Net Invest

Why in the World would someone invest in a stock that is only worth a small fraction of a dollar? Simple, the potential for return is great even if the company being invested in does not have a great product or service. Most companies that go public do have something of value but that does not necessarily mean great gains.

You see investing is part intelligence and part following the hype. A great company does not necessarily mean a great investment unfortunately. Penny stocks are no different. You follow the hype and you profit if you time your investment right. I same time it right because the hype can fade just as quickly as it was created.

So we are attracted to penny stocks because they are exciting. The possibility of earning 200,000 dollars from an investment of 1000 dollars in a stock with shares initially priced at .005 and now worth 1 dollar is very exciting. Its rare to come across those kind of gains and stocks already price well in the dollar range.

There have been many fortunes made with penny stock investments both legal and illegal, which brings up another point. Beware of unscrupulous penny stock promoters looking to make a quick buck. They will tell you a stock is hot and quickly sell the shares they owned in that company after you have just invested. However, there are trustworthy promoters and they should be taken serious.

Of course exciting things usually come with their risks. However, if your risk tolerance allows for penny stocks to be an investment option then go for it. No one can blame you for being excited about a stock that has the potential to bring exponential returns.

There will always be an attraction to penny stocks so long as there are stories of people gaining a windfall of cash from a relatively small investment. Making 100 percent or more on your money is hard to ignore.

On a side note, never invest more than you are willing to completely lose. You certainly do not want to lose all your money just because of the excitement of investing. Never beleive that any stock is a sure thing. Play with the houses money.

Penny stocks have a lure that no other type of stock has. Its not just a matter of being worth pennies on the dollar but also a synergistic energy that comes from the stock market as a whole whenever any kind of attention is directed toward a penny stock.

So go ahead and have some fun with some money you can afford to have fun with.

Scott Johns conducts research and analysis of stock market picks for a penny stock analysis company. To check out some of his company’s latest picks go to Best Penny Stocks

If you have an IRA, sorting through all the investment options can be very confusing. Unfortunately, there is a lot of hype out there and, in my opinion, the financial services industry is great at selling the sizzle and delivering very little steak!

This is especially true in the area of annuities. Folks purchase variable annuities based on the belief that the principal is protected and other guarantees. Often there is a wide gulf between what the investor thinks a product does and what it really ends up doing.

These are complex financial instruments that are sold using generalities. As with anything, the devil is in the details, and the more you know the details the less important some of these guarantees become.

Take a look at a principal guarantee on a variable annuity. The ones that I’m familiar with guarantee that you can withdraw so much a year for a certain number of years, thus getting back your principal even if the market goes to zero.

Think about that for a minute. Let’s say they allow you to take 7% a year. It would take over 13 years for you to get back your principal. What are the probabilities of the market being worth less over a 13 year period? Very, very small.

Or there are the guaranteed income provisions–referred to as the guaranteed living benefit. Many investors think that these living benefits guarantee that they will earn 5-7% a year regardless of what the market does. They believe that if they leave their money in and 10 years later decide to take it out that they will have earned at least the 5-7% a year.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

These living benefit riders don’t apply if you surrender the annuity. They ONLY apply if you take a lifetime income stream from the annuity. Even then, if you ever cash it in, what you get is based on the actual earnings of the annuity less any withdrawals. What you get when you cash it in isn’t ever based on the 5-7% guarantee.

Let me explain it this way. Picture two columns on a piece of paper. The first column is the actual value of the annuity from year to year. So if the market goes up, so does that value. If the market goes down, so does that value. The second column is the 5-7% column. This column takes your initial investment and increases it by the 5-7% each year.

So 10 years down the road, you decide to cash in your annuity. You get the value in the first column; the value in the second column meant nothing.

In a different scenario, let’s say that 10 years down the road you decide to start taking the income stream of 5%. That income stream is based on the second column. So if the second column was $200,000 your income stream would be $10,000 a year guaranteed for life.

So far so good.

Time has passed and you have been receiving the $10,000 a year. Your situation changes and you need (or want) what’s left of the money in the variable annuity. Here’s where the surprise happens. What you get isn’t based on the value of the second column; what you get is based on the first column less any withdrawals you’ve made.

Actually, every time you get a payment, they reduce both columns. That payment affects the growth of the first column (as it should).

