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Resistance

Resistance

When discussing trading of financial instruments one of the indicators that a trader will look at is the resistance and support levels.  Resistance levels are those price levels that indicate that a stock has hit a virtual ceiling and the price will begin to come down.  Resistance in a stock trading situation is kind of like an upside down trampoline.  When the resistance level is reached it will cause a “bouncing” affect where the price of the financial instrument will begin a downward decline.  
The opposite of resistance is support.  A support level is a level where once a financial instrument drops to a specific level the trend of the financial instrument will indicate that that reaching that price level will cause the stock to start an upward tick.  Resistance levels are found by looking at financial instruments closing prices over the course of a number of months or years.  When you find a price range that tends to trigger a downturn in stock price it can be used as a resistance level.  Once a stock hits its resistance level it has a tendency to take a downturn until it reaches its support level.  The support level will do the opposite and cause the stock price to go up.  
Traders tend to use the resistance and support levels as an indicator of when to buy and sell their financial instruments.  When a financial instruments trading price is rising and about to reach a resistance level it will usually be treated by the investor as a time to sell the instrument.  In contrast, when a stock price is dropping the investor will wait until the stock price reaches a support level and buy the stock.  
Just as in any other form of trading these resistance and support levels are not definite.  Even though there is a pattern that a trader will follow in making these decisions the stock price may reach the resistance level and keep going until it hits a new resistance level and is pushed back down.  In the converse a stock price may drop farther than its support level until it reaches a lower support level and is bounced back upwards.

MACD

MACD

MACD stands for Moving Average Convergence Divergence.  This is a mathematical tool that traders use to predict fluctuations in the stock market or other markets involving financial instruments.  The MACD is comprised of two different Exponential Moving Averages, one long term and the other short term, for the same stock.  An exponential moving average is a moving average where the earlier dates in the moving average are weighed less than those that are more recent. 
When creating a MACD the longer Exponential Moving Average is usually around 26 days while the shorter Exponential Moving Average is 12 days.  The two EMAs are plotted on a graph with the resulting EMAs hovering close to each other around zero.  The MACD on a chart consists of a MACD signal line, the Exponential Moving Average and the MACD histogram.  The MACD histogram is a bar graph that charts the differences, positive or negative, in value between the 26 day EMA and the 12 day EMA.  
MACD is often used by traders to reach determinations on when to get involved with a stock or when to exit from trading in that asset.  When the short term, 12 day, Exponential Moving Average rises above the slower moving long term, 26 day, Exponential Moving Average it is called a convergent movement.  This is often an indicator that positive trends show it is a good time to invest in that particular asset.  When the short term Exponential Moving Average is lower than the long term exponential moving average then you have a divergent movement.  This trend is usually used as an indicator of it being a good time to sell the asset .
Studies seem to indicate  that the MACD is not a reliable tool for entry or exit signaling, like it is supposed to.  Many times it is found that the MACD will remain steady and upon a slight divergence it will indicate an exit signal where in reality it is just a minor lull that is, in fact, a minor bump prior to a major up tick.

Moving Average

Moving Average

A moving average is a tool used by investors in the stock market, and the purchase and sale of other financial instruments, that track trends and momentum in the market.  A moving average is created by taking a set number of data points, representing the closing price of a particular stock on a particular day, and averaging them to create vector showing the way the financial instrument has traded over a period of time.  For example, if you wanted to create a moving average for a particular stock over the past month you would take the closing price of the stock for the last 30 days; add them together; and divide by 30.  This will give you the moving average. 
If you were to continue to add to this average over a course of time the data points would become more and more diluted and tend to make the average meaningless.  The moving average corrects this by deleting the last data point in the sequence for every addition to the moving average.  For example, if you have a 30 day moving average, on the second day of your moving average you will delete day 1 as you add day 31.  In how the definition of “moving” average comes about.  
An investor can create a moving average for any amount of time he, or she, wishes.  The goal in creating different moving averages of different lengths is to track short and long term trending of a particular financial instrument.  Moving averages at or below 20 days are categorized as short term moving averages.  Those between 20 and 100 days are considered to be medium term where above 100 are long term.  Depending on the type of trading you are involved in you will want to design your moving average in a way that will be most beneficial to you.  A day trader may want a moving average that recomputes every 50 minutes where someone looking at blue chip stocks may want to look at trends over a 300 day period.
There are two main types of moving averages.  There is the simple moving average, SMA, and the exponential moving average, EMA.  The simple moving average is prevalent amongst beginning investors in that it is, by its name, simple to compute.  The Simple Moving Average is computed by weighing each data point equally.  In contrast, the Exponential Moving Average is computed by weighing the most recent data points more heavily than those from farther in the past.  The Exponential Moving Average is considered to be more reliable and better reflects current market trends.  

