Tehran Stock Exchange

structured product

tse — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:58:22 GMT

A structured product is generally a pre-packaged investment strategy which is based on derivatives, such as a single security, a basket of securities, options, indices, commodities, debt issuances and/or foreign currencies, and to a lesser extent, swaps. The variety of products just described is demonstrative of the fact that there is no single, uniform definition of a structured product.

A feature of some structured products is a "principal guarantee" function which offers protection of principal if held to maturity. For example, an investor invests 100 dollars, the issuer simply invests in a risk free bond which has sufficient interest to grow to 100 after the 5 year period. This bond might cost 80 dollars today and after 5 years it will grow to 100 dollars. With the leftover funds the issuer purchases the options and swaps needed to perform whatever the investment strategy is. Theoretically an investor can just do this themselves, but the costs and transaction volume requirements of many options and swaps are beyond many individual investors.

As such, structured products were created to meet specific needs that cannot be met from the standardized financial instruments available in the markets. Structured products can be used as an alternative to a direct investment, as part of the asset allocation process to reduce risk exposure of a portfolio, or to utilize the current market trend.

SEC Rule 434 (regarding certain prospectus deliveries) defines structured securities as "securities whose cash flow characteristics depend upon one or more indices or that have embedded forwards or options or securities where an investor's investment return and the issuer's payment obligations are contingent on, or highly sensitive to, changes in the value of underlying assets, indices, interest rates or cash flows."

The Pacific Stock Exchange defines structured products as "products that are derived from and/or based on a single security or securities, a basket of stocks, an index, a commodity, debt issuance and/or a foreign currency, among other things" and include "index and equity linked notes, term notes and units generally consisting of a contract to purchase equity and/or debt securities at a specific time."

Market breadth

tse — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:40:05 GMT

Market breadth

Definition:

The fraction of the overall market that is participating in the market's up or down move. spread across stock market is a measure of how many stocks listed on a stock market rise or fall on a particular day, rather than just counting the changes in the values of a few leading shares.

Stock market breadth is a tally of how many stocks rose in value versus how many stocks declined in value. Unlike the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which follows just 30 stocks, stock market breadth is a more inclusive ratio, taking almost all stocks traded on an exchange into account. Rather than concentrating on just a few key stocks, stock market breadth gives an investor a much larger overview of the market's overall trend. If more issues close higher today than yesterday, then stock market breadth is said to be positive. If more issues close lower, then stock market breadth is considered to be negative. Stock market breadth is often a key component of the technical analyst's arsenal of market indicators.

The number of stocks that are participating in either the markets upward or downward movement. If the stock market rises during a trading session and a large number of stocks also rise, then the market has good breadth. Inversely, if the market rises, but only a relatively small number of stocks rise, the upward price movement is said to lack breadth. The same is true of a declining market. Breadth often is measured by the advance-decline ratio, which compares the numbers of stocks rising against the number of those that are falling.

A-D
Refers to Advance-Decline. Measurement of the number of issues trading above their previous closing prices less the number trading below their previous closing prices over a particular period. As a technical measure of market breadth, the steepness of the A-D line graphically shows whether a strong bull or bear market is underway. Features in the indicator section of the website. Interesting indicator, but not a lot of use in day trading.

When more trading stocks are advancing than declining, the A/D Line moves up otherwise down. The A/D Line may be a better visual indicator of a markets direction than more traditional measures (such as the S&P Index, for example), giving a better visual clue as to the market's trend, and how long it has been trending. As an indicator used in day trading it is obviously of little use, as it functions best on a far longer timescale. Often, divergences between the A/D line and a market signal the end of a trend - the A/D changing BEFORE the underlying market. The numeric value of the A/D Line is less important than its slope and pattern.

