FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

I'm sitting here at my desk writing this article on the afternoon of November 24, two days before Thanksgiving. There are certainly many topics we could explore, but I can't stop thinking about giving and gratitude. I was reminded today by our local Rotary that we are the most generous nation in the world. I have chosen to write my article this week on "Habitat for Humanity." This is my subtle way of combining real estate and charitable giving. I've donated to Habitat for Humanity for at least

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

On November 6, 2009, President Obama signed a bill to extend the tax credit for first-time homebuyers through June 30, 2010. The bill also opens up opportunities for others who are not buying a home for the first time. In this article, I'll give an overview of this tax credit. Once again, a first time homebuyer, someone who has not owned a home within the last three years may be eligible for the credit. The credit for the first time homebuyer is 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

As many of you know who have seen my presentation on the current residential real estate market, I think we've hit a bottom for residential. I'm also quick to say that the market may fluctuate downward a few more percentage points, but that the freefall is over and the market will remain somewhat flat for the next 12 months. This creates a great deal of opportunity. But what about the commercial real estate market; has it hit its bottom yet? There are two major factors that are impacting the

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

The Case-Shiller Home Price Index shows prices up in 17 of 20 markets for the fourth straight month. The Case-Shiller Home Price Index is known in the industry to be one of the most conservative and some may even say the gloomiest of the major indexes. The index is clearly documenting month after month that the housing market not only has bottomed out earlier this year but is on a slow steady rise. Now let's move to home sales. According to the National Association of Realtors, resale of

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the corporate headquarters of Online Trading Academy in Irvine, CA, having a meeting regarding the real estate education Online Trading Academy is offering. In that meeting, we were discussing real estate education, its importance in today's market and a variety of buying strategies. I kept using the acronym REO, and finally someone in the meeting with no real estate background, but a desire to understand, asked me what the acronym stood for. I've found that we

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

In the last three years, there has been a lot of media coverage regarding Non-conventional loans. These are the risky loans that started being put into the MBS around the year 2000. Then in late 2006 and early 2007, as home prices began to plunge and alarm was spreading across mortgage backed securities desks all over Wall Street, they started to back away from the riskiest mortgages. What are Non-Conventional loans? It's a broad term describing loans that do not take the traditional form; in

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

Understanding how loans work specifically related to real estate is very important whether you're purchasing a home, investing directly in real estate, or trading mortgage backed securities (MBS). So this week, I'll outline the basics of conventional financing and Fannie and Freddie. Next week we'll look at nontraditional loans. A conventional loan is a lender agreement that's not guaranteed or insured by the VA (Veterans Administration), FHA (Federal Housing Administration), or RHA (Rural

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

As all successful investors know, they must stay abreast of where the market has been, where it is currently and where it is forecast to be. Once a month, after all the major indexes and indicators have been released, I'll compile them and present them to you with my take on the market. With that said, we'll focus our attention on the following three indexes and indicators: The Case – Shiller Home Price Index, Pending U.S. Home Sales Index, and the Housing Starts and New Permits. On September

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

As many of you may be aware of, the early part of my professional background and my education was in accounting and taxation. One of the great advantages of real estate is the tax benefits. So, even though I no longer practice nor prepare my own tax returns, I still keep abreast of the tax laws affecting real estate and real estate investing. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorizes a tax credit of up to $8000 for qualified first-time homebuyers purchasing a principal

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

One of my favorite moments in the real estate workshop is when I inform students that they could be using their Self-Directed Retirement Plan (SDRP) to invest in real estate. The first question always is, "What is a Self-Directed Retirement Plan?" - The term "self-directed" simply means that you, as an individual, have complete control over selecting and directing your own individual retirement account or 401k investments. The next question is, "How can I invest in Real Estate?" - Either

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

As the subject matter expert on real estate for Online Trading Academy, my goal is to provide you with an insight to the asset class of Real Estate. Many of you think of real estate only in the context of either residential or rental property. In this article, I'll introduce to you a couple ways of getting involved in real estate that are completely hands-off. If you want to balance your portfolio with real estate and are looking for the benefits of real estate ownership without any of the

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

I attended a charity event a couple of weeks ago at a place called Rancho Los Alamitos. This Rancho was a land grant of over 300,000 acres in 1790 and is now the city of Long Beach and most of Northern Orange County, California. Learning how this Rancho was developed into some of the most valuable real estate in the country made me think of the deep history that our country has in real estate investing, speculating and development. In any investment or business it's paramount that you

