BetterTrades Stock Market Education

In order be able to buy and sell options, a trader must be armed with a few stock market basics before diving in. You need to learn a few of the basics, like knowing the difference between a call and a put, knowing which strike price to purchase, knowing how much time you need to buy. These are indispensible concepts that you must understand before you can be on your way to making intelligent purchasing decisions.

The ability to make money through options begins with the ability to read a stock chart. The information on a basic price chart can elevate your understanding to the next level. Knowing how to interpret the price chart by looking at a candlestick pattern can open a new world and take your trading to the next level. It is a basic skill that you need to acquire before investing real money.

Students interested in trading options aren't limited to the stocks on the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange. Most of the stocks that trade on those exchanges are optionable, so it is possible to buy and sell options on 90 percent of those securities. It is also possible to buy and sell options on the indices and exchange traded funds. One of the most popular EFTs is the QQQQ, which owns the 100 largest stocks on the NASDAQ. The Qs are affordable to most people and have reasonable prices.

Interested traders should be aware that the stock market has risks involved. But options are no riskier than simply purchasing stocks. The key is a good education and knowing how to stay safe. Traders who follow the rules can be safer and more profitable when pursuing better trades. Those who prefer to break the rules are setting themselves up to be humbled. The result can easily be a big loss of money and an ill feeling in the pit of the stomach.

Traders who want to get involved in buying and selling in the stock market will need to be properly equipped to do so. The essential element is a computer, which will be used to examine potential trades and execute tall orders through an electronic broker. Most people prefer a laptop computer, because of the mobility advantage, but many use a desktop computer for their trading account. It's all about personal preference. Either one can be used successfully.

Anyone wishing to succeed in the market must have a charting program to examine stock market charts. The ability to draw crucial technical lines on the stock charts can be very helpful. Versatility is another component which is highly sought. A first-class charting program, like the Extreme Charts program offered by BetterTrades, is a powerful weapon in a trader's arsenal.

Traders can also be aided by an education-based program like The Dedicated Trader from BetterTrades. Programs like this can keep a trader abreast of the market's direction, confirm possible trades and help a student select an option that has the most potential for success. The proper education can help a student grow from novice to veteran in a shorter period of time. And a quality education can help anyone avoid the pitfalls that wait along the way.

Much of the education is available from BetterTrades. The company's quality material helps students learn all the strategies needed to make money in the market, from buying and selling puts, to credit spreads, to LEAPs, straddles and strangles. Serious students may also want to invest in commentary from the company's specialty coaches, designed to help anyone remain on top of market machinations.

BetterTrades was founded by Freddie Rick, who used the material to build a personal fortune, and prides itself on producing material and instruction that is unmatched in quality and value. In fact, students who enroll in the program receive a six-month money-back guarantee. If they can't make three times their money back by using the material, they may return it for a full refund. The material works; only 3 percent of all students request a refund.

Oil Demand to Increase by 2014

Released on June 29, the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed their findings in which the Paris-based research group expects the world's oil demand to grow by a 0.6% annual rate between 2008 and 2014. The current projection was revised amidst the continuum of the global recession.

By 2014, demand for oil should reach upwards of 90 million barrels a day. This is just below the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) prediction of 5% growth per annum between 2012 and 2014, which is based on the IMF's projected world GDP growth. However, current conditions are witnessing crude demand wane for the second consecutive year, the first time that has happened since 1982-1983.

With a lowered GDP forecast from the IMF, the IEA stated that oil demand could fall short of 2008 figures by 2014, which were at 85 million barrels per day, more than 6 million barrels less than what was originally expected last December.

"There is so much uncertainty about the economic recovery and how fast it may happen," stated Nobuo Tanaka, the IEA's executive director. "We may have a supply crunch again, just like last year, in 2014 to 2015. If the economic recovery is slower, we could have ample supply capacity."

Tanaka added, "The global financial crisis has turned the economic landscape upside down, with huge implications for the oil and gas sector. Whether we end up facing a supply crunch again by mid-decade, or with a more comfortable buffer of supply flexibility, depends largely on the pace of economic recovery and government action on efficiency."

In terms of overall demand, the IEA predicts a 0.4% to 1.4% demand surge over the next year, indicating an increase in supplies of 4 million barrels per day growth over the next several years. That comes in 1.5 million barrels per day less than what was predicted in late 2008.

Since the beginning of the year, the price of crude has increased nearly 60% to its current trading price of over $70 per barrel. Commodities trading in crude oil have been highly volatile since the start of 2009. Prices ended 2008 at just under $45 per barrel, following an all-time high of $147 per barrel set back in July 2008.

In March 2009, the price of oil slipped below $35 per barrel as the global economic crisis caused investors to remain on the sideline over concerns that the U.S. stimulus package spending would instill uncontrollable inflation. Within the marketplace, many investors trade commodities in order to offset a weakening price in the dollar, as well as to offset inflation concerns.

Analyst Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover stated, "It's a lot of the same stuff," referring to an exurbanite amount of investments into the energy sector by hedge funds, which has pushed the price of oil higher for the past two months.

Beutel added, "The market is not being allowed to express the supply and demand issues and that has been the problem on and off for the past two years."

The largest demand growth for crude oil is most likely to come from developing countries throughout Asia and the Middle East. These countries, which lie outside of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), are projected to show demand increases on average of 2.6% a year until 2014, consuming more than 44 million barrels per day.

Meanwhile, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which supplies nearly 40% of the world's oil, recently announced that they are not likely to increase crude output in the group's next meeting in September.

As for non-OPEC supplies, IEA is expecting inventories to peak just over 51 million barrels per day in 2011. The IEA is also looking for supplies to start declining thereafter, falling to about 50 million barrels per day by 2014.

"Supply capacity growth is going to be constrained over the next five years," affirmed David Fyfe, head of the IEA's oil industry and markets division "With lower prices and lower spending in 2009, we think supply-capacity growth is going to be very sticky."