Here are 25 Sensible Stock Investing “rules” for individual stock investors.
--1. Remember Buffett’s Rule #1: Don’t lose money. Maintain a fiduciary duty to yourself.
--2. Pick only excellent companies to invest in. Avoid the ones with major flaws.
--3. Determine a rational value for any stock you are considering. Always try to buy at an advantageous price.
--4. Learn the difference between investable trends and noise in the market.
--5. Don’t get stuck in one way of thinking. In investing, as in life, seek balance.
--6. Remember that a 50% loss followed by a 100% gain equals zero. How likely is that 100% gain? If it is improbable, avoid the 50% loss in the first place.
--7. Manage your portfolio intelligently. Investing is not a set-it-and-forget-it activity.
--8. Any investment in the stock market carries risk. Learn how to manage it.
--9. Do everything you can to stack the odds in your favor.
--10. Read, analyze, and do your own thinking. Always keep learning.
--11. If you are interested in a company, write out its ''story'' in a few sentences. If you can’t understand it enough to do that, don’t invest in it.
--12. The tortoise usually beats the hare over the long haul.
--13. Stocks don’t all go up and down together. Find the ones that are going up.
--14. Over the long term, stock prices follow corporate earnings. Look for companies with good prospects for sustained earnings growth.
--15. The market is rational over the long term and rewards sensible investing.
--16. Invest in dominant companies. They will be able to sustain earnings growth.
--17. Don’t trust management which has demonstrated lack of integrity.
--18. Investing should be fun. Don’t put your money into companies who make or do anything you don’t admire.
--19. Beware of companies with lots of debt. It’s as hard for them to handle as it is for you.
--20. Like—maybe love—dividends.
--21. Run your investments like a business: My Investment Company.
--22. Come at investment decisions from several angles for the best results.
--23. As in poker, the best investors gain the most with their good hands (stocks) and lose the least with their bad ones.
--24. Know your goals and construct strategies to reach them.
--25. Don’t be afraid to have some of your ''stock money'' in cash.
David Van Knapp is the author of Sensible Stock Investing: How to Pick, Value, and Manage Stocks. If you would like to learn about a comprehensive stock investment approach that that uses the same strategies reflected in this article, please consider purchasing Sensible Stock Investing: How to Pick, Value, and Manage Stocks. Visit our website at http://www.SensibleStocks.com to learn more about the Sensible Stock Investing approach and to purchase the book.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Van_Knapp
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Tips For Online Stock Trading: 3 Surefire Ways To Maximize Your Profits For Minimal Outlay
Online stock trading can be the most profitable or most `cash sucking` form of investing you can ever get involved in. It all depends on how experienced you are, and how you approach it.
After all, there`s the...
...absolutely positively essential `US$15K US$20K starting capital`; the `US$97 per month membership site fees`; the `US$997 holy grail trading system`; the `must attend` `US$3,447 two-day trading seminar`; the `US$150 per month live stock price feed subscription`; the `exclusive limited edition US$40 per month `insider tips` newsletter`; the `US$77 per month ultra-fantastic charting service with the bonus 3,000 previously unknown technical indicators tossed in`...etc...etc...etc...blah, blah, blah.
...Isn`t there?
Sadly, far too many first-time traders get sucked in by all the hyped up tips for online stock trading spun by money-grabbing internet marketers masquerading as expert online stock traders. These greed merchants cunningly relieve the unwitting newbies of every cent they own... and then justify it by saying that it`s a `small price to pay for the knowledge that`ll make them rich!`
If you`re a first-time online stock trader and you want to avoid falling into the same trap as so many before you, then this article on `tips for online stock trading` is written for you. Please read on...
Here are three tips for online stock trading that`ll save you over US$1,500 a year!
1) Find an online stock broker who doesn`t require a minimum deposit. If you`re a beginner at online stock trading, or you`re on a tight budget, there`s no need to set up a brokerage account with `thousands of dollars` in starting capital.
Personally, I opened my first online stock trading account with just a hundred dollars! I decided that `if I got it wrong a few times...too bad. It was my learning curve and the downside risk was no more than the cost of a good night out!`
I choose Sharebuilder (http://www.sharebuilder.com) for my online stock trading debut. Unlike most other trading firms, these folk allow you to nominate a DOLLAR AMOUNT as opposed to a SHARE AMOUNT when placing your order. For example, I opted to invest US$100 in high technology stock, Imation Corporation (Stock Symbol = IMC). I paid $37 a share and ended up with 2.594 shares (i.e. $37 x 2.594 = $96 + $4 brokerage = $100). The stock climbed to over US$51 a share before easing back to the low $40`s. I took my profits at $49 a share and banked a 27% gain!
2) DON`T PAY for online stock trading information when you can get it for FREE. Why pay hundreds of dollars a year for so-called hot stock information when you can get it for free from either MSN.com or Big Charts.com? These two sites have so much online stock trading info and advice crammed into them you could spend a lifetime just reading it all!