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

Welcome to the new Real Estate section of Lessons From the Pros! I'm excited to jump right in with a hot topic in real estate investing. I have been getting a lot of questions about what loan modifications are and how they work. A loan modification is considered a permanent change in one or more of the terms of a mortgagor's loan, allowing the loan to be reinstated (i.e. no longer delinquent), and results in a payment the mortgagor can afford. There are a lot of misconceptions about the new

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

An Uncomfortable Choice What Were We Thinking? Frugality is the New Normal And Then We Face the Real Problem The Teenagers Are in Control Choose Wisely Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, New Orleans, Detroit, and More We have arrived at this particular economic moment in time by the choices we have made, which now leave us with choices in our future that will be neither easy, convenient, nor comfortable. Sometimes there are just no good choices, only less-bad ones. In this week's letter we look at

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

The Statistical Recovery, Part Three Capacity Utilization Set to Rise A Real Estate Green Shoot? The Deleveraging Society Some Thoughts on Secular Bear Markets Weddings and Ten Years of Thoughts From the Frontline This week we further explore why this recovery will be a Statistical Recovery, or one that, as someone said, is a recovery only a statistician could love. We look at capacity utilization, more on housing, some thoughts on debt and deflation, and some intriguing charts on volatility

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

The Statistical Recovery, Part Two A Recovery Statisticians Can Love A Few Thoughts on the Housing Market Some Thoughts from Maine Tulsa, Birthdays, Weddings, and Paul McCartney A few weeks ago I first used the term "statistical recovery" to describe the nature of today's economic environment. Today we are going to further explore that concept, as it is important to have a real understanding of what is happening. This coming "recovery" is not going to feel like a typical one, and those

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

Six impossible things before breakfast, or how EMH has damaged our industry The Dead Parrot of Finance The Queen of Hearts and impossible beliefs Slaves of some defunct economist Prima facie case against EMH -- Forever blowing bubbles The EMH 'Nuclear Bomb' The Efficient Market Hypothesis, according to Shiller, is one of the most remarkable errors in the history of economic thought. EMH should be consigned to the dustbin of history. We need to stop teaching it, and brainwashing the innocent.

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

The Great Reflation Experiment The Debt Super Cycle Some Background on US Inflation Implications for Investors A Beach, New York, and Maine The question we have been focused on for some time now is whether we end up with inflation, or deflation, and what that endgame looks like. It is one of the most important questions an investor must ask today, and getting the answer right is critical. This week, we have a guest writer who takes on the topic of the great experiment the Fed is now waging,

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

And Then There Was Leverage Too Big To Save Those Wild and Crazy Swiss A Positive Third Quarter? New York and Maine We have avoided Armageddon, at least for now. The cost to the US taxpayer has been a few trillion. Some in the media are loudly announcing the end of the recession. But we are not out of the woods yet. There are a few more bumps in the road. Actually, some of them are quite steep hills. As big as the subprime problem? Maybe. When asked a few weeks ago what was my biggest

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This article is taken from the Trader's Journal magazine (May 2009 issue) The author, John Mauldin , is Millennium Wave Investments president and a recognized expert and leader on investment issues; he is primarily involved in private money management, financial services and investments. John is a prolific author, writer and editor of the popular “Thoughts from the Frontline� e-letter that goes to over 1,000,000 readers weekly, and is posted on numerous independent websites. He is a frequent

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

The End of the Recession? The New Normal Is Still In Our Future The Hidden Problem Within Unemployment Data Was Income Really Up? Tulsa, London, and The Baltics There is no doubt that the US is in financial trouble. Those talking of a strong recovery are just not dealing with reality. But the US is in better shape than a lot of countries. This week, we begin by looking at Japan. I have written for years about how large their debt-to-GDP ratio is, yet they keep on issuing more debt and

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This Data Point Release tracks Total U.S. Inventories and Business Sales, and is released approximately Six Weeks after the Reporting Month’s End at 14:00 GMT. Offered by The Census Bureau, the Release gives a comprehensive Indication of Overall Economic Health concerning Current Cycle Conditions and acts as a Barometer of possible Futures Conditions as well. The Report is comprised of Three Data Sets: TOTAL BUSINESS SALES: Since most Sales Data for the Reporting Month has already been

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This Data Point is the First Data Point Release of the Month concerning Consumer Spending. The Data is released approximately Two Weeks after Month’s End at 12:30 GMT. Traders are interested in this Data, as it functions as a Barometer of overall Consumer Health, Confidence, and Spending of the previous Month in the current Economic Climate. Revisions to this Data Month-over-Month can be quite significant, as Consumer Spending represents about 75% of the overall underlying, and in this case,

