With the ever rising reports of credit card fraud, fraudulent use, internet phishing and identity theft, people are rightly concerned about credit card security. Fraudulent credit card use can be an annoyance at best, and seriously damage your credit at worst. It's only reasonable that people have questions about credit card security and authentication methods. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about credit card security.
1. How does the ATM or store terminal know my PIN number?
PIN (personal identification numbers) are the most often used way to authenticate your identity when you use your credit or ATM card. When you first choose your PIN number, it is 'encrypted' - stored in a secret code of letters and symbols - and either stored in a database or on the magnetic stripe on the back of your card.
2. If my PIN number is stored in a database, doesn't that mean that bank or credit card employees have access to it?
The encryption method that's used by ATM and credit cards is called 'one-way encryption'. It makes it easy for the bank's computer to verify the PIN given the bank's key and the PIN, but nearly impossible to extract the PIN in text form from the encrypted database.
3. How does the machine 'read' my card?
The stripe on the back of your credit or ATM card is called a magnetic stripe. It's actually made up of thousands of tiny magnetic iron-based particles. The card can be 'written to' much the same way that the hard drive on your computer can be written - by means of magnetic interaction changing the charge. Written into the stripe are your account number and identifying data. When you swipe the card, that information is read and sent via modem to an 'acquirer' - a company that 'acquires' a payment guarantee from the credit card company based on the information stored on your card's magnetic stripe.
4. Isn't buying on the internet dangerous and insecure?
Honestly? Your credit card information is in less danger being transmitted over the internet than it is when you hand your card to a store clerk at the counter. The real danger to your credit card information isn't from hackers hitting online merchants, or stealing your credit card information via modem or phone lines. The real internet security dangers come from two different directions:
a. Hackers using back doors to get into the records of banks, credit card companies and data repositories.This is the biggest danger. It's also a danger for stores and companies that have records 'online' for billing purposes. There's a great deal being done to improve security of data repositories, which are far more vulnerable than any data transmission stream.
b. The second big credit card security danger is the practice that's sometimes called 'phishing'. In this case, the credit card thieves trick you into giving them your identification and credit card data. They may do this with an email purporting to be from an official of your internet service provider or email, your credit card issuer or anyone else. They also may build sites that are identical to sites like Paypal, American Express and others for the express purpose of capturing your information so that they can use it.
5. How do I protect myself from phishers?
First, never provide your social security number or other identifying data to anyone without first verifying that they are exactly who they say they are. Experts recommend that you never use the link provided in an email to go to the site of someone you do business with. Instead, open a new browser window and type in the known address by hand.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Online Loan sites
So you've decided you need a personal loan, and you're planning to apply for one online to save the hassle of visiting your local bank, and also hopefully to get a better deal. The problem is, the web is absolutely saturated with adverts for loan sites, and with thousands upon thousands of these sites touting their wares as the best on the net, how do you know which site to apply through?
While this article obviously can't tell you which kind of loan you need or who to apply for it with, it can make a start on the process by describing the various different kinds of loan site you'll come across during your research, along with their strengths and weaknesses.
The most basic type of site you'll come across is an informational one filled with hopefully authoritative articles on the subject of loans and finance. These articles will generally have links to specific lenders, either as part of the article itself or as more obvious advertising. While this kind of site can be very useful for increasing your knowledge of finance, and so helping you to make a better choice of loan provider, you can't really rely on the best deals being shown. The lenders featured on the pages will tend to be those who pay the most to be there, rather than those who offer the best deal.
Another popular kind of site is a comparison site, which present details of dozens or even hundreds of loan deals all on one page, letting you easily see which one has the lowest rate, or has benefits you'd like such as a payment holiday or fixed repayment rate. These sites offer real convenience in helping you to narrow the range of your research, but you need to bear in mind the fact that not every loan available will be shown. In most cases, the comparison site will only feature loans on which they'll get paid a commission should you apply. This doesn't mean that the best loans are necessarily featured elsewhere, but it's something to be aware of.
A slightly more advance kind of comparison site is the aggregator site where you fill in one application form, and then you'll automatically be shown deals from a wide range of lenders. Again, not every loan available will be featured, but you can easily get a terrific deal this way. Basically, these sites take a lot of the legwork out of searching out a deal.
Everyone knows that it can pay to cut out the middle man, so it's always worth checking out the loan sites of major banks or other financial companies such as brokers which you see advertised on TV or in other off line media. You may find that as the bank isn't paying commissions to a comparison site or a broker, that you can get a slightly cheaper rate.
The key to getting a good loan offer is to be well informed, and to look at a wide range of options, so the best strategy is to first read up on loans at the informational sites, to help you decide what you're looking for. Next, use a comparison site to see what the general range of loan features available is, and compare this with those offered by the major banks. Finally, either apply direct at a bank or broker site if that's the best deal you've found, or apply for the most attractive loan you find at a comparison or aggregator site. Good luck with your loan!
