What separates the 10% that make money from the 90% that don't?

1. 10,000 hours

In his recent book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell describes the 10,000-Hour Rule, claiming that the key to success in any cognitively complex field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours. 10,000 hours equates to around 4hrs a day for 10 years. For some reason most people that 'try their hand' at trading view it as a get rich quick scheme.

That in a very short space of time, they will be able to turn $500 into $1 million! It is precisely this mindset that has resulted in the current economic mess, a bunch of 20-somethings being handed the red phone for financial weapons of mass destruction.

The greatest traders understand that trading much like being a doctor, engineer or any other focused and technical endeavor requires time to develop and hone the skill set.

Now you wouldn't see a doctor performing open heart surgery after 3 months on a surgery simulator. Why would trading as a technical undertaking require less time?

Media baron Conrad Black has won release on bail pending a review of his conviction for fraud by an appeal court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals has issued an order granting bail, but it's not clear yet when Black will be released.

Terms of his bail will be set by Judge Amy St. Eve, who presided over Black's criminal trial in Chicago. This will happen as soon as Black and his lawyer can get in front of her.

To build a stock portfolio we start by looking for well-managed companies with good earnings growth that are selling at reasonable valuations!

To find them, we use fundamental factors, which include valuation, momentum and other techniques used in equities research.

We identify the investment objectives, fine-tune the processes to meet that objectives, identify the sources of returns, construct the portfolios, monitor and adjust them as necessary.

BP Plc chief executive Tony Hayward will step down as head of the oil giant on October 1 and be replaced by fellow executive Robert Dudley.

News of Hayward's departure came as the company announced on Tuesday it would take a charge as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amounting to $32.2 billion, driving BP to a second quarter loss of $16.97 billion.
 

"The tragedy of the Macondo well explosion and subsequent environmental damage has been a watershed," chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said, announcing Hayward's departure. "BP remains a strong business ... but it will be a different company going forward."

Many investors react to market conditions like lemmings:

Stampeding up the high mountain when markets are rising and down into the cold deep sea when markets are falling!

This "herd" mentality can be extremely dangerous to your pocketbook.

Why?

Because investors often get into the market too late and get out too early!

You should never let emotions cloud your trading judgment. But you can turn the crowd's fear and greed to your advantage! To exploit market psychology, you must act in a contrarian fashion, taking the contrary course when the crowd falls prey to its emotions.

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward will collect a pay and pension package worth at least 11.8 million pounds ($18.03 million) when he steps down from his role at the company, the Times newspaper reported on Sunday.

The Times said Hayward will be giving up 546,000 share options and a maximum of 2 million shares in the company under a long-term incentive plan, now worth an estimated 8 million pounds.

The lucrative tourism industry in the Gulf of Mexico could suffer for up to three years with $22.7 billion in lost revenue because of the largest oil spill in U.S. history, a travel group said on Thursday.

The U.S. Travel Association released an Oxford Economics study that projected the impact of the BP oil spill on travel to the five Gulf Coast states -- Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.

"Tourism is integral to the economies of the Gulf coast. A lot is at stake here," said Adam Sacks, managing director of Oxford Economics USA.

Visitors to the region spent more than $34 billion in 2008, sustaining 400,000 jobs, he said.

BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) could begin a so-called "static kill" to plug its blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well by this weekend if bad weather does not force a delay, the top U.S. official overseeing the spill response said on Wednesday.

Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said at a briefing that if he approves the effort, BP could begin pumping heavy drilling fluid and cement into the stricken Macondo well from the top.

* Hayward may announce departure in Aug or Sep - The Times

* BP's Robert Dudley seen as frontrunner to replace Hayward

* BP share price down about 40 pct since oil spill in Apr

BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) Chief Executive Tony Hayward is to step down within the next 10 weeks, The Times reported on Wednesday.

Hayward has been under pressure to resign as the British-based company battles to contain an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is a growing expectation that Hayward would announce his departure in late August or September, the Times said, citing sources close to the company.

Hayward would have to step down so that BP could shore up its defences against a potential buyout threat by ExxonMobil (XOM.N) or Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), the newspaper

What are the differences between a Hedge Fund and a Mutual Fund?

There are mainly five key distinctions:

1. Relative Performance:

Mutual Funds are measured on relative performance. Their performance is compared to a relevant index such as the S&P 500 Index or to other Mutual Funds in their same sector.

Hedge Funds, on the other hand, are expected to deliver absolute returns by attempting to make profits under all circumstances, even when the relative indices are down.

2. Regulation:

Mutual Funds are highly regulated, restricting the use of short selling and derivatives. These regulations serve as "handcuffs," making it more difficult to outperform the market or to protect the assets of the Mutual Fund in a downturn.