Forex Trading Software and Choosing the Right One
Doing a lot of research and learning on how to do it is the key to making profits from forex trading. However, if you are too busy to be engaged in research on money markets in order to arm yourself with the necessary knowledge, you never need to be disheartened. Still, you have the possibility of engaging in trading foreign exchange using software designed for the purpose.Types of forex trading softwareThough different trading companies on forex have their own different software packages that allow their traders to do their transactions automatically, these software packages could be divided into two main categories. One is online software and the other is desktop based software. Though both have similarities and specialties you have the option to choose your favorite type of software.Desktop type of forex trading softwareThe specialty of this type of software is their being resident in the hard drive of your computer. Supplier of the software will send the updates on daily basis in order to have your software up to date. It is necessary for you to install these updates and have your software up to date. Also, you are responsible on the protection of software from viruses and hackers. The advantage with this type of software is that you never need to be connected to internet all the time in order to work with them.Web based softwareWhen you use web based software for forex trading you never need to do any downloading. As a result, there is no need to protect it from viruses and hackers either. The only thing is that every time you need to use the software it is a must to log into internet. This type of software is always filled with up to the minute information.When you use online software for trading in foreign exchange you need to pay a monthly fee. In case you purchase one that is desktop based you never need to do so. You only need to pay a onetime fee at the time of purchase. Normally this fee includes payment for lifetime updates.Whatever the type of forex trading software you buy it is able to make your trading profitable. Since research necessary to compile data for these software packages are done by professionals they are useful in helping you more reliable predictions. They will reduce your workload also. Choosing between the two types of software could be done on your preference.
Obama’s Pastor Jeremiah Wright Controversy About America – Rev Wright & Obama on Race and Politics
Recently the major right wing conservative talk show pundits have played continuously an excerpt from Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermon in which he calls America to account, after which the Pastor challenges the typically uttered cliche “God bless America” with a provoking “God damn America.”As a minister I do not find the Pastor’s sermons disturbing in the least. After all a good sermon should afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. This Rev. Wright has truly done. Rev. Wright and his church very actively help the poor in his community and empower the disenfranchised, while simultaneously loving white citizens and confronting the arrogance of the self-righteous establishment governmentally propagating war without end.Rush Limbaugh thought to call the Pastor of Obama’s church in Chicago, Jeremiah Wright, to account reciting an excerpt from one of his sermons in which the Rev. said in 2001 shortly after the 9/11 attacks:WRIGHT: “We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye. We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”I agree wholeheartedly with everything Pastor Wright said here. If American history turns Rush Limbaugh’s stomach, perhaps he should get a little more intestinal fortitude before he decides to go on the national airwaves. Don’t side with pro-war conservatives, an oxymoron in itself considering the trillion dollar expenditure of killing in foreign theaters of war, and then hide from the consequences of your foreign policy.Barack Obama’s speech on March 18, 2008, put to rest and quieted much of the controversy. Although I’m sure guys like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilley, and Sean Hannity will keep hammering Obama as long as it will increase listenership and improve their ratings. The American viewers love a little controversy and rightfully so because this is what makes democracy, a little debate and public scrutiny.Senator Barack Obama in his speech said: “…my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect.”"…For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.”"And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change.”Wise and unifying words from Barack Obama as he seeks to transcend the racial divide and form a more perfect union across these supposedly United States.
Investing In Healthcare
The baby boom cohort has changed the world in which we live and the lens through which we view it. The aging of this cohort (roughly one third of the population) will continue to usher in dramatic changes across most business sectors and areas of our lives in the years to come. The boomer demographic in North America is also presenting unique challenges for government run social programs and presenting unprecedented opportunities for businesses with the right entrepreneurial mindsets and resources. While boomer consumptive patterns have evolved over time, there are still strong correlates between their wants/needs (and the wants/needs of their children) and the flow of capital across virtually all economic sectors. Clearly, as boomers are aging, their spending habits are evolving as well. This re-prioritization of spending has become an area of study for governments and investment organizations alike. One area that surfaces repeatedly and is becoming pre-eminent in the study of boomer consumption patterns is healthcare.Healthcare is one of the industries that are most acutely impacted by this demographic shift. While many boomers will continue working, many are also retiring or are getting close to retirement. Most boomers are or still view themselves as reasonably young (mentally and physically) – the oldest, born in 1946 one year after the “boys came home” from WWII. For those of you without a calculator handy, the oldest boomers will be 62 years of age in 2008. This small but important factoid is lost on many bullish investors who see the present time as the “halcyon days” in healthcare investment in seniors housing options or Long-term care. Yet it will be 15 to 20 years before the leading edge of the boomers reach the age where these services will be in higher demand.What many people, including even professional investors, forget or never learned is that much of the the current demand for healthcare is being driven by WWI babies, or what has been coined The Greatest Generation. The Greatest Generation is compromised of those who reached adulthood just before, and served in WWII. Many came from rural areas of Canada and the U.S. and settled in the larger centers