Monday, March 16, 2009

Investing in today's economy?


By Sidney Perez


Everybody has heard about Madoff's scandal in which billions of dollar have been lost. Even "clever" people have been "trapped" by Bernard Madoff, just because they trusted him as former chairman of the NASDAQ Stock exchange.


Here are some tips to avoid losing your money on the markets, or in Banks.


Firstly, always check if your investments are FDIC insured.

Furthermore, check your broker's background (you can contact your state regulator's database for example).


Moreover, do ask questions in order to be 100% clear with your strategy and with your investments.


Finally, do not write checks to the adviser. They should be made out to the brokerage firm and be SIPC insured.


As we can imagine, the value of the shares are very low due to the crisis, and then it can be the right time to invest.


However, you have to be careful, because it can become worse anyway.

That is why maybe some "refuge" value like gold, and oil can be good investments.

Indeed, 5 years ago an ounce of gold was worth $400, in September 2008, it was $780, and now it is almost $950!!

Maybe now it is too late to invest because a peak is already reached, but who knows??

In any case, gold will always have value whereas the money you put in a bank has a chance to disappear ( the FDIC only ensures $100,000 per person)...


Sources :


http://abclocal.go.com/


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff


http://www.goldprice.org/spot-gold.html

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