Workforce Investment Act

Workforce Investment Act

What is the Workforce Investment Act of 1998?
The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 was passed as Public Law 105-220 by the 105th Congress.  It preamble states:
To consolidate, coordinate, and improve employment, training, literacy,   and vocational rehabilitation programs in the United States, and for other purposes.
As stated, the intention of this law was to replace existing federal job training schemes with standardized workforce development legislation that works in partnership with small businesses to improve worker education and advancement.  The funds are allocated on a state-local level with local areas receiving 85% of funds and the remainder funding state-wide programs.
Who gets covered under the Workforce Reinvestment Act?
Adults and Dislocated Worker get priority status under the Workforce Reinvestment Act to enable them to find or keep their jobs by developing critical skills that increase their employment value and long term prospects.  Vocational training is a major component of this initiative by targeting adults that lack a post-secondary education and the even smaller number of “basic skills deficient” adults.  Adults living on public assistance or low incomes receive priority for educational and training services.
Low income youth are also target by this Act and obtain the skills and training they need to enter the workplace.  There is a mandatory allocation of 30% of funds to help youth 14 – 21 not currently attending school.  Services provided to youth include tutoring, internship and skills training.

Sources:
https://www.doleta.gov/usworkforce/wia/Runningtext.cfm
https://www.doleta.gov/regs/statutes/wialaw.txt

Workforce Investment Act Text

Workforce Investment Act Text

 

 

Title I – Workforce Investment Systems
 
 
This section defines the terms to be used throughout the bill and contains key definitions such as “basic skills deficient” to indentify individuals below and 8th grade standard of reading, math and writing skills.  There are 53 definitions that qualify terms used to refer to the specific circumstances of workers that require training and the organizations that may train them.  The key provision of the Workforce Investment Act is that the training and administration happen on a local level, so as to better indentify and understand key areas were the workers are skill deficient.
 
 
Chapter 1 provides for the establishment of State Workforce Investment Boards, created by the governors of each state to direct policy related to the Workforce Investment Act.  The text stipulates that the board represent a variety of economic interests and areas of the state.  The State Workforce Invest Boards are responsible for assessing the viability and success of the program and preparing annual assessments on the progress of employee training.  These reports must identify the needs of the state in terms of skills and opportunities for workers.  The State must also develop procedures for the disbursement of federal funds and work in consultation with local officials.  Additionally the state has the right to administer drug tests to program participants and sanction offenders as necessary.
 
 
Chapter 2 deals with Local Investment Areas and how state authorities, with consultation from the State board and local officials might designate these areas.  The text of the law suggests basing these areas around educational institutions, areas with high demand for skilled labor and accessibility to the most amounts of potential workers.  This area is subject to performance evaluation so as to maximize the funding allocated to training workers.  Local Investment Areas may encompass the entire state if that state is “small” as defined in the text of this bill.
 
