Many individuals enjoy the freedom of being able to work full or part time and even to earn money while they are on vacation. Stock trading is also an excellent choice for individuals with disabilities or older people who are less mobile, and for whom working from home is the best option.

Until the advent of the internet, it was difficult to trade stocks if you were not a professional in the commodities and stock industry. Now, anyone can easily educate him or herself on the process of trading, and complete transactions online from home. The only equipment that you will need is a laptop or desktop computer with internet access. If you do have a laptop, you'll be able to do your work from any location that offers wireless internet, even your favorite coffee shop.

No more are the days when the only way to trade stocks was to go to a stock broker, who could easily charge huge commissions for every transaction completed. For those who weren't interested in, or able to, trade large numbers of stocks, it was nearly impossible to pay these huge fees. Now, stock firms have found that it is far cheaper to do business via the internet, and the fees for doing business with them has dropped accordingly.

In this day and age, you can research and invest in any number of publicly offered stocks. Just because you didn't go to school to be a trader doesn't mean that you aren't able to make investment decisions on your own. In fact, you might just find that you have that special aptitude for investing, and an intuition about stocks that simply cannot be taught in business school.

The key to investing in the stock market on your own is to turn yourself into an informed investor. You can research most stocks online and draw your own conclusions. It's amazing how quickly you can make money when the market is moving in your direction. Sometimes you will gain hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars in just a few short moments.

There is no certain kind of education or experience that determines who would be good at trading stocks. It is mostly a matter of being determined and willing to learn about how the stock market operates.

The first time that I heard the term "flat organization," I was sitting across from a C-Level acquaintance and couldn't help but picture everyone in the company lined up across a table. Or, I would picture the traditional organizational chart being smashed down from a three-dimensional structure, to a two-dimensional view. Hmmm, it would seem that I would rather be on the outskirts of that smash, so I wouldn't be the squashed! I was actually thankful that I was not a part of the organization.

Wikipedia describes a flat organization in a pretty straight-forward manner. I know, it is Wikipedia, but hey, I wanted to give it to you in an easy-to-understand format. No insults intended!

Flat Organization In Theory

The concept, as this gentleman explained it, was that no one was more important than any other person. Ok, sounds good, but, in reality, does it work that way? I mean, the part that he seemed to miss was that it sounded good in his office, but when we walked out of his office, it was evident that everyone seemed to be so afraid of losing their jobs that they would respect his role because of the very title that showed up on his business card, regardless of what his views on management were. So, that squashed flat organization may have the underlings creeping to hide and respect those above them until the whole two-dimensional process became an organization chart again, and everyone bowed down to the authority figures at the top.

At that point I thought the concept of a flat organization sounded good, but, in reality, it may not be possible, certainly not if the "team" were hiding in fear.

The definition of a market trend is simply the movement within a financial market over a period of time.  Using varying forms of technical analysis, market trends are recognized in order to help predict price in response to the course of the market.  There are three types of market trends:  secular trends, primary trends, and secondary trends.

Secular trends are movements in a particular direction and are characterized as an occurrence that of which are neither cyclical nor seasonal and exists over an extended period of time, usually five to 25 years.

Primary trends are supported throughout the entire financial market, not only segments or sectors, and usually have a duration of a year or greater.

Secondary trends are short term directions in price within a primary trend.  Secondary trends usually last for a few weeks up to a few months.

Within these trends, sectors of the market or the entire market can be classified as showing signs of being either bearish or bullish, meaning the price of securities are rising or falling and will continue to so over a period of time.

Bull Market

In times of a bull market, security prices, once again, in certain sectors or as a whole, are increasing and/or expecting to increase and also show signs of increasing at a more rapid rate than the historic average. 

I don't remember the date. Oh, I should remember the date. Was it St. Patrick's Day? The details of the date are so obscure now, but that Monday, itself, is far from obscure.

It was the year 2008 and it was the day that the great company, a seeming pillar to the essence of life on Wall Street, ceased to exist. Oh, I know, I am probably giving Bear Stearns more credit than they deserve, as far as historical significance (did I just use the word, "historical" in reference to Bear Stearns?!), but isn't this similar to an artist, when they die, and their art because even more beautiful when the loss of the artist is fully realized? Just think about the loss of Whitney Houston, recently, and you know what I mean, about an emphasis on loss! Similarly, when I found out my aunt died, I realized I should have called her more often. That is our human nature and we tend to mourn our losses, sometimes more than we appreciate them when they are not a loss.

I realize that Bear Stearns was not a personal as the death of my aunt, and they didn't hit the core of my soul in the way that Whitney Houston did, with her music and her very self, however, it was personal, and that day was, nonetheless, significant in the fiber of the tapestry called life, being very real.