The formula for the advance/decline line looks like this:

A/D Line = (# of Advancing Stocks - # of Declining Stocks) + Yesterday's A/D Line Value

It is cumulative and normally plots a line similar to the price chart of the given index. The A/D line can be used alone or together with the price chart to look for divergences. A divergence suggests that a move in the price chart is unsupported by the broad market, and it should, therefore, be taken as a warning of an impending turning point in the index or market.
A traditional technical indicator, such as a moving average or a stochastic oscillator, can be applied to the chart or used to smooth the signals it gives.

breadth-of-market theory

Definition
A technical analysis technique that predicts the strength of the market based on the number of issues that are advancing or declining.

Direct Market Access

tse — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:38:32 GMT

Direct Market Access (DMA) refers to electronic facilities that allow buy side firms to more directly access liquidity for financial securities they may wish to buy or sell. Using DMA, the firms still use the infrastructure of sell side firms but take over more of the control over the way a transaction ("trade") is executed.

There are several motivations to use DMA rather than alternative forms of order placement:

DMA offers lower transactions cost
DMA orders are not worked by brokers, so there is less chance of error or execution irregularities
DMA orders can be extremely fast, and allow traders to take advantage of very short lived market opportunities

DMA was previously provided by independent firms, but the acceptance of such facilities has led to consolidation and acquisition by established sell-side firms, e.g. purchase of Instinet in 2007 by Nomura Holdings.

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Direct Market Access (DMA) is a service offered by some stockbrokers that enables sophisticated private investors to place buy and sell orders directly on the London Stock Exchange order books. With DMA private investors can level the playing field and trade like market professionals.

What is DMA?
DMA gives private investors direct access to the London Stock Exchange order book. Find out more.

Benefits of DMA
DMA offers private investors many benefits including the ability to take control of their trades by making the price, not taking the price. Find out more.

Education
Practice placing orders through DMA with an interactive DMA Simulator or learn more about DMA and order books. Find out more.

DMA providers
Find stockbrokers who currently offer a DMA service. Click here.

WHY Iran

tse — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:37:20 GMT

Why Iran?

10 Reasons to Invest in Iran

Iran qualifies from many respects to be a good location for investment and doing business. Some of the features are highlighted below:

1. Strategic Location:

A unique geographical location at the heart of a cross-road connecting the Middle East, Asia and Europe, coupled with many inter- and trans-regional trade, customs, tax and investment arrangements;

2. Market Potentials and Proximity:

Vast domestic market with a population of 68 million growing steadily as well as quick access to neighboring markets with approximately 300 million inhabitants;

3. Labor Privileges:

Large pool of trained and efficient manpower at very competitive cost in a diversified economy with an extensive industrial base and service sector;

4. Developed Infrastructure:

Territory developed networking in the area of telecommunication, power, water, roads and railways across the country;

Transportation & Telecommunication Network
Expressways and Roads:		Shipping:
Length:	68,685 km	No of Gov. Ships	145
Freight Carried:	238 million tons	Freight Carried:	144 million ton
Passengers:	219 million	Airways:
Railways:		No of Airports:	76
Railways:		No of international Airports:	9
Length:	11,487 km	Passengers:	20.3 million
No of Locomotives	578	Telecom:
Freight Carried:	300 million ton	Fixed Phones:	20.9 million
Passengers:	19.4 million	Mobile Phones:	9 million

Source: Statistical Center of Iran, Iran Statistical Yearbook 1383-84 (2004-05)

5. Low Utility and Production Cost:

Diversified range of energy, telecommunication, transportation, as well as public utilities;

Infrastructure & Utility Costs
Item	Cost (USD)
One minute local phone/fax	Less than 0.02
One minute international phone/fax (maximum)	Less than 0.20
One kilowatt/hour grid high voltage industrial electricity	0.02
One litter of gas	0.08
One cubic meter of natural gas	Less than 0.02
One litter of gasoline	Less than 0.02
One litter of refined oil	Less than 0.02
One cubic meter of Municipal lines water	0.25
One cubic meter of well water	0.10

Source: Various Government Agencies and Publications

6. Abundant Natural Resources:

Varied and plentiful reserves of natural resources ranging from oil and gas to metallic and non-metallic species reflecting the country’s accessibility to readily available raw materials;

