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Why You Shouldn’t Believe Everything You Read When It Comes Into Online Investing
Every investor dreams of being an early stockowner in a Microsoft or Intel Corp. Dishonest brokers and stock promoters prey upon this greed and offer unsuspecting investors low-priced stocks in companies with new products or technologies (like the self-chilling soda can).

Many fraudulent Internet messages are about general stock-picking advice or mention other investment possibilities. However, some messages tout specific stocks, moneymaking ventures, and service providers. Just remember one simple rule: Don’t believe anything you read until you’ve done some of your own research first. The following are ten examples of online investment scams that you should be wary of.

#1 Multilevel marketing plans and pyramid schemes

Pyramid schemes, sometimes called multilevel marketing plans, are sure ways to lose money. Individuals are often contacted via e-mail messages and encouraged to recruit six friends; those six people recruit six more friends — and so on, in a relentless search for new recruits. Profits from these schemes don’t come from selling products or distributorships but from recruiting new participants. Investors are left with garages full of products and the loss of their investment.

#2 Financial chain letters and Ponzi schemes

Generally, the letters states that you’re missing out on a big investment opportunity. Most financial chain letter promoters claim that if you participate, your name will eventually be at the top of millions of lists and you’ll receive millions of dollars. Anyone can break the chain and deprive you of your possible “gains.” Even if the financial chain isn’t broken, about 95 percent of financial chain letter participants don’t ever receive anything in return for their “investment.”

#3 Cons based on bogus research reports and newsletters

More than 70 million adults log on to the Internet each day. By using mass e-mailing programs, fraudsters can quickly and inexpensively reach more people than these publications can. With one keystroke, fraudsters can reach thousands, even millions, of potential online investors. Often, you may receive unsolicited e-mail newsletters that tout stocks expected to double or triple in value over a very short time.

#4 Phishing for your personal information

Phishing is a type of brand spoofing. An e-mail message is sent to you in an attempt to fool you into revealing your personal financial information or password data. Sometimes, to gain your personal financial information, “Phishers” will use social engineering to gain your confidence. The term phishing is also used to describe how fraudsters use sophisticated lures to deceive everyday Internet users.

#5 Nigerian e-mail letter investment scam

These e-mail messages promise that I’ll receive millions in return for helping a VIP collect money trapped in a Central Bank. The plea for help assures me that the investment is 100-percent safe. Each version of the e-mail appeal is slightly different, but the scam remains the same: I’m guaranteed 20 percent of all recovered funds. In some instances, the fraudster will ask for enormous amounts of money for fees, taxes, traveling expenses, and so on.

#6 Investment hoaxes designed to get your cash

For example, a bogus press release stated that Uniprime Capital claimed to have documentation from the government of Spain indicating that the Plasma Plus was a breakthrough treatment for the virus that causes AIDS. The stock was touted online in several investment chat rooms as undervalued. In a few days, more than 5 million shares were traded, and the stock skyrocketed by 800 percent. The investment hoax cost investors about $20 million.

In a similar story, an individual issued a negative press release about Emulex, a fiber-optic company. In the press release, the fraudster claimed that the CEO had quit and that the company was restating its quarterly earnings. In an effort to cover his tracks, the fraudster went to a hotel room in Las Vegas to make his online stock trades on the day of the hoax. The stock dropped by 62 percent, and the con artist made $241,000 by short-selling the stock.

#7 Bogus IRA-approved investment schemes

Fraudsters are scramble the dreams of many investors with so-called IRAapproved or otherwise endorsed Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investments. Fraudsters frequently contact investors through bogus e-mail newsletters or Web sites to offer huge returns that will ensure investors an easy retirement. Investments include high tech to exotic livestock to real estate investment pools.

#8 Guaranteed high returns frauds

Many fraudsters provide online ads that guarantee “the potential to make a six- or seven-figure annual income.” If an offer seems too good to be true, it usually is. So, check it out carefully before you put your money down.