 
There must be an additional Local Workforce Investment Board to administer to the Local Investment Area with the funding allocated by the State Board.  As stipulated in Sec. 117, this board must include local business leaders, executives and educational officials, representatives of labor organizations and elected officials.  This board is also tasked with oversight responsibility to ensure the maximum efficiency is attained in the disbursal of funds to various training programs.  These boards must also develop a “local plan” that describes the:
 
 
Workforce investment needs of businesses, jobseekers, and workers in the local area
 
 
The current and projected employment opportunities in the local area
 
 
The job skills necessary to obtain such employment opportunities
 
 
The report must also include assessments of services available to displaced and unskilled workers and the success of community youth programs.
 
 
Chapter 3 and 4 provide for the consolidation of services into a “one-stop“option for convenience and administrative efficiency.  It sets out regulations that define organization eligible to provide job training, youth activities and other organizations eligible for workforce investment funds.  For example, provisions on youth activities recommend that eligible organizations provide training, mentoring and emotional support.  Program elements should include tutoring, summer employment, leadership development and counseling.  The identification of these elements are key for the board to decide on disbursing funding and the law goes into great detail about what organizations involved in workforce investment must achieve.
 
 
Title I also provides for national job programs such as Job Cops, Migrant and Seasonal Worker skills development and specialized programs for Native Americans.  There are provisions to provide technical assistance to individual states and to initiate pilot programs for future use.
 
 
Title II – Adult Education and Literacy
 
 
This part of the Workforce Reinvestment Act is a joint governmental initiative to increase literacy amongst adults so that they may improve their lives and the education potential of their children.
 
 
Individuals covered by Title II are 16 or older, are not enrolled in secondary school, lack the English proficiency or necessary educational skills to function as effective members of society.  Title II provides funding for organizations that work to increase adult literacy and a parent-child educational relationship.  Grants are disbursed on the basis of a number of eligibility requirements with some restrictions on geographic location and population served.
 
 
There is an accountability system to measure if participating organizations are performing up to standard and making a meaningful impact on adult illiteracy.  Like Title I, the local and state governments must produce plans for the disbursement of funds and ensure that the program operates as intended.  Local administration is key to Title II and educational institutions apply for grants on the local level.
 
 
Remaining Sections
 
 
The remaining three titles provide for the establishment of national statistics to track the progress of the Workforce Reinvestment Act and provide incentives for states to meet federal standards for program success.  There are provisions for a national Job Corps that aims to place qualified in employment opportunities that provide for long term skills growth.  Lastly, emergency fund are set up to deal with disaster areas that may need to administer to dislocated workers in times of crisis.
 
 
Strengths of the Workforce Reinvestment Act
 
 
The primary strength of the Workforce Reinvestment Act is the local synergy of business, education, labor and political leaders to develop strategies to administer federal funding.  An appropriate amount of regulation and administration is in place to prevent waste and abuse and the annual reporting on the progress and status of funds spent by the program enable the federal government to keep track of the program budget.  Local determination helps tailor each program uniquely to meet local labor market needs that in turn benefits the long term prospects of local businesses and industry.
 
 
The “one stop” concept is also a useful administrative practice and encourages administrative efficiency in the disbursement of funds and relevant services to unskilled workers.  The literacy programs of Title II represent long term investments in educational capital by increasing the proficiency of adults, with hopes that this has a residual effect on the literacy and education of their children.

 

 

