Stock Market: 1st Quarter 2014 Review

• Markets have largely recovered from January's correction, and the average valuation of our coverage universe continues to tick up, standing at 104% of fair value going into the second quarter (all market and geographic averages are on a market-capitalization-weighted basis). 
• In a market leaning toward the overvalued side, investors must dig deeper to unearth buying opportunities. However, macro instability has created some buying opportunities, especially in a number of energy and high-quality consumer staples stocks.
• On a global scale, firms that our analysts cover in Asia Pacific now look to be the most undervalued, reversing the region's most overvalued position at this time last year. Conversely, North America and Europe look to be the most overvalued.

Life Insurance - A great Investment

Ensure sustenance of the family in case of death cares less Brazilian than having a stolen car : insurance people - which includes personal accident and life - is 31 % of the market , against 40 % of the car , according to Susep ( Superintendence of Private Insurance ) , 2012 . Already the cost of hiring a life insurance policy is much smaller than that of cars . According to research from the Protest , the monthly amount can vary from £ 16 to £ 213, according to age . The price also varies among insurers and capital employed .
Insurance of persons represented 31 % of the insurance market in 2012 , according to Susep
The low price, however, can not be only requirement to close a contract . Before making life insurance , you need to have extra attention to byproducts of the plan . There is risk of paying for unnecessary coverage or left uncovered in specific situations , the researcher warns of Protest , Gisele Rodrigues .
According to Susep , insurance people increased 14.3 % among all insurers in 2012 , accompanying the trend of previous years . The director of life insurance BB / Mapfre , which owns 19.6 % of this market , Benedict Zanzini , attributes the increase to the higher purchasing power of the middle class , now aspire for family protection .
"Consumers looking for life insurance is predominantly male , married with children , and usually has more than 30 years," says the executive . Unmarried or younger people tend to seek more insurance personal accident , which exclude death , according Zanzini . "How much younger , lower the perceived need to have life insurance ," he says .
Renato Spadafora , director of operations Segurar.com , which sells insurance over the Internet , states that life insurance is much sought after by people with little or newborn children , regardless of sex . " When you have a downward , the individual is sensitive to the desire to ensure a standard of living in their absence ," analyzes .
Have people with kids that have achieved financial independence usually transfer the concern for the spouse , Spadafora says.
The product becomes more expensive with increases in age
 
The availability of money is the main advantage of life insurance relative to other investments , believes the executive Mapfre . " If the owner of a property at $ 1 million lost their lives , we need to find a buyer and pay about U.S. $ 40,000 for the transfer tax ."

To calculate the capital insurance - amount of compensation - you need to assess which expenses the family will have in the absence of the insured , and for how long . It should be taken into account , remember Gisele , if there are children of school age . You also need to read the policy carefully and know the exclusions of insurance in order to avoid unpleasant surprises .

" If the insured has a preexisting disease must inform the insurer beforehand , lest she refuses to compensation," says the researcher . A survey by Protest with nine companies and 17 plans noted that none offered the most sought additional coverage , such as serious illness, disability, accident or death of a spouse ."

GUIDE TO HOW TO INVEST IN GOLD

Since 2001 the gold accumulates a high of 600 % . In 2011 , while the Bovespa index lost 18.1% , gold recorded a high of 4.21 % . In 2012 , gold was the most profitable investment , and analysts have expected that the upward trend will continue, as long as the uncertainties in the global economy

With a recovery so it is normal that many investors ask themselves " How to invest in gold ? " ..

How to Invest in Gold


1 . Gold as a financial asset
Gold is considered one of the world economy safer financial assets: besides being a physical asset , also backing the monetary reserves of many economies around the globe , with their value and demand always guaranteed .

As a result , gold is considered a store of value and a safe haven in times of crisis and financial instability . In the case of disbelief in equity markets and debt securities of a government , gold is a hedge against devaluation that other assets will suffer .

The Dollar also usually have this store of value function , however it is also subject to crises , gold always ends up being the reserve of last resort . How did the American crisis began in 2008 , when the price of gold recorded strong appreciation .

For these and other factors , gold reached a very high rentabnilidade in recent years , as seen in the chart below .

How to Invest in Gold

2 . Risks of Investing in Gold
First of all , do not be fooled !

Despite being a safe haven in times of crisis , gold investing speculatively is not synonymous with safety or profitability. Quite the contrary , the value of gold changes every minute and is extremely volatile because of its high liquidity in the secondary market.