What if you die? Do your heirs get what’s left in the second column? No. Your heirs get what’s left in the first column.

That’s why I don’t place a lot of value on the guaranteed provisions associated with annuities. I expect that few people will ever use them or get the benefits that they expect.

That’s why an annuity should first be evaluated based on its investment potential. These benefits are designed to take your eye off of the underlying investment. Investors can have a false sense of security thinking that changes in the market won’t hurt them. They will.

When evaluated as an investment, I believe that there are many alternatives that are much more attractive and that allow the investor to retain the control, flexibility and access to their money.

Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner(R) Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question - FREE at

http://www.guardingyourwealth.com.

Like most trades, time spreads have a maximum loss for the buyer. You can only lose what you have spent. If you paid $1.00 for the spread, your maximum potential loss is $1.00. If you bought the spread for $2.00, the maximum potential loss is $2.00.

The buyer of a time spread will purchase the out-month option while selling the nearer month option of the same strike in a one-to-one ratio. Since the out-month option will have more time until expiration than the nearer month option, the out-month option will cost more. This means the buyer will put out money (debit spread) that makes sense. The buyer can only lose the amount of money they spent to purchase the spread. Thus, the buyer’s maximum risk is the cost of the spread.

The buyer can profit in several ways. First, as a time spread, the buyer can profit by the passage of time. Options are wasting assets. As the nearer month option decays more quickly than the outer-month option, the spread widens (increases in value) and the buyer sees a profit.

Second, implied volatility can increase. As implied volatility increases, the out-month option, which the buyer is long, increases in value more quickly (due to its higher Vega) than the nearer month option that the buyer is short. This will force the spread to widen or increase in value, which again is profitable for the buyer.

Third, the buyer can make money due to stock price movement. As stated before, a time spread’s value is at its maximum when the stock price and the spreads strike price are identical (at-the-money). You can have an increase in value if you own an out-of-the-money or in-the-money time spread, and the stock moves either up or down toward your strike. As the stock moves closer to your strike, the spread will expand and increase in value creating a profit for you, the buyer.

The buyer’s risks are obviously the opposite of the rewards. You cannot stop or reverse time, so the buyer of the spread can never be hurt by time. Implied volatility, however, can decrease as easily as it can increase. A decrease in implied volatility will decrease the value of the out-month option (which the buyer is long) faster than it will decrease the value of the nearer month option (which the buyer is short) due to the higher Vega of the out-month option. This will narrow the spread thereby creating a loss for the buyer.

In the same way that stock movement in the right direction can be profitable for the buyer of a time spread, stock movement in the wrong direction can be costly. As the stock moves away from the spread’s strike, the spread decreases in value. That will create a loss for the buyer of the spread.

Ron Ianieri is currently Chief Options Strategist at The Options University, an educational company that teaches investors how to make consistent profits using options while limiting risk. For more information please contact The Options University at http://www.optionsuniversity.com or 866-561-8227

In order to ensure overall positive achievement with stock trading, it is highly important that a stockbroker is chosen to help you achieve your investment goals. A stockbroker is a professional person who acts as an agent to aid investors in the buying and selling of stocks. Basically, a stockbroker acts as your financial counselor, advising you as to which stock to purchase or sell in order to meet your financial goals.

Choosing a stockbroker should not be a chore but rather an adventure to find someone who fits your personality as well as someone who you feel can help you to make the correct investments that fit your needs. Although there is not one set way in which to choose the best broker for you, there are four distinct categories of stockbrokers that will help you in this decision making process.

1. The Discount/Online Broker

The discount/online broker is basically an order taker, either via the Internet or telephone. When contacted by phone, you will discover that this type of broker is not interested in general conversation, but rather gets right down to business by taking your stock trading orders. This type of broker does not offer any advice about the stock you are interested in purchasing, he or she simply takes your stock order, offering assistance with only the order taking process. Therefore, you must know exactly what stock you wish to purchase and when to sell it in order to reap the financial benefits of that certain stock.

When dealing with this type of broker, since all they do is take your stock order, it is probably easier to simply correspond via the Internet through email to ensure that you have a record of your order to prevent any misunderstandings that could occur. This type of investor/broker interaction is strictly business.

