Stocks to Watch

As 2011 nears its end, City Indexs Chief Technical Analyst Sandy Jadeja and Neil Looker, Chief Forex Dealer at City Index summarise 2011 analysing the stock market from a technical viewpoint and delivers their thoughts on important benchmark markets like the FTSE 100, Wall Street, Gold, Crude Oil, EUR/USD for currency exchange rate and what may be in store for 2012. At the end, Simon Denham, CEO of Capital Spreads gives his reflections on what could be in store for the new year.

Sandy Jadeja, Chief Technical Analyst, City Index:

The year 2011 has definitely left a stamp on traders minds as we head into the New Year.

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Remember the customer outrage over Bank of America’s plan to charge a monthly fee to have a debit card? That idea soon ended up on the scrap heap.

But many banks will be quietly increasing other fees in 2012, according to our partners at the consumer guide Angie’s List.

So don’t toss those letters from your bank that look like junk mail. It may be detailing a new fee.

Angie Hicks, founder of Angie’s List, said it’s important to review your bank statements or any literature you receive from your bank, so you can see notification ahead of time, and potentially change your habits or change your bank.”

New fees hitting bank customers

Angie says among the new bank charges to watch for:

    –New checking account fees.
    –Higher fees for using out of network ATM’s.
    –Costlier paper checks.
  

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More than 100 loan modification scams that targeted financially distressed homeowners through online advertisements have been shut down over the past week at the request of federal investigators.

The scams involved companies that the government says falsely promised to help homeowners obtain loan modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) in return for a fee charged up front.   The Office of the Special Investigator General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced that it has shut down 125 such operations that advertise through Google, Yahoo! and Bing. The HAMP loan modification program is part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). 

Used Web banners, online search advertising

   “Many homeowners who have fallen prey to these scams were enticed by Web banner ads and online search advertisements that promised, for a fee, to help lower mortgage payments,” said Christy Romero, Deputy Special Inspector General for SIGTARP. “SIGTAR Full post…

With Thanksgiving a happy memory, now is the perfect time to sit down, relax and plan out your holiday shopping for the year.  Take out a pen and paper and write down everyone youll need to by gifts for this Christmas.   Create a budget on just how much youre willing to spend and STICK TO IT.  Once your list is complete, youre ready to go holiday shopping!

The key to a great holiday shopper is knowing how to extend your budget and how to wow with the gifts you buy.  Well help you with the latter in this article, as weve compiled 25 great Christmas gift ideas under $50.  All of these gifts can be purchased online and if you look hard enough, you might be able to find them even cheaper with the use of online coupon codes.  The list has Christmas gift ideas for mom, dad, siblings friend coworkers and pretty much anyone else you would want to buy a Christmas gift for.  Merry Christmas!

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WorldSpreads has released an updated version of its trading platform which is now custom optimised for mobile handsets.  With the iOS optimised mobile spread trading platform, clients can now bet on the move, permitting them to manage their dealing accounts in real-time whenever they happen, irrespective if they are at the office or travelling.

We are told that the mobile trading platform has been primarily designed with simplicity in mind while retaining all the essential features that spread traders need to be in control of their trading portfolios 24 hours a day.  The mobile platform has been optimised specifically for the iPad and iPhone and users will need iOS 4.2 or above.

From an iOS device WorldSpreads clients can:

• Access thousands of live streaming market prices.
• Monitor existing trading positions in real-time.
• Monitor profit and loss on the move
• Set or adjust limits or stops.
• Read breaking market news from Reuters
• Quickly close out or open new positions

The mobile trading platform is available free of charge to all WorldSpreads Active and Platinum spread betting account holders and there are no applications or downloads required. T

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As you may know, rare earths are a group of 17 elements crucial to production of energy and modern devices from iPhones and laptops to solar panels and oil refineries.

Nearly every modern comfort and gadget relies on this group of metals in one way or another.

Despite their name, rare earths aren’t all that rare…

And that’s precisely why you didn’t hear much about them until last year.

While these metals aren’t “rare” in the traditional sense of the word, they are concentrated in only a few locales around the globe.

It just so happens that 95% of these metals are currently mined in China.

That was fine — until China started using rare earths as a trade weapon last year by cutting export quotas and sending prices soaring higher.

That’s the moment the rest of the world began its infatuation with this group of metals.

And for good reason: Not only are they crucial for modern life, as I’ve mentioned, but they were also creating fortunes for companies with access to them outside of China.

Just one of the 17 elements, lanthanum, cost $5/kilogram at the beginning of 2010. It hit

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