after the War. This generation was entirely different than succeeding generations. While the differences are beyond the scope of this article, suffice to say that those who seriously study demographic shifts expect the baby boom generation to have an entirely different set of expectations regarding healthcare service and other services than their parents.So, to recap thus far, there are a significant number of opportunities in the United States and Canada in healthcare investment; but these opportunities are not limitless and nor are they a sure bet. Demographic shifts are significant drivers of healthcare consumption patterns. It is important to attribute healthcare supply and demand drivers to the market and demographic to which they rightfully belong.So, while healthcare investment opportunities abound, there is no replacement for sound judgment based on analytical inquiry. This is true of any investment decision. It is also key that current and projected changes across the following domains are reviewed in detail: demographics, finances, macro-economics, geography, consumer attitudes and behaviours, motivating factors (e.g., luxury, fear), urban/rural, SES, educational, cultural, risk orientation, and other personal and group-related factors. While this article zeros in on the effect that the baby boom will have on the healthcare investment market, there are a multiplicity of other factors and population segments that are, and will continue to exert significant pressure on healthcare economics and consumption patterns.The following businesses related to healthcare delivery are and will continue to be worthy of consideration by individuals, private equity, and venture capital investors. Again, it should be noted that the list is only a starting point, and that investment decisions should be made on the best current and projective information possible. It will be necessary to use an array of analytical tools and methods (e.g., Porter’s Five Forces and other financial and statistical methods and models) to assess the industry/sector/business opportunity prior to making a significant investment into healthcare. Having said this, potential healthcare investment opportunities exist in the following areas:
Integrated Healthcare Centers, i.e., primary care (particularly where physician services, diagnostics (X-ray, CT, MRI), laboratory, and pharmacy are delivered within a short radius)
Providers of products & services for diabetes management, congestive heart failure, COPD, coronary artery disease, and other high incidence chronic diseases
Providers of mobility and other daily living assistive devices for those with a range of impaired gross or fine motor skills or other mobility limitations (e.g., caused by pain, arthritis, joint immobility)
Pharmaceutical and biotechology innovators and providers (care must be exercised due to patent limitations, proliferation of substitutes – generic drugs, lengthy approval processes, and other process and outcome risks such as the Vioxx controversy )
Health and hospitality services outsourcing (again, highly contextual and requires significant demand/supply driver analysis, political, environmental, union/non-union and other forces analysis)
In-home healthcare services (e.g., nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, care and support)
Medical or surgical retreats (highly specialized, significant risk)
Assisted Living or Long-term Care (these resources are capital intensive and targeted at the parents of the boomers, i.e., the WWI babies) – it will be 20 years before boomers will require these services in any great volume (be careful)
Major equipment and major/minor supplies providers (e.g., MRI, CT, ultrasound through to re-useable and disposable equipment)
Providers of re-furbished medical equipment to secondary markets, which include more price-sensitive purchasers (e.g. re-furbished CT scanner for a smaller rural hospital)
Alternative medicine centers (e.g., offering Ayurvedic Medicine, acupuncture, traditional Chinese Medicine)
Since information technology is a core function in healthcare, the following is a stand alone list of technology-related opportunities related to data/information collection and transfer:
Devices: quick, simple to use, portable, and ease workflow in high stress healthcare environments (e.g., emergency departments, tele-health)
Devices whose operating systems converge with mainframe of networked systems that admit, track, audit, and generate reports with minimum input and robust rule-based error checking
Devices or system that integrates disparate healthcare network data and traffic
Devices or systems which accurately expedite services
Devices or systems which improve the accuracy and speed of diagnosis
Devices or systems which improve reduce human error and increase the probability of appropriate and targeted treatment options
Translational devices and applications of all sorts, i.e. translating actual “hands-on” data into useable, and interoperable information which can be used for diagnostic, treatment, recovery, and planning purposes
Electronic dashboard technology for strategic decision-makers
Providers of software applications that integrate disparate healthcare value chain and supply chain fragmentation
Providers of software applications that integrate in-hospital processes (e.g., admission, discharge, transfer); care-finance-payments; care-supplies-payments and other A/P and A/R alignment platforms and applications
Providers of software applications which refine, simplify, or facilitate the care planning of patients
Providers of systems integration
Providers of software applications for Human Resources, CRM, Finance, and other corporate functions
These are a few opportunities which currently exist in the healthcare context. As you might guess, many areas are being explored by larger firms. Healthcare IT is particularly attractive to larger, more highly capitalized companies and software developers. The competition amongst these groups is fierce due to the large volumes of funds in healthcare and the market opportunities driven by demographics and the need to constantly improve system performance. To date, there is no one firm with a strategic competitive advantage in any one area, though some healthcare sectors (e.g., diagnostics) have a high concentration of highly capitalized firms (e.g., GE and Siemens competing in the CT, MRI market).Whatever investment decisions you decide, the amount of money you risk should be in proportion to your risk tolerance. Even “slam dunk” opportunities can turn out to be dogs if the circumstances are not right; or a context specific barrier is not weighed; or social attitudes do an about face. If you are scanning the healthcare markets for opportunities to invest, be sure to do your due diligence and get help to investigate this complex and ever-expanding area. The due diligence you do prior to investing significant capital is essential to ensuring high double digit returns whilst minimizing your risk.