Sunday, July 3, 2016

Reh Morning Coffee

TRADING:
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  Finbiz.com --- Everything in One Place

  IdeaHubs --- OptionExpress lists of Big Movers, Rich Premium Options

  Unusual Options Activity --- volume increase, price change, option strike price, etc.

SmartEdge  --- Shwab's SmartEdge, see MarketEdge Rating Changes
========
  Options House ----1, cheap stocks + RUT & NDX (fee is much cheaper than SPX(PM)) 2, Big
amount of contracts (e.g. LC AVP, etc.)

Fidelity --- 6-Month Insurance kind (Credit Spreads with Stable Companies,

S&P 500, S&P 100, Dow 30)

TD --- Watch Out for ITM(s), adjust accordingly

趋势交易法 --- Candle Stick

MACD --- Buy or Sell

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Stock Broker Frauds to be avoid --- Brokers are Animals!

Portfolio Margin is Bad --- Don't Use It!

投资是寂寞的工作要去把握容易挣的钱 --- Good Read!

========

Most Active Options --- Calls + Down Price -> price increase

Bull Put Spread --- Pick ONE 95% with 5%+ return in a week

Naked Put --- Pick One That is At Least 25% Return with Small Delta

CBOE Top Trades --- What are the big guys selling

Sectors List --- review stocks in each sector

S&P 500 List --- By Market Cap

牛经沧海 2017 List Status --- Check Its Trend

6 Steps to Find Investment Ideas --- Detailed Steps to Locate Stocks to Gain on Which Week

EDUCATION:

1, Options Basics @OptionExpress

2, How to Read Charts?

3, Options Strategy Explained at TraderKing

4, P&L Of Different Options Strategy

5, Fidelity Learning Center

6, TD Education

7, Rules Of Investing in Stock Market

8, Trader HQ

Misc Tips:

1, How to take screenshot? Command-Shift-4, then mouse in the area,
releasing Command-Shift-4 will save the picture on desktop

2, Fidelity Learning Center --- Refresh Ideas

3, MTA Learning Center --- articles, videos, knowledge base, etc.

4, Michael Covel Trend Following Podcast --- podcasts from different big names

5, Mark Sebastian OptionPit --- weekly webinar by author of "Using Option as a Hedge Fund"

6, Using Options to do Value Investing

Saturday, June 11, 2016

17 NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS

http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/2013/07/15/17-national-scholarship-programs-2/

17 NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS

July 15, 2013 · by William Fedullo · in Uncategorized

The question of how to pay for college remains at the forefront of many students’ minds, especially as the rise in tuition costs continues to outpace inflation. According to CNN, the cost of attending college rose an average of 3.8% last year. Fortunately, students have options. Hundreds of private organizations throughout the country award scholarships. Here we have compiled a list of a few private organizations that offer students awards of $10,000 or more. While many of these programs are fiercely competitive, they all offer great opportunities to accepted scholars.

Air Force ROTC

Offers scholarships to high school seniors, primarily those pursuing education in the STEM fields or foreign language, with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Awards three different types of scholarships, two of which are full ride, and one of which will provide up to the equivalent of in-state tuition. All offer a $900 allowance for books, and two of them provide allowances for other academic fees.
Requires scholars to enroll in ROTC courses. Most scholars are required to enlist in the Air Force, and may have a 4, 6, or 10 year commitment depending on their intended career path.

Army ROTC

Offers scholarships to high school seniors, graduates, and college undergraduates with a minimum 2.5 high school GPA.
Awards full ride scholarships, yearly stipends of up to $5,000, and book allowances.
Requires scholars to enroll in ROTC courses, and, upon graduation, enlist in the Army for 4 years, where they will be commissioned as Second Lieutenants.

Coca-Cola Scholarship Foundation

Offers achievement-based scholarships to high school seniors and graduates with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Invites 250 finalists to Atlanta for “Scholars Weekend.” Of these 250, 50 are awarded $20,000 scholarships, and 100 are awarded $10,000 scholarships.
Allows scholars to use awarded funds to pay for tuition, housing, textbooks, computers, and other academic expenses.

Davidson Fellow Scholarship

Offers scholarships to students under the age of 18 who have completed “a significant piece of work” in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, literature, music, philosophy, or “outside the box.” This work is expected to be at the level of that of a college graduate.
Rewards scholarships of $50,000, $25,000, and $10,000.

HSF/Colgate-Palmolive Haz La U

Offers scholarships to Hispanic high school seniors with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Awards one $15,000 scholarship and 14 $2,500 scholarships annually.

HSF/Clorox Sueña Sin Límites Freshman Scholarship

Offers scholarships to Hispanic high school seniors with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Awards six $10,000 scholarships annually.

