4 tips on finding a good money-market mutual fund

4 tips on how to find the best money-market mutual fund


Money-market mutual funds hold about $3.9 trillion in assets, and have become increasingly popular places to park cash amid the beating that stocks and even bonds have taken lately. Here are tips from experts on how to find the best money funds:

1. FIND THE RIGHT FIT: While their yields are pretty low across the board, different types of money funds invest in different types of debt. So pick the right type to balance how much safety you're willing to give up for a slightly higher yield.
Many funds buy super-safe government debt such as Treasury bills, and generally carry the lowest yields -- currently averaging a minuscule 0.1 percent or so. So-called prime funds seek slightly higher yields but accept marginal risk by venturing into some forms of corporate bonds, which carry the risk of default.
Money-market funds can also invest large sums in bank certificates of deposit, and command higher interest rates than you could get on your own. So-called tax-free money funds can invest in debt issued by state or local governments, which can offer tax advantages.
2. RESIST THE CHASE FOR YIELD: If you're comparing money fund yields, resist the temptation to buy a fund just based on a higher yield. Be sure to research the fund. Try to determine what risks the fund may be taking to generate the higher return -- such as a soured investment in Lehman Brothers bonds, that led one money fund to expose investors to losses last fall.

3. CHECK EXPENSES: Fund expenses are a big consideration because a small difference in the amount you pay can offset the relatively modest yield of a money fund. Generally, look for expense ratios below 0.5 percent.

4. MONITOR FEES: With money fund yields at historic lows, fund companies are finding they can barely meet fund expenses and make a profit. That pressures the companies to pass on higher fees. Monitor disclosures about such fee increases.


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Have you ever imagined that even the hardest times can lay your interest?

You may now wonder and asking yourself how it can be done while we live the toughest time in our economic world. All imagine that we have reached the top of the crisis and will remain there for a cloudy time, which has been specified predictably by the economic experts.

But what if you have the key for passing by all that?

Actually the key solution is within your hands! But what happened is that you have got blinded with the shock of unexpected financial crisis that extends its arms to hold the entire economic world for a not specified time. All what you need is some confidence and a helping hand guiding you to a real bright path.
Almost all successful people have learned how to make their own interest even from their own loss! Just some confidence and resistance, and above all the choice of the right hit at the right time. It is a common goal for money makers to have a continuous ability of preserving their financial status. So, stop thinking of the goal only and start thinking of the way you are going to do it, and ask yourself how can I still make the amount of money I was doing before even in the worst time in economic history?
One of the most necessary steps in your thinking and performance is not to take a long time in thinking and planning to be able to catch the chances available in the market, especially at this time. This doesn't mean to be rash, but to be selective and have the deepest insight.

In reversing the situation for the sake of your own interest, SigmaForex has strived to think and produce the best solution for money makers in FOREX through it's three types of accounts.
The motto of SigmaForex is "Not only physical power that can make you win, it is the power of mind that helps you the most to make the best living in all its sides".
The second step you need to go through after thinking is to apply the principle of "use the useless for your usefulness", by catching the best chances available. And here in speaking about the chances, Sigma Forex offers three unique business accounts with three bonus budgets existed nowhere else and we called it"The Bonus Revolution"

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3 Things to Know Before You Trade

Before you start trading there are 3 most important things that you have to know. If you go blind and open an account, there is the high chance that you will get burnt and badly at that! Wouldn't you agree that the best prepared trader is the most profitable trader?
The 3 things to know before you trade are, money management, trading psychology and a statistical edge. Let's explore in greater detail what these 3 important elements are and how they affect your trading success.

The first of the 3 things to know before you trade is a good working knowledge of money management. Money management is not about how to save your money in a bank account. The main focus of money management is all about making sure that you can grow your account consistently and profitably.
How it does that is that money management ensures a good risk versus return ration, it also limits leverage and margin overexposure and at times implement an exit strategy via a stop loss. Another key aspect of money management is position sizing. This is where a trader breaks up the account to diversify and positions the smaller amounts to the best advantage.
It is not easy to master money management, and many traders never bother to implement a money management plan at all. History has shown that these traders very quickly get run out of the business of trading within 6 to 9 months.