#9 Get rich quick with investment seminars

Investors are encouraged via e-mail messages to enroll in expensive seminars to become day traders or to learn how to trade options, commodities, or futures. Often, unlicensed practitioners teach the seminars. These unlicensed practitioners are unlikely to disclose conflicts of interest. Attendees must also pay hidden costs, such as buying a particular brand of software from the investment seminar company and using an expensive interface for real-time data.

#10 Pump-and-dump schemes

Pump-and-dump schemes are swindles in which greedy people manipulate the stock prices so that they can make illegal gains. Frequently, pump-and-dump schemes target elderly investors. Fraudsters are using the Internet to perpetuate pump-and-dump schemes. This scenario is a classic scam; fraudsters artificially drive up the stock price and unload it on unsuspecting investors who believe the stock is on the rise.

Commodity Trading - Trading Uranium
Uranium offers traders a little bit of walking on the wild side. It is a volatile commodity, but worth the risk if you can afford it. A few years ago, Uranium prices exploded, then dropped to $29 just as quickly, then it skyrocketed back up, hitting $45. This volatility makes oil prices look like a walk in the park, but in recent years, uranium prices have been on a steady rise.

Uranium has many natural advantages over oil or other energy sources. Fuel that is produced from uranium lasts for decades and can be recycled in the form of plutonium which extends it life for even more decades. This, however, can present a problem because of its extensive life, disposing of uranium is a political caveat.

Nuclear power supersedes oil and chemical refineries in safety. The safety record of nuclear power far exceeds other large scale energy generation technologies. Oil and chemical refineries can and have exploded due to human error, accident and incompetence. Regulations and controls regarding the use of nuclear fuel are much more stringent and adherence is more strongly enforced that with conventional fuels.

Nuclear power is a politically charged, controversial topic. One camp has it labeled as dangerous and even evil. The other camp, though, purports that nuclear power safely generates 16% of the world’s electricity. Countries such as France and Japan have relied heavily on nuclear power for many years and neither country holds any regrets for electing to use it as their major power source. 78% of France’s electricity comes from nuclear power and, most notably, has never experienced a serious incident.

Asia is experiencing exponential growth in the area of power plants being built, but this is also occurring worldwide. China is working on an $8 billion contract to build four new plants and will be constructing 27 by the year 2020. India plans to build 17 plants by the world 2012 which will triple their existing capacity. Russia has reduced its exports so that it can retain fuel for the 25 new plants that are planned by 2020.

The majority of these plants have yet to secure a long term supply which indicates that they will have to pay market prices as they near completion.

There even seems to be some changes for the United States on the political horizon a one time adversaries are finding common ground and passing the peace pipe, so to speak. Environmentalists are beginning to see the light and grasp the concept that nuclear power offers one of the best alternatives to continued fossil fuel use, particularly as concerns over global warming increase. Also, as oil prices continue to rise, the political powers that be seem to be swaying more in favor of nuclear power.

While demand continues to rise, supplies remain tight. Commercial stockpiles fell 50% from 1985 to 2003 and mining remains expensive and difficult.

The Australian mining company, Cameco, is one of the largest uranium suppliers in the world. It plans to expand its production by 18$ in Canada’s MacArthur River mine which is currently the largest in the world.

Although supplies are not expected to expand enough to rise to the growing demand to a point that would suppress the price, it is still a viable option. Several analysts expect that supplies will remain tight over the next decade. This will result in a rise of prices to a level that has not been seen since their peaks in the 1970s. These prices are expected to remain high for quite some time.

Demand runs annually at about 170 million pounds while the supply is roughly 75 million pounds a year. The deficit is made up by supplies that are stockpiled from the 1970s, the dismantling of Russian nuclear warheads and other sources. That supply, however, is dwindling.

Fuel costs are relatively small expenditures for power plants, but fuel it vital to their operation. Because there is no substitute, they can not afford to run out.

These various factors are exceptionally appealing to metals traders who may be interested in uranium. Unlike other metals, uranium does not trade on the open market. Contracts are made privately. However, investors who are interested can purchase mining stocks, futures contracts, options and other securities just like any other investment. A broker can provide advice and direction on this trading maneuver.