For MSN.com, go to: http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/home.asp and you`ll discover more tips for online stock trading than you`ll know what to do with! There are more than one hundred links per page covering every conceivable aspect of online stock trading. Market reports, IPO`s, currency exchange rates, portfolio tracking facilities, EFT`s, brokers, research tools, stock ratings, quotes, charts, company earnings, open streaming stock ticker, SEC filings, earnings estimates, analysts ratings, expert stock picks... the list is endless.
For BigCharts.com, go to: http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com and you`ll find a whole new bunch of tips for online stock trading. While the site itself is not as large as MSN.com, the depth of free technical analysis and charting tools is, in my opinion, superior. The many articles and stock reports hosted on this site are also of a higher calibre. However BOTH these sites are invaluable sources of trading information and considering they provide free access to all the data you`ll ever need, bookmark them NOW!!!
3) Profit from `back door` companies. Instead of buying highly priced shares in mainstream companies whenever such companies announce a pending `major product roll-out`, why not do what the real professional traders do...`look for other, much lower priced stocks (such as raw component manufacturers and / or suppliers to the main company) which stand to benefit just as greatly from the impending product launch. Make a shortlist of these peripheral companies, and then buy shares in the one/s that offer the greatest potential leverage to the upside.
An example of this could be finding a small but publicly listed manufacturer that supplies components to a gaming console giant like Nintendo. While Nintendo doesn`t offer much leverage at almost US$180 per share, the small peripheral supplier might be trading for just a few pennies on the OTC or NASDAQ. If the launch of Nintendo`s `Wii` later this year goes as well as some analysts expect it to, the associated OTC and NASDAQ stocks could literally `go through the roof!`
Conclusion:
Despite what you may have been led to believe, it really is possible to begin and maintain an online stock trading career without having to use up all your capital resources on unnecessary and / or highly over-priced trading resources. Even though this article only featured `three` powerful tips for online stock trading, it won`t take too much effort on your part to unearth an entire library of them. Good luck and good trading.
Discover How Nicholas Darvas, A 25 Year Old Ballroom Dancer, Turned $25,000 into $2.25 million ... A Remarkable Trader, A Remarkable Amount Of Money And Remarkably Easy. http://www.nicolasdarvas.org/
About the Author
David Jenyns
READ my articles; you'll FIND the most powerful insider trading plans & tips ever put together. Searching for these on your own, is a needle in a haystack (hard to find). I trade everyday & my progressive efforts found the perfect trading card, a set system & plans that really work. These online trading systems are unbelievably powerful, lucrative, reliable, yet simple to use. Until recently, I've kept this formula to myself. NOW, I reveal all.
After all, there`s the...
...absolutely positively essential `US$15K US$20K starting capital`; the `US$97 per month membership site fees`; the `US$997 holy grail trading system`; the `must attend` `US$3,447 two-day trading seminar`; the `US$150 per month live stock price feed subscription`; the `exclusive limited edition US$40 per month `insider tips` newsletter`; the `US$77 per month ultra-fantastic charting service with the bonus 3,000 previously unknown technical indicators tossed in`...etc...etc...etc...blah, blah, blah.
...Isn`t there?
Sadly, far too many first-time traders get sucked in by all the hyped up tips for online stock trading spun by money-grabbing internet marketers masquerading as expert online stock traders. These greed merchants cunningly relieve the unwitting newbies of every cent they own... and then justify it by saying that it`s a `small price to pay for the knowledge that`ll make them rich!`
If you`re a first-time online stock trader and you want to avoid falling into the same trap as so many before you, then this article on `tips for online stock trading` is written for you. Please read on...
Here are three tips for online stock trading that`ll save you over US$1,500 a year!
1) Find an online stock broker who doesn`t require a minimum deposit. If you`re a beginner at online stock trading, or you`re on a tight budget, there`s no need to set up a brokerage account with `thousands of dollars` in starting capital.
Personally, I opened my first online stock trading account with just a hundred dollars! I decided that `if I got it wrong a few times...too bad. It was my learning curve and the downside risk was no more than the cost of a good night out!`
I choose Sharebuilder (http://www.sharebuilder.com) for my online stock trading debut. Unlike most other trading firms, these folk allow you to nominate a DOLLAR AMOUNT as opposed to a SHARE AMOUNT when placing your order. For example, I opted to invest US$100 in high technology stock, Imation Corporation (Stock Symbol = IMC). I paid $37 a share and ended up with 2.594 shares (i.e. $37 x 2.594 = $96 + $4 brokerage = $100). The stock climbed to over US$51 a share before easing back to the low $40`s. I took my profits at $49 a share and banked a 27% gain!
2) DON`T PAY for online stock trading information when you can get it for FREE. Why pay hundreds of dollars a year for so-called hot stock information when you can get it for free from either MSN.com or Big Charts.com? These two sites have so much online stock trading info and advice crammed into them you could spend a lifetime just reading it all!
For MSN.com, go to: http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/home.asp and you`ll discover more tips for online stock trading than you`ll know what to do with! There are more than one hundred links per page covering every conceivable aspect of online stock trading. Market reports, IPO`s, currency exchange rates, portfolio tracking facilities, EFT`s, brokers, research tools, stock ratings, quotes, charts, company earnings, open streaming stock ticker, SEC filings, earnings estimates, analysts ratings, expert stock picks... the list is endless.