2. The Discount/Online Broker with Assistance

The discount/online broker with assistance is basically the same as the broker mentioned above with the added bonus of offering the investor some expertise in stock trading. They may also offer to send you their monthly newsletter, which contains information about stock trading that might prove to be helpful. These brokers are not only there to take your stock order, but to provide a limited amount of assistance when you have questions that you would like answered.

3. The Full Service Broker

The full service broker seeks to meet all the needs of their clients, by first forming a trusting relationship with them and then, providing honest service about stock trading. This broker takes the time to sit down with you, the investor, to take a detailed financial assessment of your personal situation in order to accurately recommend investment possibilities and stocks that will directly meet your needs.

After reviewing your financial assessment, the full service broker will create a custom investment plan for you to review and approve. Once you have reviewed the plan and worked with your full service broker to adjust it, your broker will take that information and complete the investments that you would like to participate in.

Periodically, the full service broker will schedule a meeting with you to discuss the progress of your investment(s) and together you will decide where to go from there. Because the full service broker assists you in the whole investing process, from start to finish, this type of broker is wonderful to use if you are the type of person who would like to invest in stocks, but does not want to put forth the effort to learn more about stock trading.

4. The Money Manager

The money manager is a broker who handles significant investment portfolios. Therefore, the investor must have a large lump sum to invest in order to work with a money manager broker. Because money managers become the sole individual working with your money, they will invest your money as well as manage your portfolio for a certain percentage of your earnings through your investments. Basically, this broker is taking your money and investing it for you, so, in essence, you have no say as to where your money is invested. The money manager’s main goal is profit for themselves because the more money they make for you, the investor, the more money they make for themselves.

Whatever type of broker you choose to use, make sure that they are reliable sources and not a scam artist waiting to take your money. Make sure that you are totally comfortable with your broker before you invest one dime of your money to ensure that you are not taken advantage of.

Discover the 7 secrets of profitable stock investing every newbie should know — yours completely FREE! Visit today http://www.StockInvestingProfits.com

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates again yesterday and will be likely to do so again in six weeks. Yields on 5-year Certificates of Deposit are down to around 4.25% and falling. On top of that, the mortgage meltdown has hindered the performance of the entire stock market. If you are retired and need your investments to generate income you don’t have to settle for these paltry rates and dismal returns. Read on to learn how you can get rates that are double that!

I have written several articles on various types of investments that can generate a dependable income stream that is far higher than that paid by certificates of deposit. I’ve talked about income deposit securities, closed-end funds, regional telephone companies and Canadian income trusts in previous articles. Keep in mind that these types of investments aren’t guaranteed by the government and their share value will fluctuate from day to day.

Closed-end funds make attractive income-oriented investments. Think of a closed-end fund as a pool of underlying investments. Those underlying investments can be U.S. corporate bonds, foreign bonds or even stocks. Something unique to closed-end funds is that they don’t always trade at the same price as the underlying value of what they own.

For instance, a closed-end bond fund may own a pool of bonds that, if sold that day, would be worth $10 per share. Those shares don’t always trade at $10. They can trade above or below that price at a premium or a discount to the fair market value of what it owns. Currently, high-quality closed-end funds that previously were trading at a premium are now trading at a discount. Some have discounts of 10% or more.

One reason why I particularly find select closed-end funds attractive is because the share price has been declining much faster than the value of the underlying securities. To me, this is an indication that the decline is a result of investor panic, not the underlying fundamentals of the fund. The yields on attractive closed-end funds have increased 2-3% with many yielding in the 9-10% range.

I also like the stocks of select regional telephone companies. Studies have been done that show how stocks paying dividends tend to out-perform those that don’t over longer periods of time. That’s because companies that pay dividends tend to be older and are in industries where their cash flow is more dependable.

These telephone companies have a steady, stable and growing cash flow. Think about it. Every month you pay your phone and cable bill. Things would have to get pretty bad before people allow their phone and cable to be shut off. Recent market fears have even caused the price of these stalwarts to decline. That means you can now get yields close to 10%–or even higher.

Canadian Trusts are popular among those seeking higher dividend yields. These investments are out of favor due to changes in Canadian tax laws. Those laws don’t take effect until 2011 though, and even then will only have a limited impact on certain trusts. Yet the share prices of all of the trusts have declined as much as those trusts that are adversely affected. That means that high quality trusts with healthy and growing underlying businesses are paying unbelievable yields.