Mineral	Reserve (million ton)	Mineral	Reserve(million ton)
Oil	89.7 billion barrel	Kaolin, Fire	100
Gas	26.3 trillion m³	Lead & Zinc	94
Asbestos	120	Magnesite	5
Barite	3.8	Manganese	8
Bauxite	14	Mica	0.2
Bentonite	6.8	Molybdenum	0.05
Boron	0.02	Nepheline	1,300
Chromite	7.5	Orpiment	0.03
Celestite	0.7	Phosphate Rock	630
Coal	4,000	Salt	102
Copper	3,000	Silica & Quartz	128
Feldspar	3.7	Silver	0.4
Fluorine	3	Talc	1.6
Gold Ore	16.5	Turquoise	500
Gypsum	2,200	Dimensional Stone	3,000
Iron Ore	2,800	Limestone	8,500

Source: Ministry of Mines and Metals

7. Climatic Characteristics:

A four-season climatic endowment as a privilege to agricultural activities throughout the country and throughout all seasons;

Mid Summer			Mid Winter
Climate Factor	North of Iran	South of Iran	Climate Factor	North of Iran	South of Iran
Temperature (c)	Min: 5	Max: 50	Temperature (c)	Min: -28	Max: 31
Humidity (%)	70	10	Humidity (%)	90	20
Rainfall (mm)	165	0	Rainfall (mm)	1200	125

Source: Statistical Center of Iran, Iran Statistical Yearbook 1381 (2002-03)

8. Fiscal Incentives:

Reduced tax rates from 65% to a flat fixed 25% rate of tax on income despite various tax holidays highlighted as follows:

Highlights of Tax Holidays
Activity	Level of Exemption	Duration of Exemption
Agriculture	100%	No Time Limit
Industry and Mining	80%	4 Years
Industry and Mining in Less-Developed Areas	100%	10 Years
Tourism	50%	No Time Limit
Exports	100%	No Time Limit

Source: State Tax Organization, Direct Taxation Act

9. Political Stability:

Representative system of government based on friendly relationship with other nations;:

10. New Investment Legislation:

Enactment of the new Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act (FIPPA) to substitute the former Law Concerning Attraction and Protection of Foreign Investments in Iran (LAPFI) by providing full security and legal protection to foreign investments based on transparency and international standards.accessibility to readily available raw materials;

The Birth Of Stock Exchanges

tse — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:47:40 GMT

When people talk stocks they are usually talking about companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
It's the big daddy and the big leagues. From a corporate perspective, anyone who's anyone is listed there, and it can be difficult for investors to imagine a time when the NYSE wasn't synonymous with investing.
But, of course, it wasn't always this way; there were many steps along the road to our current system of exchange.

You may be surprised to learn that the first stock exchange thrived for decades without a single stock actually being traded
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In this text i will look at the evolution of stock exchanges, from the Venetian slates, to the British coffeehouses, and finally to the NYSE and its brethren.

The Real Merchants of Venice

The moneylenders of Europe filled important gaps left by the larger banks. Moneylenders traded debts between each other; a lender looking to unload a high-risk, high-interest loan might exchange it for a different loan with another lender. These lenders also bought government debt issues. As the natural evolution of their business continued, the lenders began to sell debt issues to customers - the first individual investors.

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In the 1300s, the Venetians were the leaders in the field and the first to start trading the securities from other governments. They would carry slates with information on the various issues for sale and meet with clients, much like a broker does today.
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The First Stock Exchange - Sans the Stock
Belgium boasted a stock exchange as far back as 1531, in Antwerp. Brokers and moneylenders would meet there to deal in business, government and even individual debt issues. It is odd to think of a stock exchange that dealt exclusively in promissory notes and bonds, but in the 1500s there were no real stocks. There were many flavors of business-financier partnerships that produced income like stocks do, but there was no official share that changed hands.