For BigCharts.com, go to: http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com and you`ll find a whole new bunch of tips for online stock trading. While the site itself is not as large as MSN.com, the depth of free technical analysis and charting tools is, in my opinion, superior. The many articles and stock reports hosted on this site are also of a higher calibre. However BOTH these sites are invaluable sources of trading information and considering they provide free access to all the data you`ll ever need, bookmark them NOW!!!
3) Profit from `back door` companies. Instead of buying highly priced shares in mainstream companies whenever such companies announce a pending `major product roll-out`, why not do what the real professional traders do...`look for other, much lower priced stocks (such as raw component manufacturers and / or suppliers to the main company) which stand to benefit just as greatly from the impending product launch. Make a shortlist of these peripheral companies, and then buy shares in the one/s that offer the greatest potential leverage to the upside.
An example of this could be finding a small but publicly listed manufacturer that supplies components to a gaming console giant like Nintendo. While Nintendo doesn`t offer much leverage at almost US$180 per share, the small peripheral supplier might be trading for just a few pennies on the OTC or NASDAQ. If the launch of Nintendo`s `Wii` later this year goes as well as some analysts expect it to, the associated OTC and NASDAQ stocks could literally `go through the roof!`
Conclusion:
Despite what you may have been led to believe, it really is possible to begin and maintain an online stock trading career without having to use up all your capital resources on unnecessary and / or highly over-priced trading resources. Even though this article only featured `three` powerful tips for online stock trading, it won`t take too much effort on your part to unearth an entire library of them. Good luck and good trading.
Discover How Nicholas Darvas, A 25 Year Old Ballroom Dancer, Turned $25,000 into $2.25 million ... A Remarkable Trader, A Remarkable Amount Of Money And Remarkably Easy. http://www.nicolasdarvas.org/
About the Author
David Jenyns
READ my articles; you'll FIND the most powerful insider trading plans & tips ever put together. Searching for these on your own, is a needle in a haystack (hard to find). I trade everyday & my progressive efforts found the perfect trading card, a set system & plans that really work. These online trading systems are unbelievably powerful, lucrative, reliable, yet simple to use. Until recently, I've kept this formula to myself. NOW, I reveal all.
Friday, October 6, 2006
Stock Trading - Daddy, Why Aren't We Rich?
One Saturday morning, while he was sitting at his computer studying the market, David's 7 year old daughter came up, tugged at his shirt sleeve, and said, "Daddy, why aren't we rich?" He looked his child in the eye, and thought to himself, what a great question - Why aren't we rich?
As she stood there expectantly waiting for an answer, he struggled to come to terms with the realization that, although he had focused his complete attention on trying to create wealth for more than 10 years, he had never actually made any real headway.
He had bought and sold many Stocks and several properties over those years, but had never made any real money.
He looked at his daughter, and asked, 'What makes you think we aren't rich, darling?'
She looked at him and said, 'Because you said that if we were rich, you and mom wouldn't have to go to work any more, and you both still work all the time. You said we could live at the beach and play in the sand every day. I want to know what you are doing about that. When can we go and live at the beach?'
Nothing like a child to cut straight to the heart of the problem - and what was he doing about it?
'We're not rich because daddy made some mistakes,' he finally answered. 'What kind of mistakes, daddy,' she asked. 'Well, I bought some shares that were going down and then didn't sell them soon enough. Then I bought some houses but sold them again.' 'Why?' she asked.
He had to think about that. He had no reason to buy those shares in the first place. He had no reason to hold on to them when they kept going down. He had no reason to sell the properties either. Her logic was flawless - why?
He had to change his strategy.
He owed it to himself and his family to finally get his act together and make some changes - that was the day the pain of not living up to his potential made him sit down and write out his trading plan and his goals...his strategy and rules - his life raft.
He started by writing out his vision - what he wanted his life to look like when he became a successful trader and investor, then worked backwards from there - through the details of how he was going to achieve his dream.
He saw in his mind the 4 bedroom apartment on the beach, the red Ferrari 360 Modena, the plasma screen computer monitor in an office overlooking the surf beach 7 floors below, the family holidays in the Greek islands, the significant donations to worthwhile causes and children's charities.
He visualized all the tremendous benefits of becoming a successful trader.
He realized that he was afraid of losing, and that fear was just too expensive to let it control his life any longer!
He decided that he would no longer accept anything less than full compliance with his trading plan.
He decided that he would take every trade entry signal and follow his trading plan as if his life depended on it.
As if, after each trade was closed out, he had to stand in front of a Panel of his trading Mentors, and explain his actions to them - why he entered where he did, where he placed his stop losses, why he exited when he did.
And if they weren't convinced he followed the rules of successful trading, he would be taken out and shot!
This certainly focused his attention on only trading strong trends - trends where the price bars were trading above their respective moving averages for long trades, or below for short trades, and the Stock price was moving strongly in one direction.