A company that prints telephone directories is now yielding over 7.5% and has already increased their dividend this year. There are trusts in the oil and gas sector that have shown they can weather the stress of low natural gas prices. Some are paying over 10%–some even 15%—and still they are only paying out 70-80% of the money they have available for dividends.

The key with all investments like these is to own several of them to reduce your risk. The prices will fluctuate. The prospects of individual companies can change. That’s why I use groups of these in my clients, portfolios. For instance, my growth stock portfolio may utilize 10-15 different positions like those mentioned here.

So while everyone else is in a panic and rushing for the exits, I am using this opportunity to pick up investments that will give my clients a steady and growing source of income for years to come.

Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner(R) Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question FREE at http://www.guardingyourwealth.com.

Penny stocks are no joke if you are looking for a way to make money and make it fast. I suppose you have pondered the idea of investing in these a time or two or perhaps you have heard of them but really did not know what they were.

Well here is the secret, penny stocks can bring in the big bucks BUT you can also lose your shirt if you do not know what you are doing. Settle down and does some research before you get too excited. Take it from someone who has gotten burned more than a couple times that you need to understand what you are getting into before jumping in blindly.

So what is a penny stock exactly? Well, officially it is any stock with shares currently priced under $5. Unofficially it is anything well under a dollar. Everyone has their own ideas of what a penny stock is but the general consensus is it is something with shares priced in the penny range. Makes sense right.

What is the earning potential with these stocks? Tremendous is the short answers but these stocks can never be mentioned without mentioning the inherent risk associated with such stocks. They can be really great but also really dangerous.

We are not talking about normal stocks here. We are talking about stocks that have the potential to return hundreds of thousands of percentages in one day. That does not always happen but it does happen often.

So what is the safest way o invest in these types of stocks. Ooh, good question. There is no perfect answer but I will give you AN answer. Before promotions or on a steady incline. I say before promotions because penny stocks are sensitive by nature and respond very quickly to any kind of advertisement or promotion. If you can find out when a stock will be promoted and then get in on it before it is promoted then you are golden.

If a penny stock is experiencing a steady incline then it is probably on its way to not being a penny stock anymore and making people tons of money. This happens all the time with companies who are in high demand or highly promoted industries.

There is certainly money to be made in penny stocks. The best advice would be to track several companies and watch any kind of news releases related to those companies. Good news means profits for you if you get in early.

Scott Johns conducts research and analysis of stock market picks for a penny stock analysis company. To check out some of his company’s latest picks go to Best Penny Stocks

Time spreads can be a profitable investment strategy if you understand the concept of time decay. A time spread is designed to take advantage of the fact that an options decay curve is non-linear, that is, an option’s value does not decay evenly over time. As an option gets closer to expiration, its rate of decay increases meaning the option loses value more quickly. That decay rate increases progressively until expiration.

An option’s decay rate begins to accelerate when the option is about 45 days out. It picks up steam at 30 days out and really comes under decay pressure at about 15 days out. This scenario is similar to a boulder rolling down from a hilltop. As it starts, it rolls slowly, then gains more speed, and momentum the further it gets down the hill until it achieves its maximum speed at the bottom. Option decay acts the same way - gathering speed and momentum as the option approaches expiration.

In time spreads, both options have the same strike price that remains constant. Each option’s value decays at different rates and over different lengths of time. The option, with one month until expiration, experiences value decay at a faster rate than the one with three months until expiration.

If you buy an option with three months to go and sell an option with the same strike but with one month to go, you have set up a spread between the two options values (prices). As time passes, your short option loses value more quickly than your long option that decays more slowly. The value of the spread widens and you profit from that spread’s expansion. This is the fundamental behavior of the time-spread.

Consider that you are long the 60-30 day time spread. That means you are long the 60-day option and short the 30-day option. We will assign a price of $3.00 to the 60-day option and $2.00 to the 30-day option. Since you pay for the one and receive payment for the other, the bottom line cost of what you put out for the spread is $1.00.

During the same 30-day period, it goes from $3.00 to $2.00. Remember, the spread’s bottom line cost was $1.00. The 30-day option (now expired) will be worth $0 while the 60-day option (now a 30-day option) will be worth $2.00. If you had invested in this spread, after 30 days decay you would be holding one option worth $2.00. The investment has provided a nice return!