EDGAR

EDGAR

What is EDGAR?
EDGAR – Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval– is an acronym for the filing process employed by the SEC, which is the regulatory body employed by the Federal Government of the United States with regard to the authorization of legality existing within the realm of the public investment market. The EDGAR system is defined as an investigative measure undertaken within the SEC Filing process; prior to the granting of permission to participate in public trade and exchange of a company’s stocks and securities, that company will be required to both provide all applicable documentation, as well as receive approval from the SEC and the submission of applicable documentation and forms.
Components of the EDGAR Filing Process
Within the engagement of Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval, individual companies and corporations wishing engage in trade and exchange activities undertaken of the public market, which is also known as the stock market, are required to fulfill the requirements expressed by the SEC; within the realm of EDGAR, there exist a variety of stages to complete prior to the receipt of approval:
Companies may be required to provide any or all financial history with regard to the source of their respective funding; this is required in order for the Committee overseeing EDGAR to properly ascertain the nature – as well as the implicit legality – with regard to the funding of a respective company.
The mention of any or all holding companies, subsidiary companies, or mergers with regard to the ownership and operation of an individual company; the provision of this information allows for the Committee responsible for overseeing EDGAR to review any potential areas for collective or conspiratorial financial activity to take place.
The provision of earnings reports in tandem with spending reports; the provision of this material allows the Committee overseeing EDGAR to ensure that funds and monies earned by an individual company are not – or have not been – the subject of misappropriation or fraudulent activity; the nature of fiscal activity undertaken by an individual company allows for the accounting of funds, which substantiates lawful and ethical disbursement.
The provision of any or all reports of past criminal indiscretion with regard to finance and capital; the ‘EDGAR Process’ allows for the general populace to be privy to pertinent information with regard to the operation of an individual company – although past indiscretions do not necessarily constitute for rejection by the Committee overseeing EDGAR, that information is legally required to be made available to the general public.
The Purpose of EDGAR
The implementation of EDGAR was enacted as a preventative means undertaken by the Federal Government of the United States in order to not only regulate, but maintain authority over the financial activity undertaken by companies and corporations engaged within the trade and exchange activity taking place within the setting of the public, open market. The prevalence of government regulation, which is considered to be one of the many benefits of the EDGAR process, allows for the strict adherence and uniformity with regard to applicable legality concerning financial, as well as commercial matters.

Facts About the Sarbanes Oxley Act

Facts About the Sarbanes Oxley Act

What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was a piece of legislature that was passed in the year 2002; this act was proposed by Maryland Senator Paul Sarbanes and Ohio Senator Michael Oxley as means to provide added protection and security to the United States economy, while enacted more strict investigative and regulatory measures with regard to corporate finance, investing, and the trade – and exchange – taking place on the Commercial Market.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, subsequent to its passing, instituted the required fulfillment of a variety of federal stipulations and authorization on the part of any or all publically-traded companies with Market Capitalization values exceeding $75 million. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is perceived to be a direct response to the ENRON Corporation Scandal uncovered only a year prior to the passing of the Act.


Components of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Within the act, a vast array of stipulation, requirements, and classifications exist with regard to their respective – and mandatory – adherence on the part of applicable corporations; the following elements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are some of the most common:

Market Capitalization
Market Capitalization, which is the total calculation of a value of an individual company’s stocks and bonds in circulation within the public – or stock – market. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act enacted that every corporation exceeding a $75 million Market capitalization value would be required to adhere to the stipulations and legality expressed within the Bill; in contrast, – ‘Microcaps’ or ‘Penny Stocks’, which are defined as corporations whose respective Market Value does not exceed $50 million – would not be required to adhere to the legislature expressed within the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.


Government Regulation
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was promoted in order to address the inadequacies that both Senator Sarbanes, as well as Senator Oxley had perceived to be latent within SEC regulations; the SEC – also known as the Securities and Exchange Commission – is the governmental body under whose jurisdiction regulation and investigation of financial activity on the public market exists.
Although the SEC had been imposing audits and investigations with regard to alleged financial fraud, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act expanded on the implicit regulations with regard to financial companies suspected of illegal and unlawful activity.


Financial Fraud

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act not only expanded on the jurisdiction of the SEC, but also elaborated on punitive measures regarding criminal activity taking place with regard to corporations on an internal level – ‘internal’ is considered to represent the following:
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act mandates that any company or corporation suspected of destroying, forging, altering, or concealing official documentation may be subject to supplementary prosecution in addition to any or all preexisting charges.The Sarbanes-Oxley Act allows audits to take place by the SEC with regard to the investigation of any or all financial records in existence within a company or corporation applicable to this Act.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act authorizes the SEC the permission to investigate and authorize the process, history, and procedure with regard to any or all internal loans, transfer of funds, and movement of assets taking place within the infrastructure of the company.


