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When it comes to investing, you should be confident in the assets you’re purchasing. In recent years, a lot of investors have been turning to index funds instead of stocks or active mutual funds.

Index funds are collections of stocks or bonds designed to match the stock market’s performance rather than beat it. When the stock market is doing well, index fund investors will reap great rewards. However, when the stock market as a whole is tanking, index fund investors won’t be experiencing great payouts.

The appeal of index funds is clear: they are passive investments. As a holder, you don’t have to worry about moving your money around to make it work for you. The passive nature of an index fund takes all of the work off of your hands. They also tend to be low-cost so that you won’t be spending your life savings on hefty fees.

However, this passivity comes at a cost. In a poor economic environment, index funds don’t perform well. Their value can decline steeply in just a couple of days, even after years of steady growth.

If you’re wondering how to invest during coronavirus, we’ve got you covered. Learn more about why you should avoid index funds during this time and put your money into individual stocks instead.

The Diversification that Can Put You at Risk

Jack Bogle was the man who first introduced the idea of index funds in 1975. He saw a way to give amateur investors a fair chance to compete with financial gurus. While his intentions were pure, index funds are not the way to go during all types of market conditions.

By their nature, index funds offer diversification. They expose you to the market as a whole. When you buy an index fund, you own a tiny part of every company in the fund. This diversification minimizes your risk and allows you to grow your profile during economic upturns.

However, in the world’s current economic state, index funds are not what you want to be buying.

In late February of this year, the U.S. stock market experienced historic lows. The Dow Jones dropped more than 10% in a single week, and the rest of the world’s stock markets also experienced trouble. If you bought index funds during this time, you know those stocks were not able to outperform these poor economic conditions.

Instead, you should consider buying individual stocks. It’s no secret that some companies are performing better than others. For example, a lot of airlines and restaurants are losing money due to a lack of business. On the other hand, supermarkets and certain online retailers are thriving due to increased demand.

Do your investment portfolio a favor during coronavirus by building it with handpicked stocks.

Buying Stocks During the Coronavirus

Financial experts often frown upon picking stocks. They say it is irresponsible or reckless. Some even go as far as to equate it to a more sophisticated form of gambling. After all, how can you possibly know which individual companies will outcompete others?

However, investing in individual stocks during a recession is an excellent way to stay ahead of the game. You’ll have a better chance of beating the market, especially given its current unfavorable conditions. Instead of settling into the market’s downward turn, you have the opportunity to come out on top.

However, not every individual stock will give you the gains you’re seeking. You’ll need to set aside some time to research thoroughly. This way, you can make informed decisions that will contribute to your long-term financial future.

Select Dividend-Paying Stocks

So what’s our advice for how to invest during coronavirus? Although we can’t tell you which stocks are right for you, we can steer you in the right direction. When it comes to picking stocks, consider buying ones that pay out dividends.

Dividend-paying stocks can help you grow a predictable and sustainable income stream. You can use this consistent stream to cover some of your expenses now or fund your investing goals in the future.

You want to select stocks that pay out dividends historically. Some companies will increase their dividends every year to keep up with inflation, which is especially beneficial to investors looking to build a reliable income stream. When it comes to buying stocks, try to choose companies known for being well-managed and generally immune to the downs of economic cycles.

Some financial experts will argue that index funds often pay dividends, too. While this point is true in some cases, these dividends are usually pretty low. Plus, the payment amounts are often inconsistent.

Save on Expenses

During this time, you may be unemployed or not receiving your regular flow of income. In any case, you should be looking to save as much money as possible. You can do this by purchasing individual stocks.

Depending on your specific approach, you can save a lot of money on fees by investing in individual stocks. If you use a low-cost broker, you can expect to pay a meager one-time fee no matter how many shares you buy. Once you own the stock, it’s yours to keep for no extra costs. Just make sure you pay any pertinent taxes that you owe on your dividends until you sell your shares.

Index funds come with a recurring annual fee, known as an expense ratio. Even though index funds are infamously “low-cost,” these fees can still add up. While new investors won’t feel the impact of index fund fees as much, you should still keep them in mind. Every dollar you can save during an event like the coronavirus will help you meet your financial goals in the long run.

