The United States Securites and Exchange Commission was founded in 1934 in response to the great stock market crash of 1929. Congress created the SEC in the hopes that it would serve as an independent and non-partisan agency that would help regulate the dealing of securities in the USA. Thanks to the crash of 1929, Congress also enacted many new securities laws that the SEC was created to enforce.

The main job of the SEC is to enforce a series of laws, most of them enacted from 1933-1940 that help protect investors of securities and the economy as a whole. Congress has given the SEC the right to bring civil cases against companies that they feel have committed a series of crimes, such as insider trading, fraud, or companies that have given false information. The SEC also works hand-in-hand with local police, the FBI or the CIA in pursuing criminal charges when the proper laws have been broken.

One of the ways that the SEC gathers information about various companies so that it can see if any of them have broken the law is be requiring that publicly held companies submit reports four times a year and then an annual report, as well, showing their financial numbers. The companies also file reports with the SEC that outline how the business did that year and how it expects to do in the future.

These reports are absolutely vital to investors when trying to figure out which company to invest in. The capital markets are notorious for upheaval and these reports are essential for investors who are trying to figure out which companies are safe to invest in and which ones aren’t.

The SEC allows anyone to read these reports and they are available via an online system to read at any time. The SEX also uses this same system so that individual investors may file complaints against a company that they feel might be breaking the law. This allows every day citizens the chance to call attention to a possibly crooked company.

A recent pop culture reference to the SEC came from the now-defunct television show Arrested Development, when the pilot episode featured the SEC boarding a yacht to confiscate documents related to the Bluth family business.

The SEC is a vital government agency that helps companies walk the straight and narrow and helps individual investors make educated decisions about the right companies to invest in. If you’re thinking about investing in the capitals market, a visit to the SEC online system is an absolute must.

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There are dozens of world currencies being traded around the clock on the foreign currency exchange, and no one can possibly monitor them all at once. That is why many traders rely on forex signals to keep them apprised of movement in the market.

Many brokers and other forex-related businesses offer forex signals to subscribers. Forex signals are simply recommendations to buy or sell based on mathematical algorithms and professional know-how. Usually these signals include specific entry, stop and target levels. They might say something like, in essence, “Right now the EUR/USD bid is at 1.2529 and dropping. When it gets to 1.2465, sell.”

Forex signal providers usually charge for their service, sometimes as much as $100 a month. For this the subscriber gets 1-5 signals a day, sent via e-mail, text message or instant messenger. The trader is under no obligation to do anything with the information, of course. They are advisory in nature, and the trader is free to ignore them entirely if he wants to. But most traders generally go along with the advice that comes to them through forex signals. They wouldn’t pay for the service if they didn’t find the advice useful.

There are two schools of thought about forex signals. One says that you’re a sucker if you pay for them, with the reasoning that if the people behind them are so good at playing the market, why do they have to sell signals to make a living? The opposing point of view says that since signals require analysis and experience to create, why shouldn’t the people who distribute them get paid for their efforts?

If you do choose to pay for a signals service, you should get a trial membership first. Be wary of a service that won’t give you a free trial period before you start paying, or that only offers a trial period of a couple days. (What do they have to hide? If their service is good, showing it to you for a week or two will only help sell it to you.)

On the other hand, one maxim usually holds true: You get what you pay for. Sites that offer free forex signals may not be as reliable or experienced as the professional sites. And in either case, you shouldn’t blindly follow the advice of forex signals. A smart investor will look at the trends himself to make sure he agrees with the signals he received. The decision to buy or sell is ultimately his, after all.

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