, the United Kingdom, United States, Germany and Ireland.

• With these licenses, GENM can initiate new distribution licenses in the rest of the world.

• GENM has the ability to sell directly to the distributor and cut out wholesalers, which offers lower production and distribution costs, and faster delivery.

• GENM‘s production facility adheres to the strictest worldwide standards for generic pharmaceutical production.

In Friday’s press release, GENM CEO Reggie Bowens further suggested the Company has a competitive edge, “We couldn’t pick a better time to be entering the generics market with our first licensed product, paracetamol [acetaminophen]. With the ramp out of our sales teams in the European Union this quarter, we fully anticipate owning a piece of this enormous market.”

Today, GENM announced a successful 2010, and its plans to “focus on distribution and top-line revenue,” which could be achieved through “highly competitive pricing.” The Company also announced its intentions to market Paracetamol, “one of the most popular analgesics used around the world,” on a private label basis as well as develop their own brand.

GENM has completed a two year application process and is “finally in negotiations now with several clients both here in the European Union and in the Middle East.” Additionally, GENM “is also exploring other markets where demand is high and the regulatory environments is not as tedious.”
Perhaps even more interesting is that GENM “expects purchase orders and initial shipments to begin within the first quarter of 2011.”

As always, we suggest our members to conduct their own due diligence and can do so by starting with the following links:

View the GENM website

View recent GENM news

Happy Trading,

The Penny Stocks Club President

We do not have a position in the above featured company

To view our full disclaimer, please visit http://pennystocksclub.com/disclaimer/.