Pick the Companies You Like & Trust

When picking individual shares, stick with the companies that you like and trust. Even with the world in an unpredictable state during COVID-19, you can still stick to your guns when supporting certain businesses.

For example, if you regularly shop at Target and believe in its long-term success, buy stocks in it instead of a competing store that you don’t like. Investing in stocks is an excellent way to stay loyal to certain brands and stay true to your values.

Also, try to avoid companies whose practices you don’t support. By sticking to this mindset, no matter the current economic environment, you can be a conscientious investor.

Strive to Beat the Market

During coronavirus shutdowns, some companies will be more successful than others. If you put your money into diverse industries through an index fund, you risk losing out on significant profits.

Through some research, you should be able to determine the best individual shares to purchase during COVID-19. Find companies that have a reliable track record for paying their investors. You should also select companies that:

• Operate primarily remotely
• Don’t require face-to-face contact to make profits
• Offer essential food or healthcare products or services

The Arguments Against Individual Shares: Debunked

In this section, we’ll explore some of the common arguments against buying individual shares. We’ll also outline why these don’t apply during global events like the coronavirus outbreak:

“Picking Individual Shares Takes a Lot of Time and Research”

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that more than 25 million Americans lost their jobs as of April 23rd. If you are one of these people or have otherwise experienced a reduced workload, you likely have a lot of time on your hands. Take advantage of your newfound free time to educate yourself on the best stocks to buy based on your unique situation.

“There Are a Lot of Risks When It Comes to Picking Out Stocks”

Right now, the whole market’s performance is nowhere near its best. At the start of 2020, it would’ve been nearly impossible to beat the market due to its record high performance. However, the coronavirus has since humbled the stock market, so why not try to beat it now?

The risk that comes with buying individual shares is negligible now. Buying “safe” index funds is a passive decision that won’t let you experience significant financial gains in the current environment.

Final Thoughts

A lot of investors shy away from purchasing new assets amidst economic crises. You may find it intimidating to invest during a period of such uncertainty. Especially if you’re young or new to investing, your investing strategy has likely never felt the impact of such a big change before. However, you should invest as much as you can. You want to be proactive and smart about how to invest during coronavirus. If you don’t actively work to protect your investments, you’ll be kicking yourself in the future for not taking action now.

Even if you’re eager to start picking stocks, don’t be quick to rush into making purchases—research individual stocks before buying. Consider if you want to invest in one or two stocks or buy multiple different ones with various companies. No matter your financial goals, individual stocks can help you meet them even during a pandemic.

 Bio: Chris Muller

Chris Muller is a financial writer and digital marketer – he started a digital marketing business in 2015 that focuses on freelance writing, content marketing, and SEO – all while working full-time and playing dad to two kids.

The post Should You Abandon Index Funds During the Coronavirus? appeared first on Wall Street Survivor.

source https://blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2020/05/20/should-you-abandon-index-funds-during-the-coronavirus/

People are taking advantage of the volatility present in the crypto industry. Retail traders are buying crypto at a lower price and selling them when the price reaches a new high. Due to the high volatility, they manage to make a decent amount of money within a very short period of time. Things might seem very easy at the initial stage but if you take a look at the professional trader approach, you will never see that they are buying crypto without analyzing the technical factors. In order to sell crypto at the right price and ensure safe transactions, you need to follow some basic parameters. Let’s explore 4 essential elements that you need to consider while selling crypto.

Market sentiment

Assessing the market sentiment is critical to your success. You need to sell crypto when the sentiment is bearish. Selling popular currencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, etc. when the market momentum and sentiment is extremely bullish is an amateur mistake. You are missing out on a decent profit as you will be selling the digital asset at a much lower price. Learning about the market sentiment is not that tough.

Those who have strong knowledge of the technical and fundamental aspects of the market can easily determine the course of the trend. If necessary, you can read the analysis of the professional traders at bigX. By using their free resources, you will get a decent idea about buying selling Bitcoin.

Use an authorized broker

Some cryptocurrency users don’t care too much about the market price. Basically, they earn crypto by using their mining rig. But still, they need to be very careful. As a miner, you need to sell BTC to a reputed broker like bigX so that you know you will never get scammed. On the other hand, if you chose a scam broker or sell it the third party who doesn’t have the relevant paperwork and authorization to conduct such transactions, you might lose a big sum of money. The worst thing is, you can’t complain to anyone about the scam.