Whistleblower Clause

Within the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, there exists a clause entitled the ‘Whistleblower Clause’, which draws on the informal title of an individual not employed by an official law enforcement agency, who brings a perceived injustice to light; this clause within the text of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act allows for the protection and accommodation of compliant employees agreeing in the cooperation of SEC-conducted investigations.

What Are SEC Filings

What Are SEC Filings

What are SEC Filings?

SEC Filings involve the legislative process of satisfying
the required paperwork provided by the SEC; the SEC – also known as the
Securities and Exchange Commission – is the regulatory body belonging to the
Federal Government of the United States of America responsible for the
authentication, investigation, and regulation of companies who are
publically-traded on the commercial, open market. SEC Filings are required by
any or all companies whose stock, bonds, or securities are traded or exchanged;
without completing SEC Filings, as well as the receipt of SEC authorization, a
company will be unable to participate in trade activity undertaken within the
stock market.

SEC Filings and EDGAR
(
Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval)

The EDGAR system is defined as an investigative measure
undertaken within the process of SEC Filings; prior to the granting of
permission to participate in public trade and exchange of a company’s stocks
and securities, that company will be required to both provide all applicable
documentation, as well as receive approval from the SEC Filings board. In
accordance with the process of SEC Filings, individual companies and
corporations wishing engage in trade and exchange activities undertaken of the
public market, which is also known as the stock market, are required to fulfill
the requirements expressed by the SEC; within the realm of SEC Filings, there
exist a variety of stages to complete prior to the receipt of approval.

Forms Required by the
SEC Filings Committee

The SEC Filings Board requires the submission of official
forms, which have been created – and subsequently classified – in order to
allow for the provision of pertinent information with regard to the receipt of
approval from the SEC; the following forms are required to be fulfilled and
submitted prior to approval:

Form 10-K

The 10-K Form is provided for completion by the SEC Filings
board; this form is considered to be the general account of performance with
regard to both financial and capital earned within that fiscal year; the
accuracy and truthfulness of the information illustrated by an individual
company’s 10-K Form is of the utmost importance – companies indicted in the act
of providing fraudulent and deceptive on the form will be subject to legal and
punitive recourse. The information conveyed on the 10-K form will be made
available to the general public; as a result, its authenticity and accuracy is
crucial – the following information is typically required:

Quarterly earnings of an individual country;
typically, this earnings reports coincides with fiscal quartering.

A provision of the range of Market
Capitalization experienced by that company on a quarterly basis; Market Capital
is the overall valuation of the full amount of stocks traded and exchanged
within that fiscal quarter – both the peaks, as well as the lows with regard to
individual, quarterly market capitalization are required by this SEC Filings
form.

Form 10-Q

In contrast to the 10-K form, which is filed once, this form
is filed 3 times a year; the respective filings typically coincide with fiscal
quarters. With regard to fourth quarter activity experienced by an individual
company, that information is most often reflected by the information conveyed
by the 10-Q Form; this form is considered to be far-less detailed in
conjunction with its 10-Q counterpart.

Securities vs Stocks

Securities vs Stocks

What are Securities?

Within the realm of the open market, which is also known as
the stock market, financial instruments undergo a wide range of activity, which
involves their respective purchase and trade; due to the fact that both stocks
and Securities do not share in the innate valuation designated to money or hard
currency, a primary facet inherent within both stocks and Securities is the
potential for fluctuation with regard to their respective valuation.

Securities vs. Stocks

Stocks are a classification of particular types of
securities; yet, while both stocks and securities may increase in value, they
also retain the potential to decrease in value; the respective growth innate in
both stocks, as well as securities are subject to variation taking place in a
variety of natures – these developmental natures range from drastic and
spontaneous to gradual and minimal. However, the similarities in the behavior
and trends within both stocks and securities do not substantiate for a uniform
interchangeability; the following are the primary differences that exist
between stocks and securities:

Stocks

Stocks are defined as are individual shares of a
publically-traded company available for purchase on the commercial investment
market. Stocks, which are available for financial exchange in a ‘unit-by-unit’
basis, maybe amassed through purchase, sold, collected, traded, transferred,
and exchanged. Any company designated to be traded on a public basis is
required to offer the general investing public the opportunity to purchase
shares.