The second aspect of trading comes from the mind. It is all about psychology, all about how you as a trader handle your emotions, how you deal with losses and with gains. If you go to any trader's fair, you will realize that 99% of the booths there are for the ultimate trading plan. And maybe 0.01% or less is dedicated to the formation of a trading psychology. Regardless of what sort of trader you are, you cannot escape from your biggest enemy...yourself. To be profitable, a trader must first be able to control the emotions that lead to decision making.
The 2 most dangerous emotions that afflict a trader are fear and excitement. These directly influence the way a trader trades. If you are afraid of losing then you will give up a lot of good profit opportunities. If you are too excited or confident then you will not be able to stick to your trading rules which lead to a loss.

Psychology is not only concerned about just emotions, it is also concerned about the discipline factor. To be a good and profitable trader, discipline is crucial. Unfortunately not many traders can claim to be totally 100% disciplined. Luckily there are many ways to build a disciplined trader.
Lastly is a statistical edge or more commonly know as a trading plan. Most traders would have a semblance of a plan, but many actually do not have a well crafted trading plan at all.
I have seen some pretty half baked plans that traders try to use on the markets. There is a saying that trading is very much a 50/50 game, and that win or lose it is very much like a coin toss. This is theoretically correct but if you had the opportunity to increase the chances of wining, wouldn't you do so? I know that I would for a fact!

A good trading plan comprises of several components, 1) technical analysis, 2) fundamental analysis, 3) clear entry and exit signals and 4) secondary confirmation signals.
There is really too much to write in this article on how a proper trading plan should be structured. Just bear in mind that if you only focus on one aspect then your plan is flawed. You would be better off with the coin toss...
The 3 things to know before you trade are before you now. Since you have read so far, ask yourself in what area are you lacking? Then quickly get some knowledge on that area before you trade. The market is always there, there is never a hurry to throw away your hard earned cash due to a lack of knowledge.


[SigmaForex Bonus Revolution]

Have you ever imagined that even the hardest times can lay your interest?

You may now wonder and asking yourself how it can be done while we live the toughest time in our economic world. All imagine that we have reached the top of the crisis and will remain there for a cloudy time, which has been specified predictably by the economic experts.

But what if you have the key for passing by all that?

Actually the key solution is within your hands! But what happened is that you have got blinded with the shock of unexpected financial crisis that extends its arms to hold the entire economic world for a not specified time. All what you need is some confidence and a helping hand guiding you to a real bright path.
Almost all successful people have learned how to make their own interest even from their own loss! Just some confidence and resistance, and above all the choice of the right hit at the right time. It is a common goal for money makers to have a continuous ability of preserving their financial status. So, stop thinking of the goal only and start thinking of the way you are going to do it, and ask yourself how can I still make the amount of money I was doing before even in the worst time in economic history?
One of the most necessary steps in your thinking and performance is not to take a long time in thinking and planning to be able to catch the chances available in the market, especially at this time. This doesn't mean to be rash, but to be selective and have the deepest insight.

In reversing the situation for the sake of your own interest, SigmaForex has strived to think and produce the best solution for money makers in FOREX through it's three types of accounts.
The motto of SigmaForex is "Not only physical power that can make you win, it is the power of mind that helps you the most to make the best living in all its sides".
The second step you need to go through after thinking is to apply the principle of "use the useless for your usefulness", by catching the best chances available. And here in speaking about the chances, Sigma Forex offers three unique business accounts with three bonus budgets existed nowhere else and we called it"The Bonus Revolution"