He pretended that if he couldn't justify his trading decisions to his trading Mentors, he was dead...
That was the day he resolved to study his selected group of Stocks, the ones that had a track record of trending strongly, every day. He would then take every trade his system produced, put his stop loss orders in the market as he entered each trade it a place where the trend had to change to take him out of the trade, and he would hold every position until the trend changed.
He would act 'as if' he was a great trader, even though his record up to that point had been less than inspiring...
That innocent question from a child turned out to be the start of David's successful trading career.
He started to trade profitably and consistently for the first time in his life. He thought he was doing well, and indeed he was making money.
He knew from his wealthy mentors that rich people are different; they make rational decisions based on facts, not emotions. They understand the value of money - they respect it as a tool for building a better world. They buy well for logical reasons and hold until there is a valid reason to sell.
Then one day, he closed out a trade, and excitedly told his daughter, 'Daddy made a big profit in the market today darling, come and look and see what I did.'
His daughter came over to the computer and looked at the screen as he excitedly showed her where he had bought a Stock and then sold for a $3000 profit. She looked at him and said, 'But daddy, it's still going up, why did you sell it?'
His smile faded as the power of that question sunk in...why had he sold it? What was he doing getting out of such a strongly trending Stock just to take a profit? What would his trading Mentors say?
She was right...the market was still open, so he bought back in again. He had never been able to bring himself to do that before - he was becoming a great trader!
The rally continued and he kept buying more as it rallied. The trend finally changed, but his profit on that trade, when he eventually got a valid sell signal, was $14500!
His daughter's question 2 weeks earlier was worth over $11000!
That was the last time he ever got out of a trade based on his emotions. His fear of the market was gone - thanks to some simple questions from a 7 year old...
So now, it's your turn. Whenever you are preparing to place a trade, find a small child, even if you have to borrow one, and ask them what the trend is. Then don't trade the other way!
If your trading isn't as great as you know it could be, decide to create a trading plan now that will become your life raft.
Remember, fear is just too expensive.
If you are afraid of losing money, reduce your position size until your fear goes away.
Once you have made a series of small profits, you will be trading with the markets money and you can increase you position size according to your growing confidence and account balance.
If you have a series of losses, reduce your position size again until you get back on the right track. Stick to your trading plan - whether it's the one that Peter outlines for you on the website or something else you have tested by paper trading until you are confident that it works.
Then, just do it!
To Your Trading Success,
Tony Spann and the Team
(c) 2005 Stock Trading Review - All Rights Reserved.
About the Author:
Stock Trading Review is dedicated to helping you succeed as a trader by sharing with you simple and easy to follow tips and techniques. Discover more insider secrets and the exact proven strategies to trade stocks profitably: http://www.stocktradingreview.com/stock-trading.htm
As she stood there expectantly waiting for an answer, he struggled to come to terms with the realization that, although he had focused his complete attention on trying to create wealth for more than 10 years, he had never actually made any real headway.
He had bought and sold many Stocks and several properties over those years, but had never made any real money.
He looked at his daughter, and asked, 'What makes you think we aren't rich, darling?'
She looked at him and said, 'Because you said that if we were rich, you and mom wouldn't have to go to work any more, and you both still work all the time. You said we could live at the beach and play in the sand every day. I want to know what you are doing about that. When can we go and live at the beach?'
Nothing like a child to cut straight to the heart of the problem - and what was he doing about it?
'We're not rich because daddy made some mistakes,' he finally answered. 'What kind of mistakes, daddy,' she asked. 'Well, I bought some shares that were going down and then didn't sell them soon enough. Then I bought some houses but sold them again.' 'Why?' she asked.
He had to think about that. He had no reason to buy those shares in the first place. He had no reason to hold on to them when they kept going down. He had no reason to sell the properties either. Her logic was flawless - why?
He had to change his strategy.
He owed it to himself and his family to finally get his act together and make some changes - that was the day the pain of not living up to his potential made him sit down and write out his trading plan and his goals...his strategy and rules - his life raft.
He started by writing out his vision - what he wanted his life to look like when he became a successful trader and investor, then worked backwards from there - through the details of how he was going to achieve his dream.
He saw in his mind the 4 bedroom apartment on the beach, the red Ferrari 360 Modena, the plasma screen computer monitor in an office overlooking the surf beach 7 floors below, the family holidays in the Greek islands, the significant donations to worthwhile causes and children's charities.
He visualized all the tremendous benefits of becoming a successful trader.
He realized that he was afraid of losing, and that fear was just too expensive to let it control his life any longer!
He decided that he would no longer accept anything less than full compliance with his trading plan.
He decided that he would take every trade entry signal and follow his trading plan as if his life depended on it.
As if, after each trade was closed out, he had to stand in front of a Panel of his trading Mentors, and explain his actions to them - why he entered where he did, where he placed his stop losses, why he exited when he did.
And if they weren't convinced he followed the rules of successful trading, he would be taken out and shot!
This certainly focused his attention on only trading strong trends - trends where the price bars were trading above their respective moving averages for long trades, or below for short trades, and the Stock price was moving strongly in one direction.