Finding a great broker is not too complex. First of all, check the customer service, website reputations, and online reputations. If things seem standard, you need to check the regulations and licensing documents. If the paperwork of the broker is transparent like at bigX, you are dealing with a safe broker.

Sell at the resistance

As a cryptocurrency user, you must have strong technical knowledge. Without having the ability to analyze the technical details, it is nearly impossible to make some serious profit from this market. The majority of the retail traders and investors fail to make a profit using the resistance and support. Professional traders never miss a slight opportunity to increase the profit potential. They are very good at analyzing the critical support and resistance level. They always sell at the resistance and buy the asset at the support. By doing so, they utilize the investment market in the best possible way.

Be careful with the news

Being a cryptocurrency user, you must be careful about the major news. Let’s say that you are selling a big amount of Bitcoin at the current market price. Right before you hit the sell button, the price of Bitcoin drops by 500 pips in the global market. So, for one Bitcoin, you are basically losing $500. It might go in your favor and you might earn $500 per Bitcoin if the price shoots up right before you hit the sell button. But still, this is mostly luck.

It is important that you sell the Bitcoin when the market is relatively stable and no major economic announcements are scheduled. By developing such a habit, you can easily save a decent amount of money in the long run. Most importantly, you won’t have to deal with heavy slippage.

The post Four essential things you need to consider while selling crypto appeared first on Wall Street Survivor.

source https://blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2020/05/19/four-essential-things-you-need-to-consider-while-selling-crypto/

Trading CFDs is not like currency trading. Many retail traders start trading CFDs after making consistent profit in currency trading. Though the technical part is similar to the currency market you can’t ignore the news data. News data might not have a severe impact on the currency market but for CFD traders, it plays a critical role. It’s true, many currency traders use the technical data to secure decent profit. You might be an excellent technical analyst still you have to focus on the news data and other important variables.

This article is going to help you to become a professional CFD trader. Let’s find out about the top 4 techniques used by elite traders in the United Kingdom.

Strong at fundamental analysis

Professional traders are very good at analyzing the fundamental data. They never take the trades by breaking the rules. The fundamental analysis gives you the upper hand when you trade commodities. Learning about the fundamental analysis might be a challenging task as you have to deal with different kinds of news data. But once you cluster the news into three main forms, it won’t be that difficult. For instance, you can always identify the high impact news just knowing a few details. During such news, you have to think very carefully about the lot size and trade execution process because the market might show a high level of volatility.

A professional broker

The importance of a professional broker is enormous when it comes to CFD trading business. You can’t trade with low-end tools or a faulty price feed. To solve this issue, elite traders in the United Kingdom always trade the market with a high-end broker like Saxo. Choosing Saxo as your primary broker has a huge advantage. You can use their free trading platform free of charge and you won’t have to think about the low-quality trading tools. So, never think about using a low-quality broker because they don’t add any value.

Trade with discipline

The CFD traders should never break the rules. Most of the CFD traders are long term traders so they can’t afford to make any mistake. If you open a trade, never close the trade until it hit the potential take profit. Taking trades with an emotional approach is also a great mistake. You have to create a trading journal and follow the rules. Those who are new to the trading industry might not understand why it is so important to trade this market with strict discipline. But if you trade for a few months, you will notice all the big losses are nothing but the result of not following the rules.

Develop a strategy

The professional traders always use a valid trading strategy. But the traditional trading strategy is not going to work to deal with the CFDs. It must be developed based on technical and fundamental analysis. Once you have the perfect trading method, you won’t have difficulties in dealing with the CFD market. Before you take trades in the real market, focus on the market dynamics, and try to boost the profit by taking logical steps. The strategy must not be complicated as that will increase the chances of losing money.

Trade with a low leverage account

The professional Forex traders love to trade with a high leverage account. But in CFD trading, you should never trade with a high leverage account. Trade with the low leverage account and think about the swap. Since the trades will be opened for a long period of time, it is important that you know the details of your trading cost. Once you become good at analyzing the trading costs, you will understand the importance of a low leverage account.