This is an ideal situation. The stock price and volatility remain constant and you capture the decay. The time spread has worked just as it should. It does work that way sometimes, but nothing works as it should all the time. As we know, stock prices and volatility levels do not remain constant. They are always changing. In the time spread strategy, the investor must choose opportunities carefully. In addition to picking a stock that will be in a stagnant period, the investor should look for two other situations where the spread has profit possibilities: changes in volatility and to a lesser degree stock price movements.

Ron Ianieri is currently Chief Options Strategist at The Options University, an educational company that teaches investors how to make consistent profits using options while limiting risk. For more information please contact The Options University at http://www.optionsuniversity.com or 866-561-8227

This list is not in any particular order. So choose what fits you and your investment style best and go with it. The purpose of this article is to highlight aggressive investments with high potential of huge returns. Of course you can get burned just as fast as you can get returns so be careful.

IPOs
I remember the first time I learned about IPOs. I was quite naive and thought I had it all figured out before throwing a lot of money on one IPO. As you probably already know, Chinese IPOs have been hot in recent years.

So I watched Chinese IPOs specifically for awhile before taking the big leap. I saw nothing but consistent high returns and had no reason to believe that the next Chinese IPO would be any different. However, it was different and I got burned.

I was quite confused but recovered and decided to try again on a different IPO. This time I gained back what I had lost and felt quite nice about it. So what did I learn? I learned that the market never really is predictable no matter how good past performance has been. I also learned that its better to be in with the underwriter instead of being an after market trader. With that being said most of us are not getting in on the bottom floor and I still know that there is plenty of money to be made with IPOs if done correctly.

Penny Stocks
Nothing is more risky and nothing has more quick profit potential than penny stocks. They are dangerous yet they are awesome. The uneducated person will simply call this type of investment gambling. Any kind of investment can be viewed this way without the right knowledge.

The difference between penny stocks and gambling is the type of information you are dealing with. If you are in the know as to what a companys new developments and progress is then you can time a penny stock investment just right.

There are many websites and forums dedicated to giving tip-offs before penny stocks go through the roof. Be careful though, sometimes these tip-offs are scams from people trying to pump and dump a stock, leaving you with the losses.

Also, dont be fooled by those extremely low priced shares, they can go lower believe it or not. However, if a stock is selling for $.01 a share and it goes up to $1 in a week, then you have just made a ton of money.

Follow the Stock Promoters
The third way to make some quick money in the stock market is to get in on a stock before they launch a big promotional campaign. As soon as a stock gets more exposure the price per share typically goes up. So find out who the stock promoters are and then find out what they are promoting next. Sounds easy enough right?

Well, often they are like the stocks themselves and you must constantly be in the know of what is next. There are several paid services out there on the internet dedicated to sending out email updates on whats the next stock to be promoted.

If you are looking to making some quick money in the stock market then these are best ways to do it. There of course is ton risk involved in fast money investments.

If you have the extra funds and a high risk tolerance then give one or more of these methods a try. Never invest more money than you are willing to completely lose.

Scott Johns conducts research and analysis of stock market picks for a penny stock analysis company. To check out some of his company’s latest picks go to Best Penny Stocks

In the financial world, the safety belts are being fastened as we are getting sucked into storm conditions for starters, and tornadoes as the main course.

Those, holding vulnerable securities and burdened by other such exposures like holding the some depreciated foreign currency or property, will wish at the moment they rather invested in products like tranquilizers or worry beads.

I suppose that here is gold one could get into, but it is a bit late in the day for some people since the price is pretty high already.

If one has the patience to wait, currency and property usually regain lost ground in due course, and actually huge money has been made in selecting this type of investment at crucial times. It may be profitable to keep that in mind..

Therefore, the many who are stuck holding a depreciating foreign currency must hang on for their day to come. Those, who own a property also depreciating in value, face the same problem. Right now, the only loss they are facing is that they could have bought the foreign currency at a lower price, and that they could have bought their property at a lower price. However, that is a different kind of loss to the one they would have if they sold now. One is the loss of opportunity to buy cheaper, and the other is an actual money loss.