He pretended that if he couldn't justify his trading decisions to his trading Mentors, he was dead...
That was the day he resolved to study his selected group of Stocks, the ones that had a track record of trending strongly, every day. He would then take every trade his system produced, put his stop loss orders in the market as he entered each trade it a place where the trend had to change to take him out of the trade, and he would hold every position until the trend changed.
He would act 'as if' he was a great trader, even though his record up to that point had been less than inspiring...
That innocent question from a child turned out to be the start of David's successful trading career.
He started to trade profitably and consistently for the first time in his life. He thought he was doing well, and indeed he was making money.
He knew from his wealthy mentors that rich people are different; they make rational decisions based on facts, not emotions. They understand the value of money - they respect it as a tool for building a better world. They buy well for logical reasons and hold until there is a valid reason to sell.
Then one day, he closed out a trade, and excitedly told his daughter, 'Daddy made a big profit in the market today darling, come and look and see what I did.'
His daughter came over to the computer and looked at the screen as he excitedly showed her where he had bought a Stock and then sold for a $3000 profit. She looked at him and said, 'But daddy, it's still going up, why did you sell it?'
His smile faded as the power of that question sunk in...why had he sold it? What was he doing getting out of such a strongly trending Stock just to take a profit? What would his trading Mentors say?
She was right...the market was still open, so he bought back in again. He had never been able to bring himself to do that before - he was becoming a great trader!
The rally continued and he kept buying more as it rallied. The trend finally changed, but his profit on that trade, when he eventually got a valid sell signal, was $14500!
His daughter's question 2 weeks earlier was worth over $11000!
That was the last time he ever got out of a trade based on his emotions. His fear of the market was gone - thanks to some simple questions from a 7 year old...
So now, it's your turn. Whenever you are preparing to place a trade, find a small child, even if you have to borrow one, and ask them what the trend is. Then don't trade the other way!
If your trading isn't as great as you know it could be, decide to create a trading plan now that will become your life raft.
Remember, fear is just too expensive.
If you are afraid of losing money, reduce your position size until your fear goes away.
Once you have made a series of small profits, you will be trading with the markets money and you can increase you position size according to your growing confidence and account balance.
If you have a series of losses, reduce your position size again until you get back on the right track. Stick to your trading plan - whether it's the one that Peter outlines for you on the website or something else you have tested by paper trading until you are confident that it works.
Then, just do it!
To Your Trading Success,
Tony Spann and the Team
(c) 2005 Stock Trading Review - All Rights Reserved.
About the Author:
Stock Trading Review is dedicated to helping you succeed as a trader by sharing with you simple and easy to follow tips and techniques. Discover more insider secrets and the exact proven strategies to trade stocks profitably: http://www.stocktradingreview.com/stock-trading.htm
Making 200% In The Stock Market Can Be Easy
There is an unfortunate belief among many people that doing well in the stock market (and other markets, for that matter) requires a great deal of work and loads of time. This is partly a function of those in the markets wanting to make what they do seem complicated, and therefore exclusive. The reality of the situation is that you do not need to dedicate your life to the markets to produce good results.
I will use myself as an example. In most years there are significant time periods during which my schedule of travel and other commitments prevents me being overly active in the markets. One particular year I added a six week trip between the end of May and the early part of July in to the mix as well. During the course of that year I did a total of about a dozen trades in the stock market. Want to know my return for that year? It was more than 200%.
Now you might be thinking that this is an anomaly. It’s not.
Over about an 18 month period between 2002 and 2003 I was able to double the value of my retirement account trading stocks (I had to double it to make up for the beating the mutual funds I had been in prior to that had taken) necessarily using a much more conservative approach than in the example above. Again, that was done on a relatively small number of trades.v
Actually, I don’t normally make that many trades in any given year. If I get very far above twenty it’s rather unusual.
Clearly, I’m not a day trader. I do not get in and out of positions rapidly. My strategy is one I have formed over the years which allows me to find stocks with good upside potential that I don’t have to constantly watch. The positions I put on are intended to be held for weeks, if not months. That’s the timeframe when the largest moves happen, so that’s the timeframe I want to trade.
The strategy I use incorporates all three primary forms of market analysis – fundamental, technical, and quantitative. That said, however, I can go through the stock selection process in a couple of hours, at most. If there isn’t anything worth really looking at, the whole thing can be done very quickly.
What’s more, if I have active positions on I will generally not be looking to enter any new ones. In that case, aside from a little bit of checking up to see how the stocks are trading and if there’s any important news, there’s very little to be done. I can literally trade my system in only a couple hours a month.
Now you might be saying that I’ve got a great system. Maybe I do. It certainly works for me given the constraints I operate under with my schedule. I don’t consider it any major secret, though. In fact, I outlined it in detail in my book, The Essentials of Trading, so you are free to take a look at it for yourself.
The important point here is that I was able to develop a trading style and methodology that works for me. Anyone can do that. It is a question of making an honest self –assessment and defining an approach that fits within the parameters you have for trading or investing in the markets. Maybe you can day trade, or maybe you’re like me with limited time to dedicate to finding good stocks to buy.
