eToro

At last, a forex strategy that works!

Etoro developed a stunning application where you can follow fellow traders very much like Facebook.

The big difference this is not a meaningless following making thousands of friends you do not know.

In eToro’s Openbook you can see who the top traders are. You can then decide to follow some of those top traders. Each time they trade their trade will be copied to your account.

You can also see interesting stats like what the top 100 traders are buying or selling.
So far my results on this is very good.

I think eToro’s Openbook is the closest you will get to really putting in your money and sit back and watch you money grow.

What is more they also give you a big bonus on your first deposit, something like 25%. So if you deposit $1,000 your account will be credit with an extra $250 to trade with.
You can join them at http://www.pietpetoors.com/goto/etoro-trading

Note:
1. Remember forex trading remain dangerous, don’t invest your grandmother’s pension only use money you won’t miss if you loose it, extra cash

When I look for a trader to copy I do not only look for the guy who made the highest percentage of profit. Some traders are lucky for a month or two and then their luck turn against them. I also look at the percentage of successful trades a trader make. Also look how many people are already following a trader, anything more than 500 followers and you know that guy is up to something good.

With eToro you don’t have to know ANYTHING from Forex trader, just be a copy cat.
You can join them at http://www.pietpetoors.com/goto/etoro-trading

The biggest challenge for me is to stay out of the system an not trade myself. The guys I copy do an excellent job and almost all their trades result in a profit. Unfortunately I trade on the same account and every now and then I loose what these guys made for me.

I often enjoy Gary Wilde’s newsletter and today I received one of those emails which I wish everybody in this world could read. What he says make so much sense and I hope more people will realise it.

If I had to count on my fingers the number of times someone has told me that their struggle with debt is not their fault, I would need a lot more fingers than I have! When people tell me this, I can see they really believe it… but is this true?

People get great satisfaction out of being praised or applauded for their successes and achievements in life, because it appeals to their need to be socially accepted, appreciated, admired and respected. As a result, people are very enthusiastic about taking the credit for their achievements and triumphs! Read more »

Some years ago I invested my extra cash in some high yield investment plans. Needless many of them failed. In my opinion two of them were forced to fail because they became a too big thread to the big banks and in South Africa the banks’ monopoly are protected by the bank law.

So after loosing close to a million in some of these ventures I decided to look for a more secure option. I’ve been investing with Satrix for about 2 years now and my returns are very good. Satrix is wonderful because their fees are very low, almost nothing compared to unit trust and even direct share investments. With Satrix you do not need a broker, you can register directly and you can even do it online.

You can find them at http://www.satrix.co.za/

I pasted the contents of this month’s Satrix newsletter below:

SATRIX INVESTMENT PLAN CLIENT LETTER – APRIL 2011
EVENTS OF Q1 2011
The first quarter of 2011 was an eventful and volatile period, with the popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle
East and the deadly earthquake and tsunami that battered Japan. When events like this occur, they inevitably have a
negative impact on the investment markets and the global economy. Despite the aforesaid impact, over the one year
period to 31 March 2011 the JSE All Share Index (ALSI), commonly referred to as “the market”, produced a 15% return
in Rand terms. Over five years to 31 March 2011 the ALSI delivered a solid 81%. From its daily low of 18,121 during
the midst of the financial crisis in March 2009, the ALSI found its way back up to a level of 32 204 on 31 March 2011.
This level is close to the ALSI’s all time high in May 2008 of 32 959. Read more »

Many people would like to know what is the latest on ShareMax. Below is the latest statement i received from the board of Sharemax directors:

Statement from the board of directors of the companies in the Sharemax promoted portfolio of companies.

The board of the Sharemax related companies currently operating under the directive of the South African Reserve Bank (the SARB), is pleased to announce that good progress is being made with the proposed Schemes of Arrangement Process. The board remains convinced that this Process provides the best solution and protection to investors and other interested parties.

In previous press releases the board reported that the relationships between the various entities related to the Sharemax promoted portfolio of companies (the companies), are complex and in some instances uncertain. Due to these complexities, the board has decided to propose Schemes of Arrangement in respect of the companies, in order to restructure the financial affairs of the companies to the best benefit of investors and other interested parties (“the Schemes”).

A likely alternative to the proposal of the Schemes may be the liquidation of some or all of the companies, which will inevitably result in significant losses to investors and other interested parties. It is commonly known that a liquidation process has no result, other than causing substantial losses, as a result of the very process of liquidation, and the forced sale scenarios, inevitably associated with a liquidation process… Read more »

There is huge debate on Passive vs Active managed share portfolios.

While the general tren of a share might be upwards, it has the uos and downs along the way.

The Passive trader buys shares and leave it to ride the wave. The active trader tries to predict when the price will go up or when it will go down and then “Buy low and sell hig” There are people making millions selling your software which they claim can predict on your behalf when the price will be high or low.

Besides the risk of making the wrong prediction and buying or selling at the wrong time, another huge disadvantage of an active managed fund is the high cost.

With a Passive managed fund the cost is often much lower. In South Africa we have the Satrix Fund which is a Passive managed fund and the cost of this fund is very low.

