Starting Point for Investment Planning



Adapting to Change in Global Markets


The upgrowth of global markets gives rise to changing opportunities for investment planning. In this dynamic environment, an orderly approach to investing begins with a wholesome view of the big picture.

As it happens, the asset classes and market niches are interlinked rather than independent. For this reason, a grasp of the larger context provides a trusty backdrop for dealing with any portion in particular.


Making Sense of the Turmoil

The purpose of MintKit Investing is to serve as a staging area for investing in growth in a worldwide economy. To this end, the hub examines ground-breaking trends, promising opportunities, and crafty techniques across the panoply of financial markets and tangible assets.

On one hand, the full spectrum of topics covered by the hub is unlikely to interest all comers in a uniform way. Rather, some folks will lean toward certain topics rather than others.

Despite the diversity of concerns, though, a systematic view of the opportunities for growth is a useful foundation for every decision maker. Put another way, the shrewd investor keeps an open mind and considers a broad array of assets for investment.


Self-Reliance is the Watchword

In the economy at large, the patterns of work and the sources of income have evolved in a gradual but far-reaching fashion over the course of a century and more. One of the makeovers lies in the focal point for ensuring the financial security of the work force.

For much of the industrial era, the standard regimen for a breadwinner was to devote a lifetime of faithful service to a single enterprise. In due course, after taking leave of the workplace, the retiree would draw on a stable pension from the former employer.

Nowadays, though, outfits in both the private and public sectors have a way of going bust whether the economy happens to be booming or shrinking. In this dicey environment, the usual fate of an enterprise is to launch and grow, then flop and croak within a matter of years – or a few decades at most. In fact, the vast majority of businesses last less than 5 years before they close their doors for one reason or another.

To muddy up the picture even more, a given worker is apt to hop from one job to another once every few years. In this way, the hopper works for a series of employers over the course of a lifetime.

Under these roily conditions, it makes sense for the breadwinner to control their own retirement funds rather than rely solely on an external party. In other words, the personal stake in a pension fund ought to be managed by the beneficiary rather than any employer in particular.

The same is true for an entrepreneur in any domain. The self-starter has to segregate the retirement funds by maintaining a separate portfolio rather than mixing up the private assets with business accounts. In this way, the earmarked funds will remain firmly attached to the rightful owner even if the company itself were to die off, or be sold off in part or in whole.


Bogeys in the Landscape

On the downside, tending a basket of private assets is a big challenge for novices as well as veterans in the marketplace. Due to the upheavals in the financial forum as well as the real economy, every actor faces a slew of stumpers on the way to a secure future.

Many of the threats facing the investor spring from the external environment. A case in point is an accounting scandal that wipes out a high flyer in the stock market. For instance, bombshells of this sort were rampant after the blowup of the Internet bubble in spring 2000.

Another pitfall involves a crusty industry that buckles under the onslaught of an upstart technology. A sample of this sort lay in the knockout of the manual typewriter by the word processor.

To make matters worse, the investor faces a raft of personal bogeys as well. In fact, the biggest threats to sound investment often come from internal rather than external sources.

An exemplar of this sort is the penchant of investors for loading up on stocks at bloated prices in the midst of a bubble. At the other end of the price cycle, the punters sell off their holdings for a pittance in the depths of a panic. The upshot of these rash moves is to give up the gains on the upswing and lock in the losses during the downturn.

For these and other reasons, the bulk of investors trail comfortably behind the benchmarks of the marketplace. In fact, the stock market is a hotbed of paradox in which the average investor is unable to keep up with the market averages.

On the bright side, though, there are nifty ways to combat the demons of investment. To this end, a good place to start is to ferret out the fiends in the marketplace. The next step is to pin down the rascals and buff up the skills needed to fend off the threats.


Grasping the Big Picture

An investor has to keep an eye on the big picture in order to succeed over the long run. In the absence of a broad framework, each move can only be a disjointed and haphazard affair.

In the modern era, the main engines of growth can be summed up in two words: technology and globalization. To muss up the picture, though, the two drivers happen to be intertwined rather than independent.

According to an oft-cited trend, the storehouse of knowledge available to our kind is expanding at an exponential rate. The nubs of savvy span the gamut from abstruse discoveries in math and science to practical techniques in engineering and commerce.

The expansion of knowledge has a way of feeding on itself so that an advance in one area is a spur to growth in other domain. Due to the interaction along with the resulting synergism, the storehouse of know-how has been ballooning at a heady rate.

One turnout of the advancement is a proliferation of techniques to create and broadcast knowledge. In other words, fresh knowledge provides the means to generate even more of the same.