Using excessive leverage is very risky. It gives you the power to take the high risk which can cost you your capital. The safety of the trading account should be a priority, no matter how good the trade signal is.

The post Four rules to trade the CFDs like a pro appeared first on Wall Street Survivor.

source https://blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2020/05/19/four-rules-to-trade-the-cfds-like-a-pro/

When talking about the largest internet companies in the world, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Alibaba, and others top the list. Gone are the days when real estate industries, oil refineries, or cement industries made more money. With the invention of the internet, it is now the internet companies that lead the game by generating the most revenues and accommodating a maximum number of employees.

Internet companies are organizations that run businesses on the internet. Such companies that run their huge businesses over the internet have expanded over the past few years as more and more customers avail the internet platform to buy products or services, connect with friends and family, gain information, look out for jobs or catch the latest news, etc. Companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others have many ways to generate greater revenues while we observe them providing free access to their users. You are not charged any money for using Google Search or making an account on Facebook and connecting to your friends and family. Still, these companies are the business tycoons of today’s era. This is because they have their ways of generating massive revenues, advertising being one of the main ones.

For consumers to access the products and services of these companies, all they need is a reliable internet connection. This is why we observe widespread popularity of high-speed internet services like Spectrum internet since consumers do not want any compromises on internet speed and reliability. It is the internet that has now become the hub for business and marketing; an ideal place where sellers meet the buyers.

Having said that, let us have a look at how companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, or Alibaba make money on the internet despite most of them giving free services to their users. Let’s find out!

Huge Profits Through Advertising

One of the most promising ways through which internet companies make money is through advertising. The users are not charged for accessing content on search engines or social media platforms and spend a huge chunk of their time on such websites daily. We all love scrolling our Facebook or Instagram feeds and check out stories posted by our friends and family. Who can deny the fact that we rely on Google to tell us everything, be it a query, a book, a place, news, sports or weather, etc? Google has become our one-stop solution to know something we are looking for.

All the users accessing Google or any social media platform are potential buyers for multiple products or services. This is why business owners make use of this traffic by purchasing space on such search engines or social media websites to get maximum exposure and reach out to the customers. Facebook may seem like a social network but it will not be wrong to say that it is an ad company. These sites charge these e-commerce businesses to display their advertisements and messages to the users. This is how these internet companies can earn huge revenue and make good money.

Revenues Through Data Collection

Purchasing space on these websites is a wise investment by these e-commerce companies as this allows them to reach out to millions of users at once. The internet companies are also able to generate revenue by collecting data from the users and selling this valuable information to the companies that can benefit from it.

This data is eventually stored as users spend time on these sites and include information related to their browsing history, location, interests, behaviors, etc. This type of data can help business owners to design effective marketing campaigns and proactively target their audiences.

The internet companies earn good money by providing such user data to various e-commerce companies who use it as a valuable tool for market research. It can give important insight regarding how well any product or service is doing among customers and what consumers are interested in.

Online Stores

Big internet companies like Amazon and Alibaba earn money by selling products online. Besides, they also make money from digital ads, subscription fees, and various cloud-based services. Amazon, for instance, earns huge revenue through subscription fees for video streaming services (Amazon Prime) and various web services. Similarly, Alibaba also provides cloud-based services and video streaming services.

Other Ways to Generate Revenues

Though advertising or selling data are some of the prime ways by which internet companies make revenue but this does raise privacy concerns. This is why internet companies are looking out for other ways to generate revenues that might include cloud storage, subscriptions, licensing fees, etc. The most well-known internet companies like Google are planning to invest and target other industries by designing cloud gaming systems or self-driving cars.

The Bottom Line

The top internet companies have been making waves mainly by providing free of cost services to their users when it comes to accessing the content. They generate massive revenues through advertisement space to various businesses for running their marketing campaigns and reaching out to millions of potential customers. Selling valuable user data to different e-commerce companies is another way of generating revenue for various search engines and social media platforms. Apart from that, big tycoons like Google continue to invest in launching products and services to target other industries and bring more revenue

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source https://blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2020/05/19/how-do-the-biggest-internet-companies-make-money/

It is only fair that cryptocurrencies that are based on the game changing blockchain technology should now be relying on even more technology to make cryptocurrency investing truly broadbased. Cryptocurrency investing is no longer restricted to knowing how to buy bitcoin as this useful article at Invezz explains. It is not a secretive and hush hush affair indulged in by a select few who understood what it means and stands for either.