Intel Science Talent Search

Offers scholarships to high school seniors who submit a science research project for consideration.
Invites 40 finalists to Washington, D.C. to present their projects and meet with distinguished scientists and government officials.
Awards a minimum of $7,500 to all finalists, with the grand prizewinner receiving a $100,000 scholarship.

Gates Millennium Scholarship

Offers scholarships to African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American, and Hispanic American high school seniors and graduates pursuing education in the fields of computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health, and science, with a minimum 3.3 GPA.
Offers awards based on financial need, which are good through graduation. The average annual award for the 2001-2012 academic years was $12,227.
Accepts 1,000 scholars per year.

Microsoft University

Offers scholarships to currently enrolled undergraduate students pursuing education in the fields of computer science, computer engineering, or related disciplines, with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Awards one year of tuition to scholars.
Features General Scholarships, Women’s Scholarships, Minority Scholarships (available to African-American, Hispanic, and Native American applicants), and Scholarships for Students with Disabilities.
Requires applicants to apply to a 12-week summer internship program.

Navy ROTC

Offers scholarships to high school seniors, graduates, and college undergraduates pursuing education in the STEM fields or foreign language.
Awards full ride scholarships, text book allowances, and a monthly stipend of $250 to $400.
Provides three options for training – Navy, Navy Nurse, and Marine Corps.
Requires scholars enroll in ROTC courses, and, upon graduation, enlist in either the Navy or Marine Corps, where they will be commissioned as Midshipmen or Second Lieutenants, respectively. Navy officers are required to spend 5 years in active duty, whereas Marine officers and Navy Nurses are required to spend 4 years.

Nordstrom Scholarship Program

Offers scholarships to high school juniors who have participated in community service projects or other extracurricular activities, with a minimum GPA of 2.7.
Awards $10,000 scholarships to 80 scholars annually.

Ronald McDonald House Charities U.S. Scholarship

Offers scholarship to high school seniors who show a high level of community commitment and academic excellence.
Features a Scholars program, open to all; an Asia program, open to those of Asian-Pacific heritage; an African-American Future Achievers program, open to African-American students; and the HACER program, open to Hispanic students.
Awards one $100,000 scholarship annually in each program.

Ron Brown Scholar Program

Offers scholarships to African American high school seniors.
Invites finalists to interviews in Washington, D.C.
Awards ten to twenty $40,000 scholarships annually.

Siemens Competition Scholarship

Offers scholarships to high school students who submit a science research project for consideration, either individually or as part of a team.
Awards vary from $1,000 for regional finalists to a maximum of $100,000 for national finalists.

SMART Scholarship

Offers scholarships to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in STEM fields, with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Awards full ride scholarships, yearly stipends of $25,000 to $38,000, textbook allowances, and health insurance allowances.
Requires scholars both to participate in summer internships and accept post-graduate employment with the Department of Defense.

Tylenol Future Care Scholarship

Offers scholarship to currently enrolled undergraduates and graduate students pursuing degrees in the field of nursing.
Awards ten $10,000 scholarships and 30 $5,000 scholarships annually.

UNCF/Merck Science Initiative

Offers scholarships to currently enrolled African American college juniors pursuing degrees in the life sciences, the physical sciences, or engineering, with a minimum 3.3 GPA.
Awards scholarships of up to $30,000, which can be used for tuition, housing, and other fees.
Requires scholars apply to an internship at a Merck facility.
Accepts at least 15 scholars annually.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Tools For The Day

Listen and Learn

Sample Trades for Today

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Learning about Options Videos

Options Videos

Monday, February 15, 2016

Bearish Spread

Good Examples

Emerging Market vs. Developed Countries

Emerging Market Info:
Research

Background Info -

	Population (millions)	GDP (billions)	Income per Person	Share of World Population	Share of World GDP
U.S.	312	$14,527	$46,900	5%	21%
Canada	34	$1,737	$50,436	0%	2%
Germany	82	$3,577	$43,742	1%	5%
Japan	128	$5,869	$45,920	2%	8%
S. Korea	49	$1,116	$22,778	1%	2%
Brazil	195	$2,493	$12,789	3%	4%
China	1,348	$7,298	$5,414	20%	10%
India	1,207	$1,676	$1,207	18%	2%

Source: IMF-WEO Database, April 2012, United Nations. 2011 GDP and income per person (GDP per capita), 2010 world population.

Which countries are considered emerging markets?

As of June 2012, MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International), the industry standard for measuring foreign market performance, listed these countries as emerging: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey.

A few countries are in transition: South Korea have been under review by MSCI for a couple of years for a potential move to developed status. Morocco is under review for a potential downgrade to frontier market status.