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All Those East India Companies

In the 1600s, the Dutch, British, and French governments all gave charters to companies with East India in their names. On the cusp of imperialism's high point, it seems like everyone had a stake in the profits from the East Indies and Asia except the people living there. Sea voyages that brought back goods from the East were extremely risky - on top of Barbary pirates, there were the more common risks of weather and poor navigation.

In order to lessen the risk of a lost ship ruining their fortunes, ship owners had long been in the practice of seeking investors who would put up money for the voyage - outfitting the ship and crew in return for a percentage of the proceeds if the voyage was successful. These early limited liability companies often lasted for only a single voyage. They were then dissolved, and a new one was created for the next voyage. Investors spread their risk by investing in several different ventures at the same time, thereby playing the odds against all of them ending in disaster. (For more on how this practice plays out today.

When the East India companies formed, they changed the way business was done.
These companies had stocks that would pay dividends on all the proceeds from all the voyages the companies undertook, rather than going voyage by voyage.
These were the first modern joint stock companies. This allowed the companies to demand more for their shares and build larger fleets. The size of the companies, combined with royal charters forbidding competition, meant huge profits for investors.
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A Little Stock With Your Coffee?
Because the shares in the various East India companies were issued on paper, investors could sell the papers to other investors.
Unfortunately, there was no stock exchange in existence, so the investor would have to track down a broker to carry out a trade.
In England, most brokers and investors did their business in the various coffee shops around London.
Debt issues and shares for sale were written up and posted on the shops' doors or mailed as a newsletter.

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The South Seas Bubble Bursts
The British East India Company had one of the biggest competitive advantages in financial history - a government-backed monopoly.
When the investors began to receive huge dividends and sell their shares for fortunes, other investors were hungry for a piece of the action.
The budding financial boom in England came so quickly that were no rules or regulations for the issuing of shares. The South Seas Company (SSC) emerged with a similar charter from the king and its shares, and the numerous re-issues, sold as soon as they were listed. Before the first ship ever left the harbor, the SSC had used its new-found investor fortune to open posh offices in the best parts of London.

Encouraged by the success of the SSC and realizing that the company hadn't done a thing except issue shares, other "businessmen" rushed in to offer new shares in their own ventures.
Some of these were as ludicrous as reclaiming the sunshine from vegetables or, better yet, a company promising investors shares in an undertaking of such vast importance that they couldn't be revealed.
They all sold. Before we pat ourselves on the back for how far we've come, remember that these blind pools still exist today.

Inevitably, the bubble burst when the SSC failed to pay any dividends off its meager profits, highlighting the difference between these new share issues and the British East India Company.
The subsequent crash caused the government to outlaw the issuing of shares - the ban held until 1825.

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Eight Sure-Fire Ways to Sock Away $100

tse — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:56:10 GMT

by Jeffrey Strain

Let the economic pundits argue whether or not we're in a recession.

Either way, consumers are cutting back on spending.

Along with this comes a desire to save money as well. But how? If you have a few hours to spare you can find ways to put $100 or more back into your pocket.

The money may not show up instantly, but the time and effort to create the savings is minimal. By year's end you will have saved a nice chunk of change. In some cases, your savings will keep piling up well after that.

Here are eight actions to add $100 or more to your savings:

1. Wash With Cold Water

Many people don't realize that the major cost of running a washing machine is the electricity it takes to heat the water. This accounts for 85% to 90% of the energy used.

Set your washing machine to run a cold wash/cold rinse cycle instead of a hot wash/cold rinse. This should have little impact on how clean your clothes get since washing machines and detergents have advanced enough that only the dirtiest and greasiest clothes now need a hot wash to get clean.

While a hot wash/cold rinse setting will cost about $100 to $150 a year if you do a load of laundry a day, the same number of loads with a cold wash/cold rinse setting will cost about $10 a year.

That's $100 in savings, and can be much more if you have children and do frequent wash loads. Best of all, it takes a split second to turn the knob on your washing machine to receive this savings.

2. Drink More Water

Many people have grown accustomed to having some type of flavor in their drinks -- whether that be soda, fruit juice, an energy drink or something similar.