Whatever the case, you have to do what works for you and realize that you can trade effectively regardless of how much time you have to put in to it.
About the Author:
John Forman is author of The Essentials of Trading (http://www.TheEssentialsofTrading.com) and a near 20-year veteran of the markets. For a free e-book on getting started in trading go to http://www.theessentialsoftrading.com/FreeGuide-GSIT.html
I will use myself as an example. In most years there are significant time periods during which my schedule of travel and other commitments prevents me being overly active in the markets. One particular year I added a six week trip between the end of May and the early part of July in to the mix as well. During the course of that year I did a total of about a dozen trades in the stock market. Want to know my return for that year? It was more than 200%.
Now you might be thinking that this is an anomaly. It’s not.
Over about an 18 month period between 2002 and 2003 I was able to double the value of my retirement account trading stocks (I had to double it to make up for the beating the mutual funds I had been in prior to that had taken) necessarily using a much more conservative approach than in the example above. Again, that was done on a relatively small number of trades.v
Actually, I don’t normally make that many trades in any given year. If I get very far above twenty it’s rather unusual.
Clearly, I’m not a day trader. I do not get in and out of positions rapidly. My strategy is one I have formed over the years which allows me to find stocks with good upside potential that I don’t have to constantly watch. The positions I put on are intended to be held for weeks, if not months. That’s the timeframe when the largest moves happen, so that’s the timeframe I want to trade.
The strategy I use incorporates all three primary forms of market analysis – fundamental, technical, and quantitative. That said, however, I can go through the stock selection process in a couple of hours, at most. If there isn’t anything worth really looking at, the whole thing can be done very quickly.
What’s more, if I have active positions on I will generally not be looking to enter any new ones. In that case, aside from a little bit of checking up to see how the stocks are trading and if there’s any important news, there’s very little to be done. I can literally trade my system in only a couple hours a month.
Now you might be saying that I’ve got a great system. Maybe I do. It certainly works for me given the constraints I operate under with my schedule. I don’t consider it any major secret, though. In fact, I outlined it in detail in my book, The Essentials of Trading, so you are free to take a look at it for yourself.
The important point here is that I was able to develop a trading style and methodology that works for me. Anyone can do that. It is a question of making an honest self –assessment and defining an approach that fits within the parameters you have for trading or investing in the markets. Maybe you can day trade, or maybe you’re like me with limited time to dedicate to finding good stocks to buy.
Whatever the case, you have to do what works for you and realize that you can trade effectively regardless of how much time you have to put in to it.
About the Author:
John Forman is author of The Essentials of Trading (http://www.TheEssentialsofTrading.com) and a near 20-year veteran of the markets. For a free e-book on getting started in trading go to http://www.theessentialsoftrading.com/FreeGuide-GSIT.html
Who Wants To Be A Stock Market Millionaire?
I know many people who want to be stock market millionaires. They ask how all the time on “The Wallet Doctor” Ezine. It is actually not that complex if you know what you are doing. Becoming a millionaire does require discipline and the more the better.
There are a couple of main concepts that you have to master to become a stock market millionaire. First, you have to control, reduce and eliminate your family expenses. If you can get past this step you are well on you way. Most people feel restricted when they lower their expenses but there are creative ways to do this. Don’t take your children into stores and don’t buy them junk.
My wife and I like to eat at fine restaurants. We reduce the bill substantially by sharing a plate. If a restaurant charges a “plate” fee we never go back. We also began accelerating our mortgage years ago and are now amazed at how little we have left to pay off.
Second, you have to optimize your income. You can do this by getting a second job or selling things or services in your off hours. I know this is a lot more work then your peers are putting out but financial freedom doesn’t not come free. The first two steps amount to optimizing your cash flow which is the difference between your total income and total expenses.
Third, you need to insure against all insurable calamities. These calamities include illness, death of a breadwinner, vehicular accidents, and property losses. A good insurance agent is literally worth their weight in gold (or more) in helping you create an umbrella insurance plan that covers all insurance contingencies that are economically viable to cover.
Fourth, you need to dedicate yourself to a consistent, persistent plan of study in the area of stock investing that includes investing scams and understanding risk. Fundamentally you must learn how to buy stocks low and sell them later at high price. To become a stock market millionaire this will be come your guiding principal. The more you study techniques as well as people who have been fantastically successful in the stock market the more you are going to understand what it takes to make your personal finances work toward making you a millionaire stock investor.
Fifth, you have to absolutely believe you can do it. Only you can believe in you and when you do people fall in behind you to help. The more time you spend daydreaming that you can do it the more likely you will make it a reality. Everybody’s financial path is highly personal. For me I felt I needed a Ph.D. in finance to get down my financial path but you probably won’t. You may recognize that you need to do different things to put all of these five steps to becoming a millionaire into place. Believe you can become a stock market millionaire, wake up each and every day and do what you know you need to do to make it happen and it will!