While this article obviously can't tell you which kind of loan you need or who to apply for it with, it can make a start on the process by describing the various different kinds of loan site you'll come across during your research, along with their strengths and weaknesses.
The most basic type of site you'll come across is an informational one filled with hopefully authoritative articles on the subject of loans and finance. These articles will generally have links to specific lenders, either as part of the article itself or as more obvious advertising. While this kind of site can be very useful for increasing your knowledge of finance, and so helping you to make a better choice of loan provider, you can't really rely on the best deals being shown. The lenders featured on the pages will tend to be those who pay the most to be there, rather than those who offer the best deal.
Another popular kind of site is a comparison site, which present details of dozens or even hundreds of loan deals all on one page, letting you easily see which one has the lowest rate, or has benefits you'd like such as a payment holiday or fixed repayment rate. These sites offer real convenience in helping you to narrow the range of your research, but you need to bear in mind the fact that not every loan available will be shown. In most cases, the comparison site will only feature loans on which they'll get paid a commission should you apply. This doesn't mean that the best loans are necessarily featured elsewhere, but it's something to be aware of.
A slightly more advance kind of comparison site is the aggregator site where you fill in one application form, and then you'll automatically be shown deals from a wide range of lenders. Again, not every loan available will be featured, but you can easily get a terrific deal this way. Basically, these sites take a lot of the legwork out of searching out a deal.
Everyone knows that it can pay to cut out the middle man, so it's always worth checking out the loan sites of major banks or other financial companies such as brokers which you see advertised on TV or in other off line media. You may find that as the bank isn't paying commissions to a comparison site or a broker, that you can get a slightly cheaper rate.
The key to getting a good loan offer is to be well informed, and to look at a wide range of options, so the best strategy is to first read up on loans at the informational sites, to help you decide what you're looking for. Next, use a comparison site to see what the general range of loan features available is, and compare this with those offered by the major banks. Finally, either apply direct at a bank or broker site if that's the best deal you've found, or apply for the most attractive loan you find at a comparison or aggregator site. Good luck with your loan!
Option Trading
Option Trading Explained - Introduction
Robert Kiyosaki says that Option Trading is the investment of the rich. Indeed, option trading is the most versatile form of investment in the world today. Its versatility has been the topic of many speakers all over the world. Terms such as “Covered Calls” and “Credit Spreads” have become well known amongst traders new and veteran alike.
Option Trading Explained - Simply put, it is the trading of option contracts on a particular stock.
Options Explained – A contract that allows you to sell or buy a stock at a predetermined price within a set time frame.There is enough material written explaining the technical make up of an option and I shall not dwell into it further in this writing. The purpose of this writing is to explain to you what the effects of option trading is. … let’s go into Option Trading Explained!
Option Trading Explained - What Can Stock Options Do?
Let us first examine the effects of this thing called stock options. Knowing all the effects of stock options allows us to better understand why it is such a celebrated investment tool and also why so many people go bust doing it. Let’s start from the Positive Effects of stock options. (You can join a weekend seminar for thousands of dollars to learn about options or simply go to http://www.mastersoequity.com/OptionUni.htm and learn the same and more for just a small fraction of that investment.)
Stock Options are:
Leverage. It allows you to control more shares (100 shares per option) with the same amount of money thereby exponentially increase your returns per dollar.
Discount. Just as you control more shares with just one option, you will then be able to control the same amount of shares with lesser money than before.
Protection. It allows you to protect the stock you hold by owning the right to sell them at a predetermined price no matter what happens.
Regardless of market direction. It allows you to profit from both upward and/or downward moves in the stock.
Creative. It allows you to put different types of options together to form all sorts of investment positions. It can even make money no matter which way the market goes.
And the Negative Effects are:
No value beyond expiration. You can potentially lose all your money along with the expiration of the option.
Negative Leverage. Just like it can amplify your gains, options will also amplify your loses.
Time Decay Effect. Options reduce in value over time and sometimes can completely obliterate any gains from movement in the underlying stock.
(Want to learn about how to make use of these effects to your advantage? Go now to http://www.mastersoequity.com/OptionUni.htm )Looking at the above effects, it is clear that Option Trading indeed is an extremely versatile investment tool that allows its investor to profit from any market direction, protect his/her stock positions, reduce capital commitment and lots more, based on the way it is utilized. Conversely, once such power of leverage is being abused, the investor could then lose everything he/she have put in by expiration or lose more from the same stock move than he/she is comfortable with. Also, by holding on to Options, time decay sometimes can obliterate your profits if the movement in the underlying stock is not big enough.Therefore, investing in options requires careful planning on the part of the investor. You must know for what effect are you using options for and how much you are putting at risk. In essence, using options for Leverage confers the highest risk and the highest rewards and demands that you use only proven strategies with a proven track record.
