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I read your column last week on factoring. I am looking at a short term loan with my bank but don't really want to wait for months to secure the debt and go through endless contrived hoops. I saw from your column that you could borrow against invoices or even sell them off to raise money, so I thought a factoring loan might work for me. Any thoughts?I think I mentioned that factoring might be a more expensive option. If the companies that owe you money are a good debt, why bother with factoring as you know you will definitely be paid. You could simply opt for a confidential invoice discounting arrangement where you effectively borrow against your book debt (those who owe you money). This will raise the capital quickly and if you decide you want to pay the loan off earlier you can do so at a much .. more»

Many people romanticize the stock market as though it were a glamorous international casino where iron nerves and intuition make poor men into millionaires. In this version of the fairy tale, striking it rich is all about somehow figuring out what other people don't know, buying low, selling high, and then buying a yacht. People who are new to the trading game will save themselves a lot of time and heartache if they immediately internalize one important fact: try to predict the future and you are bound to lose.Because the stock market goes up and down based on opinion, it operates separately from any rules of logic. Instead, the market moves because of human perception. Because vast sums are involved, emotion comes into play and logic goes out the window. Investing your savings on a hunch is like betting it at the craps table: the house usually wins. If you .. more»

The history of the stock market begins back in the 11th century in Cairo, Egypt. It is believed that during this period of time Jewish and Islamic merchants established a trade association that incorporated most of what we consider modern day credit and payment methods. By the 12th century agricultural debts were managed and regulated by French courratier de change. The courratier de change could technically be considered the first "stock brokers" because they not only managed debt and payments, but they also traded in debt products. Another century passed and the development of the modern stock market continued. At his point merchants and financiers in Venice added governmental securities to traded debts and investments. Many other major cities soon followed this example and began to trade in their own government securities. The first official stocks and bonds to be issued and traded were for the Dutch East India Company .. more»