Today, it has become no different from the regular stock market investment and we have a myriad of cryptocurrency software that people have downloaded to thank for it. Besides, the very future of cryptocurrencies as a concept depends upon technological innovations that promise to make it computer crash and hacking proof. Technological upgrades are the only way that it is possible for cryptocurrency to gain widespread acceptance as part of the existing mainstream financial systems. It has to be technologically complex enough to deter hackers and frauds, yet be user friendly for widespread use.

The blockchain technology underlying cryptocurrency has enabled it to impact a plethora of industries and organizations around the world. As more and more people from around the world want to become a part of the world of digital currencies, cryptocurrency exchanges have come up around the world to enable people to exchange their local currency for cryptocurrency.

Technology is at the Heart of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies are essentially virtual or digital currencies that rely on entries, made in an immutable and anonymous database secured by blockchain technology, that no one can alter. This secure database is more like a public record that can be verified through different nodes, making it impossible to counterfeit coins. Besides, one can easily trace specific transactions carried out between anonymous individual accounts.

Cryptocurrencies provide a user friendly digital alternative to the regimented conventional currencies. While the developed world might not see much merit in this attribute of digital currencies, many parts of the world with unstable currencies, could do with the access to alternative currencies that cryptocurrencies provide. This can greatly help mitigate people’s living conditions in such nations. Countries like Venezuela and Zimbabwe easily come to mind where cryptocurrencies could actually provide some financial relief to the people of these nations.

Influence on Global Investment

While seamless transfer of money and dampening the impact of inflation may seem like the major impact of leveraging the blockchain technology empowering cryptocurrencies, more and more people around the world are including cryptocurrency investment as an integral part of their investment portfolio.

The fact that cryptocurrency investments are not impacted by the vagaries of the market like, say for example gold is, makes them an effective hedge against investment risk. This is behind the emergence of many exchange traded products known as ETFs and ETNs. Though many point to the possibility of a crash, in the cryptocurrency market, having an adverse impact upon the overall financial market, the small size of the former belies such fears.

Cryptocurrency is More Than Just Digital Cash

Cryptocurrency has functions that extend beyond its traditional definition of being digital or virtual cash. Sure you can make payments for ecommerce and traditional transactions with cryptocurrencies like Stellar and Ripple’s XRP. But, it also possesses a store of value in the sense that it can be viewed as a novel form of native currency that is scarce in supply. The meteoric rise of Bitcoin is a prime example of this.

What makes it better than regular money is the fact that cryptocurrency can be programmed for specific uses. Both Bitcoin Lite and LiteCoin are examples of that. For those who would like cryptocurrency to be supported by regular money there is the option of going for cryptocurrency that is plugged to the value of the U.S. dollar or gold. Paxos, TrueUSD and Dai are prime examples of this kind of cryptomoney.

The privacy aspect of cryptocurrency makes it profoundly different from regular money. Z cash, Monero and Verge are examples of how it can provide total anonymity with regard to any transactions. Finally the fact that you own cryptocurrency digitally, redefines the very concept of how one, handles, stores and monetizes data. Golem, BAT and Sia are great examples of this dexterous ability of cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrencies are silently ushering in a financial revolution with far reaching consequences for our very way of life. You would do well to watch this space.

Impact of IoT on Cryptocurrency

The major bugbear when it comes to cryptocurrency is the apparent lack of security and the complex nature of carrying out cryptocurrency trading, putting it beyond the pale of most people. This is where IoT can help by facilitating an easy exchange of currency. One can for example calibrate cryptocurrency with the help of IoT devices, so as to enable fueling up a car petrol tank or the timely purchase of groceries for your home. There is no need for you to send across money physically, The machines that act as IoT devices will take care of all of that.

The post How Technology is Changing the Way That We Invest in Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Wall Street Survivor.

source https://blog.wallstreetsurvivor.com/2020/05/12/how-technology-is-changing-the-way-that-we-invest-in-cryptocurrencies/