For those who are not involved in holding any depreciated investment, the chances of making money by exploiting some of the opportunities both existing and coming up, must be a rather pleasant thing to contemplate.

It may be prudent to study the property and foreign currency markets, in order to be ready to step in at any time.

With the currency or property business, it is possible to get into a minus position due to unexpected situations and many investors can get caught. However, it is not unusual to crawl out of trouble time and time again with a nice profit into the bargain, providing one does not give way to loss depressions. Keep cool.

There are a number of realtors, who are ready to show some terrific deals, and there are a number of foreign currency exchange companies well able to take care of their clients and offer them tasty exchange rates which most banks will not wish to match.

I have known smart operators who prefer to buy property when the prices are low rather than high. I also have seen many successful operators buying some currency that has been quite weak and not in much demand.

I wonder if that old famous formula they follow is the proven one of buying low, and selling high!

Paul Dubsky is director of Foreign Currency Exchange Services Ltd. The company is focused on being able to offer really friendly currency exchange rates and international money transfers. We believe we are the only Foreign Currency Exchange company which offers special rates to Senior Citizens.

The stock market is often seen as a complicated financial system for those white collar professionals who buy and sell stocks day in and day out. However, the ability for anyone to trade on the stock market is there and now more so than ever with the availability of computer software and websites to make the whole process so much easier. But where does the average joe make a start in such an investment minefield.

Imagine for a moment that you have just started learning to drive. When you first start driving, you will not enter the highway and take the car at speeds of sixty and seventy miles per hour. Instead, you will stay in residential areas or at least on the access road, where there is less pressure to maintain such a high speed.

This analogy can also be applied to anyone wishing to begin investing in stocks and shares on the markets. In the stock market, you will also want to stay away from any expensive stocks or extremely volatile investments until you have become extremely comfortable with the process of trading. Those who fail to heed this advice can end up losing more than their shirt.

There are small investment opportunities referred to as “penny stocks”, which will help you try out your sea legs and get a feel for how the stock market works prior to investing large sums of money and risking a big financial loss. These particular stocks cost literally pennies or small dollar amounts and typically only fluctuate fractions of a cent on any given day, making them extremely safe for those just starting out.

Once you get the hang of it and can better judge the market trends, you can comfortably move on to more complicated and adventurous areas of the market. It is like removing the training wheels from your bicycle or entering the freeway the first time at an hour of the day when there is no traffic to contend with.

Be aware that, just like you may fall off your bike once or twice and end up with some scrapes and bruises, you may lose money in an investment here and there. This is very typical, and investing in the stock market is a lot like gambling. In poker, you cannot expect to win every hand, and the same is true in the world of investments. Learning to watch the market trends, though, is similar to watching other cars as you join traffic and determining the correct speed and proximity to other cars for optimal safety. Such diligent study can help you improve your statistics drastically in a short time.

Similarly, like any investment or gamble, never put in more money than you can afford to lose. This way, even in the worse case scenario you can still pick yourself up and move on.

For those interested in learning more of the basics of cheap online trading then a visit to our site at http://www.cheaponlinetrading.com could be a good place to start

Time spreads, also known as calendar spreads, are an ideal way to take advantage of time decay and changes in implied volatility. Time spread strategy focuses on the movement of time and volatility more than on the movement of the stock. Therefore, it is perfect for when you anticipate stagnant or explosive periods in a stock.

Time spreads, like other spreads, have their own risks and rewards. The risks are very limited for the buyer, but substantial for the seller. The seller’s risk can be avoided or contained with due diligence at the expiration of the near month’s option. Several strategies can affect the seller’s risk. The advantage of the time spread strategy is that the investor can pursue a time decay or volatility position without the large capital outlay necessary for the purchase of the stock.

The construction of the time spread involves the purchase of one option and the sale of another in different months with both having the same strike. You can construct a time spread using either two calls or two puts. A long time spread is constructed by purchasing the out month option and selling the nearer month option. For example, you buy the September 45 call, sell the August 45 call or buy April 30 puts, and sell February 30 puts. You can construct a short time spread by selling the farther out month and buying the nearer month. For instance, sell July 50 calls and buy May 50 calls.

The important elements in the construction of the time spread are: using two call or put options on the same stock, using the same strike for both, choosing different months for each and using a one to one ratio. A one to one ratio means that you must purchase one option for every one you sell or sell one option for every one you buy. A time spread can utilize any two months as long as it has the same strike price and the trade is in a one to one ratio.