2012 and the DJIA 13000

I was so excited last week, when the Dow Jones industrial Average (DJIA) peaked above 13000. I know, it wasn't much, but it was significant and it was the first time since 2008, and, well, I felt like a high school cheerleader over the whole thing! That event got me got me reminiscing about the years since and the year 2008.

A Bleak 2008 Morning

That morning, I came into work as normal, sat down, ready to meet the day, ready for the market to open. It wasn't very long before the buzz was through the office. Being in Los Angeles, the traders were rearing to go and ready for the market open in New York, but it wasn't like the office was full, yet, that early in the morning. It was a surreal moment when you could almost hear a pin drop, yet it seemed to scream loudly in the ear, "Bear Stearns is gone!"

Just the week before, I had called up a friend of mine at Bear Stearns and we were going to get together for lunch. Oh, we had it on our calendar every week but it seemed that both of us were always so busy that we would put it off for the next week and when we did hook up for lunch it seemed to be a trip to the Farmer's Market, on the designated day when they set up in the area, and eating lunch as we walked back to the office. We were only a couple of floors apart in this building. Our company had a lot of connections with Bear Stearns, as our custodian, and it seemed like we were a younger sibling. So, that morning, of all things that popped into my head, I thought about my friend and our lunch date!

When the reality of what happened finally hit me, I called her up and realized that even she didn't know the impending news when she left work that Friday before. Being in management at Bear Stearns, I would have thought that she would have had an inkling. That made the whole situation seem even more surreal and the "What is happening to us" foreboding feeling that comes with confusing news and the confusing times that wear about to beset us.

If we fast forward, we got a little accustomed to news like this, with the Lehman Brothers and other institutions and newsworthy events in the financial and economic arena. I guess you could say we became a little numb to it, notwithstanding a surge of emotion during the revelation of the Madoff Ponzi scheme. It seemed that all of us would breathe a sigh of relief that it "wasn't us" each morning when market would open and hope that was still the case tomorrow.

Hope For the Future?

What about hope? What about the future? Well, time will tell. There certainly are different theories, but, looking back, there wasn't much we could do to change it and, as they say, hindsight is always 20/20. But, I am a person with hope and like to think it can't get much worse - can it?

Am I excited about the market improvements last week? You can better your bottom dollar! But, that feeling is tempered with memories (after I finish jumping for joy!)...

I will never forget the day that Bear Stearns took its last breath and we entered into uncertain times in our economy... I hope for a bright tomorrow.

As the 2011 faded away into the past, with it faded away some other uncertainties. Like, with the advent of the New Year (2012), the US stocks. once again gained some certainty as a profitable investment option. The main thing that the investors count on is the ROI or the Return on Investment. Based on the ROI factor, the investors go in for large investments – in the hope of large returns. Along with the ROI, it is equally important for you to consider about the safety of the investment vehicle and the time till which you will be required to wait to get back the returns. So, which are the other investments along with the stocks which can be considered to be good in 2012?

Investments in 2012

You will have to decide on the best investment options based on the rule of thumb. Thus you are supposed to get back at least the money which you had invested. So, based on this rule the investment options that can be considered to be profitable for this year are:

• Stocks and bonds – The year 2012 is considered to be a good with regards to investments in the stocks of certain companies. It is safe to invest with the “blue chip” companies like Disney, IBM and so on who are not supposed to lose much on the market front. But, in order to earn greater ROI from stock investment, it is important for you to have a clear idea on the way the stock market works.
• You can also invest money in the stock mutual funds. These are bets for those who are new to investment and have little money for investment. The risk with the stock mutual funds is that it is pool of different stocks of various companies. The transaction fees too are not a thing of concern for the investors. You can also try out bond investments in 2012. Bonds mostly work in the same way as the Certificate of Deposits or CDs. You will be required to deposit the money for a fixed time and then earn benefits on that. In this year, you can invest in the US savings bond and the corporate or municipal bonds.
• Bank accounts and funds – You can invest your money in the different savings accounts. This is simple form of investment which helps you to get good returns. There are different types of accounts and funds. You can put your money in the saving accounts, checking accounts and so on. In addition, you can also invest your money in the income funds and the different kinds of aggressive growth funds. There are also the options for you to invest in the foreign funds and the index funds.

So, there are the three main options in which you can start investing your money for this year. In addition to this, you will also have to keep in mind that in order to save and invest, you will be required to maintain a low debt level and lower your expenditure. Only if you can have low debt levels, you will be able to direct the money towards investment.

Now, you can choose from many different applications for your smartphone that will help you stay in total control of your income and outgoings each month without having to delve into your filing system or deal with a single piece of paper.

Here is a look at five of the best personal finance applications for your phone, covering programs for both iPhone and Android devices.