Furthermore , the factors that affect gold prices are quite diverse , to name a few as an example:

Monetary policy in many countries around the world ,
Supply and demand of individual investors on the stock exchanges of the world ,
Import and export flows of metal between countries ,
Periods of seasonality during the year ,
Natural factors that may affect the extraction of gold
For short-term investments
Much knowledge on the part of the investor is required in addition to daily monitoring of the market and the prices of the asset. For the individual investor who has an average knowledge of the financial markets , it is generally recommended to opt for other investments easier to control, as shares in large companies or government bonds .

For long-term investments
The recommended plan is an investment in order to protect their capital from sudden fluctuations in the economy , and if possible seek to buy it in times of relative economic stability , when demand is lower and the price tends to be lower.

Now that we know the risks , we go to the answers of your questions : How to invest in gold ? When investing in gold ? What is the process and cost to invest in gold ?

3 . How to invest in gold ?
To start your investment in gold the first step is to choose how you want to invest. There are direct and indirect ways to bet on gold as an investment , the most common and advisable are: Futures contracts , mutual funds and physical gold bars . We'll talk about other ways , however we do not recommend using these as investments and explain why.

a. Futures contracts at BM & F Bovespa
If this is your choice , the next step is to seek a financial institution registered with BM & F Bovespa , can be a brokerage firm or your bank (see here all Brokerage Securities Bovespa ) .

Fractional contracts 0,225 g to 10 g , or contracts filled with 250 g are traded . For this system, and achieve greater liquidity for buying and selling , the investor only pays the brokerage fee for trading , custody is up to the broker . In this type of trading investment in gold is similar to investing in equities and as well as the taxation of the income tax on shares is exempt from income to smaller investments than R $ 20,000.00 tax.

In addition , can also be explored other forms of trading as purchases and sales terms and buying gold options , giving greater flexibility to the investor strategy that can strategize how to invest in gold .

This mode is recommended for investors who wish to invest in the short and medium term , speculatively about the value of money . However it is recommended that the investor already has some experience in this market, before making this investment .

b . Physical gold in bullion
To buy gold bars in the process is a bit more complicated : we must find a financial institution that has marketed this product, do register and prove their income on purchases above R $ 10,000.00 .

Furthermore , we must find a custodian to hold your gold and pay a monthly custody over the total amount retained, this can range from 0.07 % to 0.15 % .

Another option is to buy physical negotiate directly with a distributor of metal, such as OM DTVM and Marsam DTVM , and maintain custody at home. In which case the distributors usually charge a fee of 1% of the value traded .

It is noteworthy that in this mode the risk of losing the asset is higher since I would not be maintained within a financial institution holding security and insurance for assets held in custody . One of the disadvantages of this form of investment is less liquid at the time of sale , and more difficult to find a counterparty willing to buy at market price.

c . Funds investing in gold
This is certainly the most affordable option most investors , since you do not have to worry about the bureaucracy of buying gold in cash and not with the intricacies of the futures market .

With funds investing in gold, investing outsources the management of this asset to a professional manager . The background can be either passive , buying gold and simply suffer the variations in price , or active , who buys and sells gold according to the current market , seeking higher yields .

Examples of funds that perform this investment and gold are :

- Gold Box FI Multimarket LP : minimum investment of £ 5,000, administration fee : 1.5% per year.

- Orama Gold Fund Multimarket Investment: minimum investment of £ 5,000, administration fee : 1.1 % per year.

4 . Other ways to buy gold
Other less popular ways to buy gold is through the acquisition of jewels and the informal market . Why , in none of these are recommended as a form of investment .

a. Buying Gold Jewelry
Can be configured as an investment , in the sense that the price will rise tied to the gold price . However , one should remember that there is a maintenance cost of jewelry in addition to the work of the jeweler and the jewelry brand , paid on purchase , may not be transferred at the time of sale.

Negotiations with this type of merchandise are made by pawn operations , which today are centralized by the Caixa Economica Federal in Brazil ..

b . Informal Gold Souk
It is represented by hawkers gold representing certain trading houses .

Although the cost of trading is lower in these cases , it is extremely unwise to buy gold this way, because the produce may have been tampered with, there is no guarantee liquidity in the event of resale, no records of legal origin of this gold and many of these places act clandestinely .

5 . When Investing in Gold ?
Remember that the price of gold in Brazil tends to follow the contract traded in New York ( COMEX ) and therefore includes exchange variation on the account. Thus , whenever the dollar depreciate against the real mean that part of the gain from the appreciation of gold in Brazil will be compromised by the difference of the devaluation .

As previously mentioned , the price of gold , unlike other assets , tends to rise in times of instability to fall in times of favorable economic situation. For long-term investments for capital protection , look to make the purchase off times of economic crisis ..

how to invest in gold .

For the long term , it is worth remembering that gold is an object of desire for thousands of years centuries , and all indications are that it will continue like this for a long time .

Or have you ever met a woman prefers shares of VALE3 instead of jewels ?

