Daily Investment Tips

Copper has soared to a record of $4.2705 per pound on Tuesday December 2010 in New York. Copper was up 28.3% in 2010.

The common knowledge is Copper prices and prices of all other metals have been driven up by the rising demand in China and India. But the truth is another hidden hand is at play here : Some commodity traders have successfully cornered the markets.

Fundamentals for Higher Copper Prices

The wallstreet journal is reporting a single trader has reported it owns 80%-90% of the copper sitting in London Metal Exchange warehouses, equal to about half of the world’s exchange-registered copper stockpile and worth about $3 billion.

If a single player has such a large control of the commodity you can only conclude this has created an artificial shortage.

Copper ETFs

Another hand is the power of ETF. This funds have increased the amount of money flowing into metal prices. They are buying up the metal pushing the prices higher and higher.

When you combine, the rising demand for the commodity in China, the dominant control by one player plus the power of the ETFs you can predict or forecast Copper prices will continue to remain high, atleast for now.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Amount Of Money, Atleast, China, Commodity Traders, Common Knowledge, Copper Prices, Dominant Control, Half Of The World, India, London Metal Exchange, Metals, Pound On, Single Player, Stockpile, Truth, Wallstreet Journal, Warehouses

People who live in developed world enjoy a life expectancy of 85+ years. Will a long life is a good thing, it also has its downsides. When you retire from work you will lose your regular income and you will need to have saved enough money to help you survive your sunset years.

Today there are money tools that have been designed to help people estimate how much you’ll need the day you retire to live the lifestyle you desire with a given income.

These softwares tools require you to put your age, income status etc and give you an estimate figure of the amount of money you will need for retirement.

Check out these useful free retirement calculators.

ING retirement calculator

T-Rowe Price retirement calculator.

Social Security Calculator.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Amount Of Money, Enough Money, Free Calculators, Free Retirement, Ing Retirement, Life Expectancy, Lifestyle, Money Tools, People, Retirement Age, Retirement Calculator, Retirement Calculators, Retirement Check, Retirement Planning, Social Security, Social Security Calculator, Sunset Years, T Rowe Price, T Rowe Price Retirement

I was reading CNET and they had an article that analysed the amount of money Apple Inc makes on each Iphone. The analysis was by T. Michael Walkley of investment firm Canaccord Genuity.

Apple sees a gross margin of 50 percent and operating margins of around 30 percent on its iPhone. That’s within an industry where most handset makers struggle to turn a profit, or reach operating margins of even 10 percent.

As a result, he said, Apple took home 39 percent of the mobile phone industry’s overall profits by selling around 17 million iPhones during the first half of 2010.From CNET article

Apple Analyst Revenue forecast for 2011 to 2012

Walkley is forecasting sales of $63 billion for Apple in fiscal 2010, $82 billion in 2011, and $93 billion in 2012. That compares with $42 billion in 2009.

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Amount Of Money, Cnet, Gross Margin, Handset Makers, Investment Firm, Iphone, Iphones, Michael Apple, Mobile Phone Industry, Operating Margins, Profit Margins, Profits, Walkley

One money saving tip is reducing the amount of money you spend on energy bills. You need to get an home energy audit to determine how much money you can save. An audit of your energy use can show you areas you can use to reduce your energy bill.

For a few hundred dollars, experts using high-tech gadgets, and computer models will analyze your home, work out in detail all the ways it’s wasting energy and tell you what you can do to stop it.

How An Audit can reduce your energy bills

1. An audit can help you rethink your heating and water systems,
2. Identify possible sources of renewable energy, from solar paneling to a geothermal heat pump.

Implementing the above changes can help you save money over time. Another thing is you will be playing your part in helping the environment.

To find a home energy auditor check for credited auditors at Building Performance Institute

written by Constantine Njeru \\ tags: Amount Of Money, Computer Models, Energy Auditor, Energy Bill, Energy Bills, Energy Saving, Energy Use, Geothermal Heat Pump, Helping The Environment, High Tech Gadgets, Home Energy Audit, How Much Money, Money Saving, Paneling, Performance Institute, Sources Of Renewable Energy, Wasting Energy, Water Systems