Most time spreads are executed at-the-money because at-the-money options have the greatest amount of extrinsic value. An option’s extrinsic value is what decays over time. This is the basis of the time spread’s strategy. Since the time spread is built to take advantage of time decay, it is better suited for at-the-money options. This does not mean that you cannot use the time spread with in-the-money or out-of-the-money options. In-the-money and out-of-the-money options have less extrinsic value than at-the-money options.

The rate of decay of an in-the-money or out-of-the-money option with one month until expiration is still greater than an in-the-money or out-of-the-money option of the same strike that has three months to go before expiration. This being said, the time spread can be constructed using any option regardless if it is in, out, or at-the-money.

Ron Ianieri is currently Chief Options Strategist at The Options University, an educational company that teaches investors how to make consistent profits using options while limiting risk. For more information please contact The Options University at http://www.optionsuniversity.com or 866-561-8227

When the major stock market averages declined by 10% from their 2007 highs on Monday, we were in official market correction. Sentiment is negative owing to the economic back drop of, at best, tepid growth according to the Fed, or a recession.

Consumers twenty-five credit binge fueled by home equity loans, credit cards arriving in the mail, sub prime and adjustable rate mortgages and automobile leases, appears to be over. Savings rates has plummeted from 14% to 0% (perhaps to a negative number if home values continue to decline). Pile on top of that the banks debt problems, high energy prices, the homebuilding industry’s woes, weak retail sales and declining consumer sentiment, it’s no wonder that many investors believe a recession is in the offing.

Investors face two challenges right now. If the economy is headed into a recession, where do I put my money? And, if the economy avoids a recession will I be in the right investments? The stock market anticipates the future. It will decline prior to the US entering a recession and it will start going up prior to the end of the recession.

Investors who wait for certainty that a recession has begun will be selling stocks at the worst possible time. The same logic holds true if you wait to buy stocks until after the economic recovery, the market will have already moved higher in anticipation. Human psychology is a future complication. We’re most optimistic about the stock market when it’s roaring ahead and most inclined to buy; and most pessimistic and most inclined to sell, when it’s at its bottom. Of course, our investment strategy should be just the opposite. The moral to this story is that you should invest for the long term and not try to time the market.

If a recession is imminent, the stock market will decline by another 10%. How do you make money? To get technical, buy mutual funds, ETFs and stocks with negative betas or high alphas, such as gold, commodities, real estate and foreign stocks.

Gold and commodities already have had good runs, the US commercial real estate market appears to be weakening and foreign economies are increasingly becoming intertwined with ours. Non-investment grade bonds have good yields but are not the place to be given the continuing bank credit problems. High grade bonds and Treasures have relatively unattractive yields, particularly as you go out in maturity.

The best performing stocks in a recession are likely to be industry leaders, companies with strong overseas sales, consumer staples and health care. The technology sector is solid and internationally focused, so we’ll add it to our list. Essentially we’re looking at companies whose sales will be strong during a recession. These stocks may not go up in price during a recession but they will perform relatively better than most other equities and are safe investments. The bottom line is it’s hard to make money during a recession.

If the Fed is right and we’ll see modest economic growth in 2008, the markets are at their lows and could move 20% higher over the next six months. How do you position your investments for this possibility? By staying in the market and buying the same mutual funds, ETFs and stocks as you did for your recession portfolio. The recession portfolio is a conservative portfolio. Although it will miss some of the dramatic gains made by small cap and more violate stocks, it also protects you from the downside of those stocks while enabling you to participate in any stock market rally.

What to do now? Review your long term goals and make sure you’ve got the right asset mix, take losses (up to $3,000 more than your gains, remembering to match short term gains and losses) to minimize your taxes, reposition your equity investments according to our recession scenario, move your bonds into cash and tighten your seatbelt. We’re in for a bumpy ride.

Bill Byrnes is co-founder of MUTUALdecision, mutual fund rating, providing investors with data on the top mutual funds, and author of the MUTUALdecision Blog. He’s been CEO, chairman and served on the board of directors of several public and private companies. He holds MBA and JD degrees and is a Chartered Financial Analyst with over 30 years experience in the investment industry.