About the Author:
Dr. Scott Brown, Ph.D. a.k.a. "The Wallet Doctor" holds a doctorate in finance and can teach you how saving the daily price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks can make you a millionaire in the stock market through long term stock investing. Dr. Brown's website is: http://www.walletdoctor.com/
Read more articles by: Dr. Scott Brown, Ph.D.
There are a couple of main concepts that you have to master to become a stock market millionaire. First, you have to control, reduce and eliminate your family expenses. If you can get past this step you are well on you way. Most people feel restricted when they lower their expenses but there are creative ways to do this. Don’t take your children into stores and don’t buy them junk.
My wife and I like to eat at fine restaurants. We reduce the bill substantially by sharing a plate. If a restaurant charges a “plate” fee we never go back. We also began accelerating our mortgage years ago and are now amazed at how little we have left to pay off.
Second, you have to optimize your income. You can do this by getting a second job or selling things or services in your off hours. I know this is a lot more work then your peers are putting out but financial freedom doesn’t not come free. The first two steps amount to optimizing your cash flow which is the difference between your total income and total expenses.
Third, you need to insure against all insurable calamities. These calamities include illness, death of a breadwinner, vehicular accidents, and property losses. A good insurance agent is literally worth their weight in gold (or more) in helping you create an umbrella insurance plan that covers all insurance contingencies that are economically viable to cover.
Fourth, you need to dedicate yourself to a consistent, persistent plan of study in the area of stock investing that includes investing scams and understanding risk. Fundamentally you must learn how to buy stocks low and sell them later at high price. To become a stock market millionaire this will be come your guiding principal. The more you study techniques as well as people who have been fantastically successful in the stock market the more you are going to understand what it takes to make your personal finances work toward making you a millionaire stock investor.
Fifth, you have to absolutely believe you can do it. Only you can believe in you and when you do people fall in behind you to help. The more time you spend daydreaming that you can do it the more likely you will make it a reality. Everybody’s financial path is highly personal. For me I felt I needed a Ph.D. in finance to get down my financial path but you probably won’t. You may recognize that you need to do different things to put all of these five steps to becoming a millionaire into place. Believe you can become a stock market millionaire, wake up each and every day and do what you know you need to do to make it happen and it will!
About the Author:
Dr. Scott Brown, Ph.D. a.k.a. "The Wallet Doctor" holds a doctorate in finance and can teach you how saving the daily price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks can make you a millionaire in the stock market through long term stock investing. Dr. Brown's website is: http://www.walletdoctor.com/
Read more articles by: Dr. Scott Brown, Ph.D.
The Secret To Making Money From Penny Stocks
Penny stocks. What’s the automatic reaction when people hear these two words?
“Don’t invest in them.”
I agree. Do not invest in them. What I mean by investing is buying shares of a penny stock and holding them for a long period of time (months/years) in hopes of having the price/share go up.
The majority of penny stocks do not hold their value over long periods of time. Don’t get me wrong, there are some penny stocks that have shown enormous increases in price over a long period of time, but they are too far and too few in between.
So what’s the solution? How do you make money from penny stocks?
You make money by day trading penny stocks.
What’s day trading?
Day trading is simply buying and selling shares of a stock on the same day.
But why would you want to day trade penny stocks?
Because that’s how you can make the most money in the shortest amount of time!
Penny stocks display the greatest daily percentage gains than any other stock on the market. Gains of 50-100% everyday are not unheard of. Here are some real life examples to illustrate my point.
02-09-2006 – AXIGE – 272%
02-09-2006 – VPER – 200%
02-13-2006 – PAPO – 136%
02-13-2006 – CKEI – 184%
02-14-2006 – PTSH – 366%
02-14-2006 – IELM – 115%
02-14-2006 – CSUA – 111%
02-15-2006 – LAMP – 149%
02-15-2006 – CTUM – 133%
02-15-2006 – JKRI – 116%
02-16-2006 – SEVI – 225%
02-16-2006 – RSMI – 93%
In just 5 days, you would’ve had 12 opportunities to potentially double your money!
In order to maximize the potential from these high percentage gains, you would day trade these penny stocks. You see, by day trading, you don’t run the risk of watching the stock price go down over the long term. You just buy and sell shares on the same day, sometimes even within hours and lock in your profits! You don’t have to worry about your stocks overnight because you’ve already sold them and made money!
That is the secret to making money from penny stocks. Just buy the shares, ride the increasing percentage wave, and then sell the shares at a higher price to make your profit.
The reason why so many people are not aware of this secret is that they immediately turn a blind eye to penny stocks. They don’t even bother to investigate how to make money off of it since their first impression of penny stocks is usually a negative one.
Those who keep an open mind and take the time to learn about penny stocks will discover their enormous potential for profit.
However, it’s not as simple as choosing a penny stock you think will do well. There are numerous factors that you have to look for, as well as several traps to watch out for. Taking the time to learn by reading and studying all you can about penny stocks, as well as paper trading (trading with fake money) to gain experience will help you succeed in making profits.
A lot of people view day trading as risky. However, if you think about it, the more knowledge and experience you obtain, the less risk you incur.