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This Data Point largely measures the Level of Inflation in Goods and Services EXCLUDING Food and Energy within the Economy. The Data is released approximately Mid-Month after The Coverage Month that the Data analyzes. Released at approximately 12:30 GMT, The Data is simultaneously released with the Comprehensive CPI Data Point, which includes Food and Energy. Core CPI is one of the most Crucial Data Points each month due to Core Inflationary concerns. Inflation affects the Consumer directly in

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This Data Point largely measures the Average Change in Sale Prices received by the Domestic Producers of Goods and Services EXCLUDING Food and Energy within the Economy. The Indices that make up The Index measure Prices Changes from the Selling Perspective, and the Data is released approximately Mid-Month after The Coverage Month that the Data analyzes. Released at approximately 12:30 GMT, The Data is simultaneously released with the Comprehensive PPI Data Point, which includes Food and

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This Data Point largely measures the Service/Non-Manufacturing Side of the Economy. The Data is released the First Week after the Reporting Month on the1st Business Day of the Month at approximately 14:00 GMT simultaneously with the ISM Manufacturing Index. The ISM Services Release is relatively a new Segment of The Index, and is NOT historically a “Market-Mover�, but will continue to gain Importance moving ahead. This is largely Inevitable, since the Service/Non-Manufacturing Sector

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This Data Point largely measures the Supply Side-Factors for Manufacturing and other Sectors of the Economy. The Data is released the First Week after the Reporting Month on the1st Business Day of the Month at approximately 14:00 GMT. The ISM-Manufacturing Release is a historical “Market-Mover�, as both the Manufacturing and Services Factors give a very Real-Time Assessment of the overall Health of the Economy. This First factor is based on a Survey and Comments from Purchasing Managers, while

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This Data Point largely measures the Sentiment of The U.S. Economy, Consumer Spending, and Employment, and is released on the Final Tuesday of each Month at approximately 14:00 GMT. The Consumer with a high level of Confidence is more likely to Travel, Shop, and Invest Capital which leads to Short-Term and Long-Term Economic Growth. The Consumer with a low level of Confidence is less likely to Travel, Shop, and Invest Capital which leads to Short-Term and Long-Term Economic Stagnancy. Overall

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

The Federal Reserve is the Central Bank of the United States, setting Monetary Policy and broadly ensuring the stability and development of the US Financial System. Comprised of the Board of Governors in Washington DC and 12 regional banks, the Federal Reserve's Mandate is the following: The Setting of Monetary Policy to ensure Economic Growth and Currency Stability. To Regulate United States Banking Institutions. To Maintain the Macro-Stability of the U.S. Financial System. To Provide

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

Introduction In this new series called "Fundamental Forex Foundations", it is my desire to introduce some of the Key and Major Data Release Concepts that affect us in the Foreign Exchange World with the most Impact, and those which we simply need to be aware of as our Trading Days move along. Instead of simply reiterating what each Topic actually is…it is my wish to give a more “Skewed� Explanation of what, why, and how these Data Points and Releases can be used by Currency Traders. We will

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

This is the extract of Joseph Trevisani's presentation at the International Traders Conference (ITC) , held in Barcelona in October '07. Summary · Fundamental Prospects · Traditional Valuation · Purchasing Power Parity · Market Valuation and Speculation · Internal Market Positioning · Interest Rates and Economic Factors · Dollar Comparison · US Dollar Index · Theme: the Dollar has been losing value · Three time Horizons and Dollar Decline · Internal Market Positioning · Economic Indicators

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

Most traders intuitively know that major news events drive FX price action, but few trade the news proactively. In fact, most traders avoid news events simply because they lack the tools and information needed to trade the news effectively. Now, the introduction of a toolkit specifically designed to trade the news makes a new, compelling method of trading available to FX traders for the first time. Analysis Understanding the drivers of price action Context: the most critical element of any

FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis
FXstreet.com: Education: Fundamental Analysis. Useful resources for traders that want to explore the use and/or integration of economics in their market analysis.

Description on economic indicators Balance of Payments Definition: The balance of payments is a simple measure of the payments in financial capital that flow from one nation to another. Ifmore money flows in than out, one has a positive balance of payments -if more flows out than in, one has then a negative balance. The money flowing over the border is like other money paying for goods,commodities, real estate, services, securities. It's usually separated into: Current Account. Goods and