Robert Kiyosaki says that Option Trading is the investment of the rich. Indeed, option trading is the most versatile form of investment in the world today. Its versatility has been the topic of many speakers all over the world. Terms such as “Covered Calls” and “Credit Spreads” have become well known amongst traders new and veteran alike.
Option Trading Explained - Simply put, it is the trading of option contracts on a particular stock.
Options Explained – A contract that allows you to sell or buy a stock at a predetermined price within a set time frame.There is enough material written explaining the technical make up of an option and I shall not dwell into it further in this writing. The purpose of this writing is to explain to you what the effects of option trading is. … let’s go into Option Trading Explained!
Option Trading Explained - What Can Stock Options Do?
Let us first examine the effects of this thing called stock options. Knowing all the effects of stock options allows us to better understand why it is such a celebrated investment tool and also why so many people go bust doing it. Let’s start from the Positive Effects of stock options. (You can join a weekend seminar for thousands of dollars to learn about options or simply go to http://www.mastersoequity.com/OptionUni.htm and learn the same and more for just a small fraction of that investment.)
Stock Options are:
Leverage. It allows you to control more shares (100 shares per option) with the same amount of money thereby exponentially increase your returns per dollar.
Discount. Just as you control more shares with just one option, you will then be able to control the same amount of shares with lesser money than before.
Protection. It allows you to protect the stock you hold by owning the right to sell them at a predetermined price no matter what happens.
Regardless of market direction. It allows you to profit from both upward and/or downward moves in the stock.
Creative. It allows you to put different types of options together to form all sorts of investment positions. It can even make money no matter which way the market goes.
And the Negative Effects are:
No value beyond expiration. You can potentially lose all your money along with the expiration of the option.
Negative Leverage. Just like it can amplify your gains, options will also amplify your loses.
Time Decay Effect. Options reduce in value over time and sometimes can completely obliterate any gains from movement in the underlying stock.
(Want to learn about how to make use of these effects to your advantage? Go now to http://www.mastersoequity.com/OptionUni.htm )Looking at the above effects, it is clear that Option Trading indeed is an extremely versatile investment tool that allows its investor to profit from any market direction, protect his/her stock positions, reduce capital commitment and lots more, based on the way it is utilized. Conversely, once such power of leverage is being abused, the investor could then lose everything he/she have put in by expiration or lose more from the same stock move than he/she is comfortable with. Also, by holding on to Options, time decay sometimes can obliterate your profits if the movement in the underlying stock is not big enough.Therefore, investing in options requires careful planning on the part of the investor. You must know for what effect are you using options for and how much you are putting at risk. In essence, using options for Leverage confers the highest risk and the highest rewards and demands that you use only proven strategies with a proven track record.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Insurance
Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a potential loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium. Insurer, in economics, is the company that sells the insurance. Insurance rate is a factor used to determine the amount, called the premium, to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice
In the non-life business, insurance brokerage is the most popular mode to launder money. Typically, most traders who want to convert black money into white channelise their operations through a brokerage. The broker promises huge discounts to the client on behalf of the insurer and is also paid a hefty commission.
Basically, the scope of all the insurance policies is to protect you or your family from the financial loss of that occurs because of any tragedy . The insurance is not to help them moderate-graded expenses estimate, but to protect from the catastrophic one.
In the non-life business, insurance brokerage is the most popular mode to launder money. Typically, most traders who want to convert black money into white channelise their operations through a brokerage. The broker promises huge discounts to the client on behalf of the insurer and is also paid a hefty commission.
Basically, the scope of all the insurance policies is to protect you or your family from the financial loss of that occurs because of any tragedy . The insurance is not to help them moderate-graded expenses estimate, but to protect from the catastrophic one.
Loans
Been shopping for online loans lately? It can be a tangled confusing mess that nets a person nothing but spam and aggravation. Like any other business decision, it’s wise to shop around, ask questions and make informed decisions. Taking out any kind of loan can be intimidating, but once one is educated on the various loans and what is expected, the intimidation factor is erased. An informed consumer ready to take out a loan and no longer helpless to the banks or online lenders, is much better than one at the mercy of them.
For example the term “payday loan," can be an odd term for some people. Not understanding the terminology of "payday loans" or "cash advances" can make one wary of such loans when it might be exactly what they need.There are two types of bad credit personal loans, secured and unsecured. A homeowner may qualify for the secured personal loan and non-homeowners may apply for the unsecured bad credit personal loan. Bad credit should not affect one's ability to obtain a home mortgage loan. The interest rate for a home mortgage loan will depend upon that person's credit rating. If the credit score is 600 or above, the borrower is usually required to pay a 5% down payment. Credit scores that fall below 580 necessitate down payments of 20% or more. However, reputable bad credit mortgage lenders do not require unreasonable down payments of 50%.