What is CEX.IO ?

CEX.IO is the first and leading commodity exchange in the Bitcoin community. Here you can buy or sell GHashes or just trade on the increase or decrease of chip values.
We are the first exchange that offers you an opportunity to buy GHashes and avoid all the usual problems you can face when buying mining equipment, like the frequent delays in delivery, breakage losses, the need for a sufficient power supply or cooling devices, and many other things, that you will probably encounter.

There are at least three aspects to bear in mind when buying or selling with Bitcoins:
Irreversibility
Exchange liability
Volatility

The biggest and most fundamental difference between Bitcoin trading and other types of monetary transactions is that a Bitcoin transaction is irreversible. Once you have send someone a Bitcoin, the transaction cannot be cancelled. The algorithm for such a cancellation does not exist in the blockchain code. However, the seller can make a refund of the same amount either in Bitcoins or any other currency. A reputable seller will probably conduct the refund transaction, but many Bitcoin deals take place on “the dark web”. Nevertheless, you might still get a refund from exchanges that have forums. You must keep in mind that many cash transactions are also irreversible, and have always been that way. One of the trade principles states “Caveat emptor“ which in translation from Latin means “Let the buyer beware”. This phrase indicates that the seller is not obliged to issue a refund to an unsatisfied customer because of an exiting or alleged defect in the purchased product. This historical reality applies to the Bitcoin trading market as well.

Main reasons to invest in Brazil

1. Strategic Location and Market

• 5th biggest country in the world
• More than 190 million of inhabitants
• The Brazilian GDP measured in PPP represents 38% of the whole Latin America GDP alone, reaching more than US$2,4 trillion PPP in 2009.
• The consumption market covers more than 920 million of potential consumers, considering Brazil, Latin America and North America.
• Brazil borders almost all the South America countries. 

2. Growing Sustainably

• Brazil is the world’s in G8
• The Brazilian economy presents a sustainable and strong growth. The Brazilian GDP growth rate reached 5.8 per cent in 2009, with an inflation rate of 4.7 per cent.
• More than 35% of the jobs created in Latin America in 2007 were in Brazil.
• Since 2003, the Brazilian exports have shown a growth rate bigger than that of the world imports, resulting in a higher Brazilian participation on the world trade. 

3. Innovation and technology

• Brazil has the biggest and most diversified yet  science, technology and innovation system of Latin America.
• It has a competitive differential within the sectors of aircraft building, oil exploration in depth water and software development.
• Brazil has internationally consolidated its competence in producing ethanol and biodiesel fuel.
• In 2009, there were 10.396 new graduated students at the doctor’s level and 31.761 at the master’s in Brazil.
• The growth rate in number of personal computers between 2002 and 2010 increased more than 140%, reaching more than 34 million. This number represents 45% of the whole Latin America personal computers during those years.
• The Brazilian Internet users’ number increased more than 270% in the last five years, representing 53 million users. 

4. Infrastructure

• 69 airports with annual flow of 110 million people.
• 49 ports with capacity for over 600 million tons/year.
• 29,596 km of railways – the eleventh world railway mesh.
• 1.7 million km of roads – the third world road mesh.
• 100% digital telephone lines in Brazil.
• Brazil has one of the best communication structures with 125 million mobile lines, at about 42 million fixed lines and more than 1 million public telephones.
• Brazil will, through the Growth Acceleration Program of the Brazilian Government, invest (considering public and private resources) US$16,5 billion in roads, US$ 3,9 billion in railways and US$ 1,3 billion in ports. 

5. Investment profitability

• In the last years the Brazilian return on investment overcame the 26% annual mean.
• The foreign companies settled down in Brazil are free to send their profits to their country of origin.
• Brazil received, in 2007, 30% of the Foreign Direct Investment intended to the Latin America, resulting in a 99% growth rate. 

6. Work Force

• Brazil’s economically active population represents 36% of Latin America total population, having reached 92 million people in 2007.
• 17 million people with higher education level have technical-scientific activities.
• 7 million was the total number of registered students in technical and higher education in 2006.
• There has been an increased growth in the Brazilian work productivity, in the latest years. 

7. Natural resources

• One of the worldwide largest producer and exporter of agricultural products.
• The world’s largest producer of ethanol, with 308 installed production plants, producing 17,7 billion liters per year.
• The world’s largest producer of iron ore.
• The worldwide largest producer and exporter of coffee, sugar cane and fruit juices.
• The world’s largest exporter of soy, meat, chicken and leather.
• Self-sufficient in oil, going from net importer in 2005 to net exporter, representing the sixth exportable sector in the Brazilian foreign trade.

The Brazil’s energetic matrix has 45% of renewable sources whilst for the world this ratio is 14%.