Securities

As previously mentioned, Securities are financial
instruments that serve as investments whose respective terms are considered to
be longer than stocks; while stocks may be more apt to undergo drastic
fluctuation, securities are typically considered to retain a more stable nature
– as a result, securities are widely considered to be both assets and
investments, rather than simply investments. The following are some example of
the most common varieties of securities currently in circulation:

A bond is a classified as a type of security that
acts as a loan given by an individual investor to a larger company or
institution;in the event that an individual purchases a bond from a specific
company or institution, the purchase undertaken is considered to exist in the
form of a loan – as the bond matures, the latent interest grows.

A Bank Note is a type of security that is
granted from a Bank or varying type of financial institution accredited by the
SEC; a bank note retains dual valuation, as do a variety of securities – while
a bank not may be redeemed for its inherent value, it may also be kept with the
hopes of interest accrued in tandem with the growth of that bank.

Debt Securities are types of securities that are
available for public purchase of the commercial market; however, in contrast to
bonds, debt securities can be issued on an interchangeable basis with regard to
individual purchaser and cooperate purchaser – as per the nature of a multitude
of securities, the prospect of accruing interest substantiates the inherent
value existing within individual debt securities.

Security Act of 1933

Security Act of 1933

What is the Security Act of 1933?

The Security Act of 1933 was a legislative statute that was passed under the Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Security Act of 1933 was a component of the ‘New Deal’, which was a legislative reform act that was put in place in order to promote economic growth and stimulation with regard to the United States Economy.
The tenets expressed within the Security Act of 1933 placed a system of governmental-regulated mandating, authentication, and regulation with regard to the trade and exchange activity taking place of the commercial, investment market; the legal stipulations within this act provided for a structuralized methodology dictating legal standards required to be upheld by both financial firms and private investors alike.

Why was the Security Act of 1933 Passed?
As previously mentioned, the New Deal – passed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt – was a legislative proposition set forth in order to stimulate and promote economic growth; however, the reasoning behind the passing of the Security Act of 1933 is far more multifaceted. The following events are considered to have led to the proposition – and subsequent adoption of the Security Act of 1933:

The Stock Market Crash of 1929

In the year 1929, the public, commercial investment market – which was known as both the’ stock market’, as well as the ‘open market’ – suffered a devastating collapse. Although a wide variety of catalysts have been attributed to the stock market crash, the lack of government regulation with regard to the enforcement of legality and ethical behavior taking place within the setting of the stock market is considered by many to be a primary facilitator of the stock market crash. The lack of government regulation was considered to prompt the following activity hoping to be quelled as a result of the adoption of the Security Act of 1933:
The investment firms and individual brokerages were permitted to both solicit and act on behalf of their respective clientele without proper regulation; this resulted in activity that was not subject to legal review on the behalf of legal review.
The investment firms – in addition to teems of collective investors – were permitted to act in concert with regard to communal purchases, sales, and exchanges allowing them to maintain agency over certain aspects of market activity.
 Publicly-traded companies were able to disclose privileged information, which was not available to the general public, to presumably privileged individuals presumably unauthorized to receive information of that nature; this resulted in an uneven advantage with regard to the general populace of investors
The Security Act of 1933 was introduced in order to avoid a repeat of the dire consequences following this crash, including:
 The financial devastation resulting from the drastic devaluation of stocks and securities resulting from collective sales and exchange activities occurring on a collective, and communal basis
The loss of billions of dollars as a result of the decreased valuation of stocks and securities.
The forfeiture, bankruptcy, and collapse of a multitude of businesses deemed insoluble subsequent to the Stock Market Crash.

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