Enter Now The Bonus Revolution

Forex Trading Style

• Which forex trading style you go for will affect your trading results.
• There are several styles for trading forex that you can consider.
• You can also think them as forex trading dimensions.
• These dimension include technical trading, fundamental trading, swing trading, trend trading, day trading, scalping, and trading with derivatives.
• Technical and fundamental trading have to do with how you process data for your trading decisions, if you use news, economic data, or historical forex prices, for example.
• You can also use a mixture of the two styles, so that your trading decisions are based on mostly mathematical indicators (or chart patterns) or fundamental news and information on the economies and supply/demand patterns for the currencies, for example.
• As for swing trading, trend trading, day trading, and scalping, these mostly have to do with time perspective of your trading, whether you trade with short term (intra day), medium term or swing trading (days to weeks), or long terms (weeks to months and years) in mind.
• Finally, your use of derivatives, such as forex options, is one of the dimensions of trading. If you use them or not will make a difference in your trading results.


[SigmaForex Bonus Revolution]

Have you ever imagined that even the hardest times can lay your interest?

You may now wonder and asking yourself how it can be done while we live the toughest time in our economic world. All imagine that we have reached the top of the crisis and will remain there for a cloudy time, which has been specified predictably by the economic experts.

But what if you have the key for passing by all that?

Actually the key solution is within your hands! But what happened is that you have got blinded with the shock of unexpected financial crisis that extends its arms to hold the entire economic world for a not specified time. All what you need is some confidence and a helping hand guiding you to a real bright path.
Almost all successful people have learned how to make their own interest even from their own loss! Just some confidence and resistance, and above all the choice of the right hit at the right time. It is a common goal for money makers to have a continuous ability of preserving their financial status. So, stop thinking of the goal only and start thinking of the way you are going to do it, and ask yourself how can I still make the amount of money I was doing before even in the worst time in economic history?
One of the most necessary steps in your thinking and performance is not to take a long time in thinking and planning to be able to catch the chances available in the market, especially at this time. This doesn't mean to be rash, but to be selective and have the deepest insight.

In reversing the situation for the sake of your own interest, SigmaForex has strived to think and produce the best solution for money makers in FOREX through it's three types of accounts.
The motto of SigmaForex is "Not only physical power that can make you win, it is the power of mind that helps you the most to make the best living in all its sides".
The second step you need to go through after thinking is to apply the principle of "use the useless for your usefulness", by catching the best chances available. And here in speaking about the chances, Sigma Forex offers three unique business accounts with three bonus budgets existed nowhere else and we called it"The Bonus Revolution"

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The Gas Wars

For nearly three weeks earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine were locked in a dispute over the price Kiev was to pay for Russian gas. As the two sides bickered, Russia shut off all gas supplies to Ukraine, while paying customers in Eastern Europe who depend on Gazprom's supplies had to endure freezing temperatures. Bulgaria declared a national emergency and vowed to reopen a Soviet-era nuclear power station to ensure its energy independence.

Both sides called it a purely commercial dispute, but politicians in Kiev charge that the gas war has something to do with the Kremlin's dislike of Ukraine's pro-Western, pro-European Union president. The role of RosUkrEnergo, a gas trading company that has acted as a middleman, has also been attacked for allegedly giving kickbacks to top politicians on both sides. Russia switched the gas back on last week—but on Monday Kiev called for a new round of talks to decide future prices, raising the specter of renewed new gas warfare. NEWSWEEK's Anna Nemtsova spoke to Ukraine's deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria who, along with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, played a key role in resolving the dispute. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: Why does Russia insist on raising the price Ukraine pays for gas when world energy prices are falling?