MSCI uses the guidelines below to categorize emerging vs. developed countries. To move up from emerging to developed status, countries need to meet these criteria:

Economic development: The country must have income levels 25% above $12,276 (the World Bank high income threshold) for three consecutive years.
Size and liquidity requirements: The local stock exchanges must have at least five companies with market capitalizations of roughly $1.8 billion each and the amount of trading volume must be significant.
Market accessibility: The country must be open to foreign ownership, allow capital to flow freely, and have stable, efficient markets.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Refresh on Munger

Munger in 2016

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Income Investing (4)

The primary exit rule is to sell REITs or funds if needed during rebalancing. Certain REITs or funds will likely become overweight, while others will become underweight. When rebalancing, the objective is to sell the overweight portion of a REIT and use the proceeds to buy the underweight portion of the other REIT. The same holds true for REIT funds.

Like with dividend stocks, investors need to watch for “deal breakers”—these are changes to a company that might cause investors to sell an entire REIT position and look for an alternative. The two deal breakers are if a REIT reduces its dividend or experiences a major change in its capital structure.

Deal breakers

Examples of the latter are if a REIT exceeds 100% D/A, or issues a secondary stock offering without accompanying growth. These can signal financial stress. Check for these deal breakers during your periodic rebalancing.

Income Investing (3)

Reading a Bond Quote

When you browse or search for bonds, you’ll view bond quotes, which appear similar to the graphic below.

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While the details may vary, this image shows some of the common types of information you’ll see in a bond quote. The list below defines what these terms mean.

CUSIP: A unique alphanumeric identifier assigned to individual bonds. A CUSIP is sort of like a bond’s UPC symbol. Knowing a CUSIP makes it easy to find information about a specific bond. Here, the CUSIP is 123456AB7.

Sector: Corporate bonds are separated into business sectors, such as Industrials or Financials. This bond was issued by a company from the Industrials sector.

Qty: The quantity of bonds offered by the dealer. This dealer is offering 26 of these bonds.

Min: The minimum order quantity. Here, the dealer is willing to accept orders of at least five bonds.

Issue: The name of the issuer. Below the issuer’s name may be information on whether or not the bond is callable. This bond is non-callable.

Coupon: The stated coupon rate of a bond. The coupon rate for this bond is 8.750%.

Maturity: The date on which the face value of the bond is repaid and interest payments stop. This bond expires on August 15, 2021.

Rating: The credit rating of the bond. This bond is rated A.

YTM: This is the return on the bond, assuming it’s held to maturity. The YTM for this bond is 3.884%.

Price: The price for each $1,000 bond. This is listed as a percentage of its face value (e.g., 110 = 110%). This bond is trading for a premium price at 140.394, or $1,403.94.

Accrued Interest: Interest that has accumulated between the most recent payment and the sale date of a bond. When a bond is resold, the amount of accrued interest earned by the seller is added to the bond price. The accrued interest for this bond is $24.38.

Investors also need to consider their target payment schedule. To identify when a REIT typically provides dividends, use a charting tool, such as the Corporate Snapshot, to view when dividends have been paid in the past. While the exact payment dates may vary, these schedules tend to be consistent enough that you can plan which month the dividend will likely be paid.

Income Investing (2)

Property types within the REIT market

Because REITs are unique types of companies, their performance is not measured by the same standards as other companies. Like any other publicly traded company, a REIT is required to file its earnings statements quarterly. However, standard accounting practices, like depreciation and amortization, can distort the performance of real-estate holdings. Therefore, earnings often aren’t a good way to measure a REIT’s true performance.

A better way to do this is to look at cash flows generated from the company’s operations. Cash flows can be measured three ways:

Funds from operations
Adjusted funds from operations
Return on equity

The preferred method of measurement is funds from operations (FFO).

Basically, FFO measures a REIT’s operating cash flow—the cash generated by a company’s assets. Operating cash flow is an effective measure of profitability because it adjusts for some of the performance-distorting accounting figures, thereby providing a more accurate picture of the amount of cash a company brings in from its operations. Because dividends are ultimately paid from this cash, FFO is an important consideration for an income investor.

Another measure of a REIT’s cash flow is adjusted funds from operations (AFFO).

AFFO is simply FFO minus capital expenditures. Capital expenditures refers to the cash a REIT uses to purchase additional properties for future income. AFFO helps an investor understand a REIT’s current profitability, and whether the REIT is investing in future success as well.

The third cash flow measurement is return on equity (ROE).

As you learned in the dividend stock analysis lesson, ROE measures how effectively a company can generate returns. For REITs, ROE is crucial to understanding the limits of its resources, including both the returns on its assets and the amount of leverage a REIT uses.

The table below summarizes the equity analysis criteria and the state that produces a green-, gray-, or red-colored box.

Expand

The single entry rule is to buy REITs or funds with above-average yields that meet criteria up to your allocation limits. As with other income investing entry rules, market timing is not a factor.