Debt consolidation loans are another option to consider if one has a history of bad debt. These loans consolidate debts into one loan, allowing a person to make one monthly payment they can afford. Unsecured debt consolidation loans are not tied to one's assets, and can eliminate annoying calls and letters from creditors, as well as helping to avoid filing bankruptcy.
It’s not easy shopping for online loans but with due diligence one can find the information needed to meet one's needs. It’s important to understand the different kinds of loans as the different loans have different terms and different interest rates. One should not get caught up in a relationship where only dependence on the lender is your only avenue. Education on loan terminology will go a long way for one's financial needs and security.
For example the term “payday loan," can be an odd term for some people. Not understanding the terminology of "payday loans" or "cash advances" can make one wary of such loans when it might be exactly what they need.There are two types of bad credit personal loans, secured and unsecured. A homeowner may qualify for the secured personal loan and non-homeowners may apply for the unsecured bad credit personal loan. Bad credit should not affect one's ability to obtain a home mortgage loan. The interest rate for a home mortgage loan will depend upon that person's credit rating. If the credit score is 600 or above, the borrower is usually required to pay a 5% down payment. Credit scores that fall below 580 necessitate down payments of 20% or more. However, reputable bad credit mortgage lenders do not require unreasonable down payments of 50%.
Debt consolidation loans are another option to consider if one has a history of bad debt. These loans consolidate debts into one loan, allowing a person to make one monthly payment they can afford. Unsecured debt consolidation loans are not tied to one's assets, and can eliminate annoying calls and letters from creditors, as well as helping to avoid filing bankruptcy.
It’s not easy shopping for online loans but with due diligence one can find the information needed to meet one's needs. It’s important to understand the different kinds of loans as the different loans have different terms and different interest rates. One should not get caught up in a relationship where only dependence on the lender is your only avenue. Education on loan terminology will go a long way for one's financial needs and security.
Forex
Can you really make money day trading futures? The answer, of course, is yes. The answer is only yes, if you know what to do and then you take action upon what you know.Making money day trading futures is like making money trading in any financial market. It all starts with having a plan, and then executing the plan to the letter in order to make profits.I believe what throws many people off when it comes to day trading futures is the fact that some are unfamiliar with futures contracts and their characteristics. This, of course, should not deter one from exploring the possibilities of profits in day trading futures. The fact of the matter is that you don't need to know every possible thing about every possible futures contract in order to make profits in trading futures.
Many futures contracts happen to be excellent vehicles for day trading. Again, it is not imperative that you understand everything about every futures contract in order to profit in day trading futures. I'll give you an example. What if everyone had to know the intricacies of the internal combustion engine before they drove a car? If that were actually the case then very few people would drive... yet there are millions of people driving cars every day. I only say this to illustrate the fact that you need to know a certain number of basic things in order to trade in any market successfully. A simplified list of those basic things would be as follows, when to get in, when to get out, and when to stand aside.
It is true that the above list may seem overly simplified. You will of course need some method to determine when to take the steps above in order to be successful. Your method will have to be one which is repeatable, therefore it will require some research on your part.You'll need a day trading strategy in order to day trade futures successfully. You have the choice of either developing your own day trading strategy or looking for a commercially available day trading strategy. In any case, you will want to do your homework and due diligence, because in order to make money day trading futures your day trading strategy must be a good one. And remember that your level of discipline in following your day trading strategy is at least as important as the day trading strategy itself.Forex Trader's Bill of Rights
Many futures contracts happen to be excellent vehicles for day trading. Again, it is not imperative that you understand everything about every futures contract in order to profit in day trading futures. I'll give you an example. What if everyone had to know the intricacies of the internal combustion engine before they drove a car? If that were actually the case then very few people would drive... yet there are millions of people driving cars every day. I only say this to illustrate the fact that you need to know a certain number of basic things in order to trade in any market successfully. A simplified list of those basic things would be as follows, when to get in, when to get out, and when to stand aside.
It is true that the above list may seem overly simplified. You will of course need some method to determine when to take the steps above in order to be successful. Your method will have to be one which is repeatable, therefore it will require some research on your part.You'll need a day trading strategy in order to day trade futures successfully. You have the choice of either developing your own day trading strategy or looking for a commercially available day trading strategy. In any case, you will want to do your homework and due diligence, because in order to make money day trading futures your day trading strategy must be a good one. And remember that your level of discipline in following your day trading strategy is at least as important as the day trading strategy itself.Forex Trader's Bill of Rights
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