| The Mazu Business Pack makes some pretty | | | | An asset with a known price in the future does not |
| grandiose claims. They claim that, by purchasing their | | | | today trade at its future price discounted at the |
| training package, one can make $100 to $1000's per | | | | risk-free interest rate (or, the asset does not have |
| week in passive, residual income without having to | | | | negligible costs of storage; as such, for example, this |
| sell anything. It sounds almost too good to be true, | | | | condition holds for grain but not for securities). |
| but is it? | | | | For example, if you can buy items at one price at a |
| Included in the $297 Mazu Business Package is: an | | | | factory outlet and sell them for a higher price on an |
| overview DVD, downloadable step-by-step | | | | internet auction website such as eBay, you can |
| instructions, access to the Mazu "member's area", a | | | | exploit the imbalance between those two markets |
| 2-hour affiliate seminar on audio cd, and entry into | | | | for those items. |
| the Mazu affiliate program. According to the company | | | | According to the encyclopedia, arbitrage transactions |
| website, this package gives the user information | | | | in modern securities markets do involve fairly low |
| about 10 of the most lucrative income streams | | | | risks. The key is being able to identify these |
| available today. | | | | imbalances quickly and execute the trade before the |
| One of these incomes streams is arbitrage. According | | | | market shifts. This can be challenging and nearly |
| to Wikipedia (an online encyclopedia), arbitrage is | | | | impossible for the novice, but according to Matt |
| defined as: the practice of taking advantage of a | | | | Gagnon, the founder of Mazu, his software makes it |
| state of imbalance between two or more markets: a | | | | possible. It is an automated program, which checks |
| combination of matching deals is struck that exploit | | | | every few seconds for arbitrages around the world. |
| the imbalance, the profit being the difference | | | | When an arb is found a bell goes off, and the user |
| between the market prices. The term is mainly | | | | then places their arbitrage. |
| applied to trading in financial instruments, such as | | | | Arbitrage is one of the reported 10 income streams |
| bonds, stocks, derivatives and currencies. Arbitrage is | | | | included in the pack. Not all of streams are revealed |
| possible when one of three conditions is met: | | | | on the website, but they claim that the others are |
| The same asset does not trade at the same price on | | | | also quite valid and lucrative. Mazu also offers a full |
| all markets ("the law of one price"). Two assets with | | | | refund if the purchaser does not make money in the |
| identical cash flows do not trade at the same price. | | | | first thirty days. |