While only drinking water (of the nonbottled variety) would be the ideal way to save the most money, there is about as much chance of that happening as you never eating another snack.

But even reducing the amount you drink can save quite a bit of money over time.

Instead of saying that you can no longer have the drinks you like, a simple way to reduce the amount you consume is to make a point of drinking three glasses of water a day.

The water will reduce your cravings for your usual drink, although not eliminate it, since you'll find you're just less thirsty during the day.

If you can cut out three drinks a week that usually cost $1, you have saved over $150 a year for the minute or so it takes to fill three glasses of water each day.

3. Compare Prices

The Internet has leveled the playing field when shopping for such things as auto insurance and homeowners insurance.

All it takes is a few minutes of inputting information to see if you can get a better deal. Since it's such a competitive field, you can often save hundreds a year -- especially if you haven't checked prices recently.

You can take this a step further depending on how dedicated you want to be by price comparing all your major purchases through sites such as PriceGrabber or Shopping.com and save hundreds more.

4. Use Coupons

Many people scoff at coupons because of the time it takes to gather and organize them.

Then there's the obvious nerdiness factor.

Truth is, even if you aren't the coupon-clipping type, you can still save quite a bit with them.

All it takes is five minutes to look at the ones that come with the Sunday paper, in the daily mail and any others that you happen across.

Cut out only those for the products that you already use and will purchase again and don't bother with any others. It only takes $2 each week in coupon savings to save more than $100 a year. When you think of all the coupons that go beyond groceries (pizza, oil change, haircut, etc.) it should be easy to save much more than this with little time or effort.

5. Start Haggling

While most people don't take the time to do it, virtually all the services you currently pay for are negotiable, including your cable TV, gym membership, phone bill and Internet service. While asking for a better deal may not work with all of these all of the time, you will get a discount a lot more times than you probably imagine.

All it takes is a 10-minute call to each service. If you can negotiate a $10 a month discount on each, that comes to $480 a year in savings for a few phone calls. It will probably end up being a lot more.

6. Get a Lower Credit Card Rate

While you're on the phone, be sure to make a call to your credit card company if you currently carry a balance on your credit card.

Many people don't realize that all it takes to lower your credit card interest rate in many cases is a simple phone call asking. A 2002 study found that over half the people who had good credit and called their credit card company to get a better interest rate were able to do so with the average person reducing the rate by one-third.

If you have a $5000 balance at 21% interest and were able to knock that down to 14%, you would save $350 a year. The 15-minute call will also knock years off the time it would take to pay the debt off.

7. Sell Stuff

You have a lot more stuff stored in your house than you will ever need or use.

A quick check of your closets, basement, garage and other nooks and crannies should produce boxes of stuff that you own, but no longer have any use for.

Instead of keeping them in perpetual storage, sell it all. You can do it online through sites like eBay or Craigslist, or have a garage sale and get rid of it all at once.

The basic guideline: If you haven't used something for the last year, you will probably never use it again.

Selling all this will keep your house less cluttered and will also bring in well over $100 in most cases.

8. Refinance Your Home

With interest rates at the lowest level in years, it's time to see if refinancing your home loan (or any outstanding loan you have) is worthwhile.

Knocking off a point can save thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the loan.

Even if you have a nonconforming loan -- or jumbo loan -- which made it difficult to refinance in the past, this soon may no longer be the case.

As part of the economic stimulus package that President Bush says he will sign into law this week, conforming loans that are backed by the Federal Housing Administration will increase to a $729,750 limit from $417,000.

Since nonconforming loans usually carry a higher interest rate, this will allow some with jumbo loans to refinance into a conforming loan.

While the difference in interest rates vary, a conforming loan can be a full percentage point less expensive since it is backed by the government.

A jumbo 30-year fixed loan that was 6.75% before the law, for example, would have a payment of $3,892 a month. Once enacted, the buyer would be able to obtain the same loan of $600,000 at an interest rate of 5.75%.