A second outcome of the surge in know-how is the rapid uptake of useful techniques throughout the planet regardless of their point of origin. An example in the physical realm is a breakout in wireless technology on American soil. The milestone is then embraced by vendors in Asia whose products are sold all over the world.

Meanwhile, a showcase in the abstract sphere is the institution of free markets in Western countries. The scheme is adopted with relish by live wires all across the globe.

The natural outgrowth of these trends is a scuttling of barriers to the movement of goods and services as well as knowledge and capital. In this benign environment, a better understanding of the gains available through collaboration leads to further cooperation along with the fruitful results to match.

Another outturn of the free movement of ideas is the globalization of culture. The melding of motley customs shows up in the ferment of products and fashions as well as values and lifestyles.

The groundswell of trade across national borders underscores the need for a worldwide perspective in fixing up a program of investment. In a global economy, the investor cannot simply tend to their local market and pray for the best.

Instead, the striver has to consider a heap of factors in order to thrash out a cogent strategy. Throughout the process, the pathmaker has to keep an open mind and size up alternate routes in order to pick out the most promising trails.


Looking Ahead

The goal of the Web site is to shed light on the murky landscape of investment planning. For this purpose, one function is to spotlight the crucial outcrops in the global marketplace. The targets in store range from hidden risks in the financial bazaar to long-run trends in the real economy.

A second task is to seek out a variety of trusty vehicles for maneuvering in the slippery terrain. In terms of asset classes, the rigs span the gamut from common stocks and foreign exchange to raw materials and real estate.

A third role is to identify a medley of promising routes for forging ahead while avoiding the hidden snags strewn across the terrain. A related task is to muster a lineup of pointed schemes for fixing up a compelling program of investment.

A fourth aim is to present the key ideas without resorting to gobs of numbing jargon. Rather, the object is to present the crucial concepts in a way that is clear to the complete beginner as well as the seasoned oldster in the marketplace.

Investing is a lively activity that keeps expanding in scope and complexity with each passing year. For this reason, a compelling program of investment is not a fixed destination but a moving target.

Granted, a clutch of basic concepts and generic techniques does remain unchanged over time. An example in this vein is the need to balance the expected return on investment against a tolerable level of risk.

On the other hand, a constant stream of innovation springs forth from sundry sources in the financial forum as well as the real economy. A case in point is a novel instrument for diversifying a portfolio at low cost. Another sample is a newborn trend in green technology for the emerging markets.

Given this backdrop, the path to growth in a global marketplace is a journey without end. For this reason, the process of investment planning turns out to be an ongoing trek as well.


A Site for All Seasons

The breadth of topics and goals described above is applicable to the hub as a whole. Clearly, it would not be sensible or even desirable for any single article or resource to try to cover every pertinent issue.

Rather, each nugget had better focus on a constrained topic. As an example, a given writeup might provide a bird’s-eye view of an entire class of investment vehicles. Meanwhile a separate article could dig deeper into the subject and talk about the detailed aspects of a particular specimen within the asset class.

Given the breadth of the subject matter, each visitor to the site will surely have a distinct preference over certain topics over the others. For instance, one user might be drawn to stocks and currencies while another may lean toward commodities and properties.

As noted earlier, though, it behooves the wily investor to learn about neighboring domains even if the main thrust happens to be confined to a single niche. Under the surface, the market segments and asset classes are tied together in a slew of ways.

In a complex and interlinked world, it makes sense to get some idea of the plethora of hotspots as well as the ways in which they interact. For one thing, a rounded grasp of the entire landscape provides the proper context for a deeper understanding of each tract in particular. Moreover, a broadening of horizons can only expand the wealth of choices for investment, along with the prospects for drumming up a winning strategy.

In short, a distinguishing feature of this hub is a systematic approach to investment. To this end, a central goal is to pick out the weighty outcrops in the financial forum as well as the tangible economy.

A related task is to map out the promising paths along with the best vehicles for pressing ahead in a murky and slippy landscape. A complementary aim is to present the ideas and techniques in a user-friendly way without hiding behind scads of arcane jargon.

Naturally, the multitude of topics covered here will be of varying relevance and interest to the diverse community of Netizens. Even so, the ideas on display should be helpful to just about anyone as a springboard for fixing up a tailored program of investment. The issues to ponder while molding a custom agenda span the gamut from goals and interests to tastes and resources.


Moving Forward

To sum up, the site is designed to be a base camp for information and education on investing in growth in a global marketplace. In the millennium, as in the past, the financial forum as well as the real economy will continue to evolve and expand.

For this reason, the astute investor has to do likewise in order to prevail over the long range. In a world steeped in chaos, an orderly approach is the best way to move forward.

Welcome to the lively, rousing and beguiling world of investment.

*       *       *