NEMYRIA: Let us look at what a 'fair price' means, both for gas we consume and gas we transit to Europe. The calculation for Russian gas should be very simple: you take the price paid by end users like Germany, then deduct the transit fees Russia has to pay to [pipe the gas through] the Czech Republic and Ukraine. By that logic, the approximate price we should be paying at the Russian border is $200 to $230. That was where our price came from when we negotiated with Gazprom. We also had a memorandum on prices signed by two prime ministers. We can only guess now about what has happened to our Russian partners since October [2007]. Russia has several motives [for raising prices]. Oil prices fell significantly; even Mr. Putin admitted that the price of gas will also fall tremendously by this summer. But we would like to avoid any political retaliation.
Why has Ukraine allowed a middleman company, RosUkrEnergo , to make huge profits trading gas between Gazprom and Ukraine over the last three years? Putin called it "corruption on a grand scale."

Like any monopoly, RosUkrEnergo is dangerous. It has been a gas-transit monopoly since January of 2006. There was an attempt to create a monopoly for domestic distribution as well. In one of his interviews, one of RosUkrEnergo's Ukrainian owners, Mr. Dmitry Firtash, mentioned that his company controlled 75 percent of the domestic market. For years now Prime Minister Tymoshenko has been highlighting how nontransparent the company was, that its corruption led to the highest political levels. [Anti-corruption NGO] Global Witness investigated RosUkrEnergo and had serious questions for its owners, but did not get any good responses. There is no good reason for it to exist. Everything would have been different now if there were no RosUkrEnergo and its corruption, which extends to politics on both sides [in Russia and Ukraine]. It takes two to tango. We are glad to hear that Putin believes it is corrupt; it means that the last days of RosUkrEnergo have come.

The Russians say they have nobody to negotiate prices with in Ukraine because Ukrainians are so divided between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Ukraine is not the only country with such political complications. The prime ministers and presidents in the Czech Republic and Poland have their issues too. In spite of all our political tensions, Prime Minister Tymoshenko has been trying her best to depoliticize the gas issue in Ukraine.
What does Russia want from this? Is Russia taking hard stands in these negotiations to influence or even control the pipeline?
One of Russia's goals is to shift European opinion in favor of building the Nord Stream and South Stream pipelines [which bypass Ukraine]. But in reality Gazprom is killing the goose that brings Russia golden eggs. The Russian economy depends on gas sales to Eastern and Central Europe. The longer each gas war lasts, the more ruined both Gazprom's and Ukraine's reputations are going to be, as the customers are not willing to go into details of our disputes when their homes are cold.


[SigmaForex Bonus Revolution]

Have you ever imagined that even the hardest times can lay your interest?

You may now wonder and asking yourself how it can be done while we live the toughest time in our economic world. All imagine that we have reached the top of the crisis and will remain there for a cloudy time, which has been specified predictably by the economic experts.

But what if you have the key for passing by all that?

Actually the key solution is within your hands! But what happened is that you have got blinded with the shock of unexpected financial crisis that extends its arms to hold the entire economic world for a not specified time. All what you need is some confidence and a helping hand guiding you to a real bright path.
Almost all successful people have learned how to make their own interest even from their own loss! Just some confidence and resistance, and above all the choice of the right hit at the right time. It is a common goal for money makers to have a continuous ability of preserving their financial status. So, stop thinking of the goal only and start thinking of the way you are going to do it, and ask yourself how can I still make the amount of money I was doing before even in the worst time in economic history?
One of the most necessary steps in your thinking and performance is not to take a long time in thinking and planning to be able to catch the chances available in the market, especially at this time. This doesn't mean to be rash, but to be selective and have the deepest insight.

In reversing the situation for the sake of your own interest, SigmaForex has strived to think and produce the best solution for money makers in FOREX through it's three types of accounts.
The motto of SigmaForex is "Not only physical power that can make you win, it is the power of mind that helps you the most to make the best living in all its sides".
The second step you need to go through after thinking is to apply the principle of "use the useless for your usefulness", by catching the best chances available. And here in speaking about the chances, Sigma Forex offers three unique business accounts with three bonus budgets existed nowhere else and we called it"The Bonus Revolution"

Enter Now The Bonus Revolution