The monthly payment would be $3,502 which would save the borrower $390 a month, or $4,680 a year.

While refinancing is a bit more complicated than the other saving methods and will take a bit more time to complete all the necessary work, the amount saved per year is huge and thus well worth the effort.

Note: To make the savings last, you need to set the money aside that you save after completing the above tasks.

If you merely congratulate yourself for saving money, but don't separate the money into another account, it will likely be spent on other things and the savings will never materialize.

European Climate Exchange

tse — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:23:00 GMT

The European Climate Exchange (ECX) manages the product development and marketing for ECX Carbon Financial Instruments (ECX CFIs), listed and admitted to trading on the ICE Futures electronic platform. It is no longer a subsidiary of the Chicago Climate Exchange but rather a sister company. Both companies are owned by Climate Exchange Plc a holding company listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market.

ECX / ICE Futures is the most liquid, pan-European platform for carbon emissions trading, with its futures contract based on the underlying EU Allowances (EUAs) attracting over 80% of the exchange-traded volume in the European market. ECX contracts are standardised exchange-traded products and all trades are cleared by LCH.Clearnet.

More than 80 leading businesses, including global companies such as Barclays, BP, Calyon, E.ON UK, Endesa, Fortis, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Shell have signed up for membership to trade ECX products. In addition, several hundred clients can access the market daily via banks and brokers.

ECX is a member of the Climate Exchange Plc group of companies. Other member companies include the Chicago Climate Exchange (“CCX”). Climate Exchange Plc is listed on AIM on the London Stock Exchange.

The current Chief Executive is Patrick Birley, son of Robin Birley (archaeologist)

History of stock exchange

tse — Sun, 25 May 2008 09:01:27 GMT

Historian Fernand Braudel suggests that in Cairo in the 11th century Muslim and Jewish merchants had already set up every form of trade association and had knowledge of many methods of credit and payment, disproving the belief that these were invented later by Italians.

In 12th century France the courratiers de change were concerned with managing and regulating the debts of agricultural communities on behalf of the banks. Because these men also traded with debts, they could be called the first brokers.

In late 13th century Bruges commodity traders gathered inside the house of a man called Van der Beurse, and in 1309 they became the "Brugse Beurse", institutionalizing what had been, until then, an informal meeting. The idea quickly spread around Flanders and neighboring counties and "Beurzen" soon opened in Ghent and Amsterdam.

In the middle of the 13th century Venetian bankers began to trade in government securities. In 1351 the Venetian government outlawed spreading rumors intended to lower the price of government funds. Bankers in Pisa, Verona, Genoa and Florence also began trading in government securities during the 14th century. This was only possible because these were independent city states not ruled by a duke but a council of influential citizens.

The Dutch later started joint stock companies, which let shareholders invest in business ventures and get a share of their profits - or losses. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company issued the first shares on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. It was the first company to issue stocks and bonds.

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange (or Amsterdam Beurs) is also said to have been the first stock exchange to introduce continuous trade in the early 17th century.

The Dutch "pioneered short selling, option trading, debt-equity swaps, merchant banking, unit trusts and other speculative instruments, much as we know them" (Murray Sayle, "Japan Goes Dutch", London Review of Books XXIII.7, April 5, 2001).

There are now stock markets in virtually every developed and most developing economies, with the world's biggest markets being in the United States, Canada, China (Hongkong), India, UK, Germany, France and Japan

Guide to Invest in TSE

tse — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:14:18 GMT

Guide to Invest in

the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE)

by Foreign Natural Persons and Legal Entities

This guide has been composed to serve the needs of prospective foreign investors who are willing to make an Indirect Investment (Foreign Portfolio Investment) in the Tehran Stock Exchange. To invest in the TSE listed securities and manage his/her own portfolio, foreign investor shall fully observe the Regulations on Paragraph C, Article 15 of the fourth Economic, Social, and Cultural Development Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Annex.1) and also the following detailed steps.

Follow link!!!

http://www.iranbourse.com/Default.aspx?tabid=179