I paste an excerpt of the last newsletter I received from them which explains more about Passive and Active managed funds:

LOOK MOM, NO ACTIVE MANAGEMENT…

To many investors passive investing implies average returns. An index that is a proxy for the market will deliver the
average return of the market. However, the majority of active managers underperform the market after costs so getting
the market average is in fact above average performance. Secondly, not all indices are equal; some indices are
designed to outperform the market or sector of the market… Read more »

Crooks

Quite often when people are looking for a way to make money on the Internet they seem very concerned that they do not want to get involved in a scam. I agree, one have to be careful since the Internet is filled with scams. But how often do you look at a good opportunity but because you do not know of better, you think it is a scam. Even worse is when you look at something, think it is good but walk straight into a scam just because everybody else are doing it. If you read the post below you will realize that many of us has been involved in orchestrated  scams for many years, just because we were made to believe that it was the best way to do it.

I received an email from one of the people from whom I have learned a lot. This is the guy who sparked my interest in property investments.  I do not always agree with everything Coert is saying, but i like his attitude and I do agree on most of what he says.

I completely share his opinion in the email below. I have seen so many people who believe that a policy with the big insurance companies is the safest investment they can make. Some of them  die before they can get their money and then their family realise afterwards that these people paid more in premiums over the past 20 years than what they got out eventually.
Read more »

ShareMax??

I see ShareMax is in the news again.

According to a newspaper article on Fin24.com today ShareMax could not pay some of their investors at the end of August. This came after the reserve bank gave notice that they way ShareMax collected money from Investors was unlawful.

Many pensioners now face loosing all their money. Some of them relied on their ShareMax interest as only income.

Something smells fishy and my question is why does the reserve bank now all of the sudden find a problem with the way ShareMax has been collecting money from Investors?

Sharemax has been doing this for 11 years. They built up a property portfolio of more than R5 billion and last month was the first month in the company’s history that they could not pay Investors.

I understand that the whole law interpretation issue behind the Sharemax controversy is grey area and not black on white.

I have seen this pattern of events with other investment and syndication companies in the past as well. They have a brilliant concept, they start to do well, they offer people real investment opportunities with real returns, they become a thread to the South African big banks and insurance companies, the banks and insurance companies pay the newspaper reporters to publish some sensational newspaper reports to scare the investors and in the end the banks manage to kill their competition.. Read more »

Property Millions

I just launched my latest eBook, “How we made a million with real estate in 3 years and lost it in 6 months”

In this eBook I share our real estate stories and lessons of the past 16 years. I do not only tell you about the success we had, in fact I think I talk more about the mistakes we made than the success we had. I told you how we bought 11 properties during the past 16 years and how we made a million from our properties in 3 years time and how we lost it within 6 months.

My aim with this book is to show people what can go wrong with real estate investments so that they do not fall into the same traps.

I am sure the book will also be valuable to those who just entered the market or even those who are still wondering whether they have to buy or rent.

Read more »

Real Estate Investments

Have you attended a Property Seminar yet?

Would you like to learn how to invest in property?

I know some people would love to do that, but they stay too far away from the big cities and cannot attend a property seminar

Some people do not have the money to pay for a property seminar.

My friend Gordon Mackay made it possible for just about everyone to learn how to invest in real estate. What I like about Gordon’s DVD is that he do not only teach you how to make money from property investments. Gordon also teach you how to manage your money and what you must do when you land into financial trouble.

Gordon Mackay is one of those wonderful people who made money (lots of it), lost it all and then made it all again.

It was not easy and like most of us he learned valuable lessons in the process.

Read more »

There are many property investment “Gurus” out there and it seems as if the number of Guru’s are just growing by the month.

I have burned my fingers in the past by using the advice of some of the Gurus and I would like to share some of the mistakes I made in the hope that I can prevent you from making the same mistakes.

I see there is a case at the moment where a guy is accusing one of the gurus that the guru’s advice caused his trust’s bankruptcy. I think this is really low class from the guy to put the blame for his failure on somebody else. I think he is just looking for a way to cash in.

Although there are many gurus selling their many different concepts or ideas it is still up to the individual to decide which of the advice he will follow and not just blindly follow the guru like a heard of sheep.

In my opinion there are no right or wrong guru and there are no right or wrong way of investing in property. We are all different and our circumstances and budgets are different. Not ONE investment strategy can be a “business in a box” solution for all of us. You should listen and learn from each property guru and ONLY apply what fits your profile. In the end it is your money and you future and you must take repsonsibility for it.

Read more »

Many people would love to get involved in property investments, but they have all kinds of excuses not to do so. I received this article today and it is so true. Read it and you will see there is no reason not to get involved in property investments if you do it the right way.

The 8 excuses most novice buy-to-let property investors use when they do not succeed in property investing. You will find that most excuses are more emotional than business related.

1. I have no time

The Excuse:

Part time buy-to-let property investing takes too much of my family time.

The Truth:

Time management is in your emotional control and has more to do with your priorities and relationships in life. Most people are spending too much time on low priority actions such as watching TV and too little time working on their business and relationships.

The Cure:

Cut down on watching TV and creatively use your time to build your professional buy-to-let property investment business power team. You are just as strong as your power team.

2. I have no money

Read more »