For example, if a person who has never gone snowboarding before was dropped on top of a mountain, his risk of making mistakes would be high. However, if he spent time on the bunny slopes learning and training, that same risk would be reduced significantly. The same thing applies to day trading. Taking the time to read and practice will greatly reduce the risks.
The beautiful thing about day trading penny stocks is that your analysis to determine which penny stock to day trade with is not as complex as the analysis done to determine which penny stock to invest in for the long term.
The analysis required to determine which penny stock to invest in for the long term requires a great deal of fundamental and technical knowledge. What’s the company’s PE ratio? How do their balance sheets look like? How’s their cash flow? (finding this information is even more difficult for penny stocks as some penny stocks do not have any earnings or revenue). Is the industry they’re in thriving? Who are their competitors? How are the support and resistance levels? What about candlestick charting analysis? Are they on an uptrend?
However, analysis done to determine which penny stock to day trade with only requires a few things to look out for such as buying pressure and volume, among other things. Remember, you’re literally buying shares at 9:34 AM and selling at 10:18 AM (just an example to point out the brevity of the situation). You don’t need to do huge amounts of analysis.
The real secret to making money from penny stocks is to day trade penny stocks. That way, you take advantage of the daily huge percentage gains that only penny stocks display.
About the Author:
Jason Brook is the author of The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Day Trading Penny Stocks. His website can be found at http://www.daytradepennystocks.com
Read more articles by: Jason Brook
“Don’t invest in them.”
I agree. Do not invest in them. What I mean by investing is buying shares of a penny stock and holding them for a long period of time (months/years) in hopes of having the price/share go up.
The majority of penny stocks do not hold their value over long periods of time. Don’t get me wrong, there are some penny stocks that have shown enormous increases in price over a long period of time, but they are too far and too few in between.
So what’s the solution? How do you make money from penny stocks?
You make money by day trading penny stocks.
What’s day trading?
Day trading is simply buying and selling shares of a stock on the same day.
But why would you want to day trade penny stocks?
Because that’s how you can make the most money in the shortest amount of time!
Penny stocks display the greatest daily percentage gains than any other stock on the market. Gains of 50-100% everyday are not unheard of. Here are some real life examples to illustrate my point.
02-09-2006 – AXIGE – 272%
02-09-2006 – VPER – 200%
02-13-2006 – PAPO – 136%
02-13-2006 – CKEI – 184%
02-14-2006 – PTSH – 366%
02-14-2006 – IELM – 115%
02-14-2006 – CSUA – 111%
02-15-2006 – LAMP – 149%
02-15-2006 – CTUM – 133%
02-15-2006 – JKRI – 116%
02-16-2006 – SEVI – 225%
02-16-2006 – RSMI – 93%
In just 5 days, you would’ve had 12 opportunities to potentially double your money!
In order to maximize the potential from these high percentage gains, you would day trade these penny stocks. You see, by day trading, you don’t run the risk of watching the stock price go down over the long term. You just buy and sell shares on the same day, sometimes even within hours and lock in your profits! You don’t have to worry about your stocks overnight because you’ve already sold them and made money!
That is the secret to making money from penny stocks. Just buy the shares, ride the increasing percentage wave, and then sell the shares at a higher price to make your profit.
The reason why so many people are not aware of this secret is that they immediately turn a blind eye to penny stocks. They don’t even bother to investigate how to make money off of it since their first impression of penny stocks is usually a negative one.
Those who keep an open mind and take the time to learn about penny stocks will discover their enormous potential for profit.
However, it’s not as simple as choosing a penny stock you think will do well. There are numerous factors that you have to look for, as well as several traps to watch out for. Taking the time to learn by reading and studying all you can about penny stocks, as well as paper trading (trading with fake money) to gain experience will help you succeed in making profits.
A lot of people view day trading as risky. However, if you think about it, the more knowledge and experience you obtain, the less risk you incur.
For example, if a person who has never gone snowboarding before was dropped on top of a mountain, his risk of making mistakes would be high. However, if he spent time on the bunny slopes learning and training, that same risk would be reduced significantly. The same thing applies to day trading. Taking the time to read and practice will greatly reduce the risks.
The beautiful thing about day trading penny stocks is that your analysis to determine which penny stock to day trade with is not as complex as the analysis done to determine which penny stock to invest in for the long term.
The analysis required to determine which penny stock to invest in for the long term requires a great deal of fundamental and technical knowledge. What’s the company’s PE ratio? How do their balance sheets look like? How’s their cash flow? (finding this information is even more difficult for penny stocks as some penny stocks do not have any earnings or revenue). Is the industry they’re in thriving? Who are their competitors? How are the support and resistance levels? What about candlestick charting analysis? Are they on an uptrend?
However, analysis done to determine which penny stock to day trade with only requires a few things to look out for such as buying pressure and volume, among other things. Remember, you’re literally buying shares at 9:34 AM and selling at 10:18 AM (just an example to point out the brevity of the situation). You don’t need to do huge amounts of analysis.
The real secret to making money from penny stocks is to day trade penny stocks. That way, you take advantage of the daily huge percentage gains that only penny stocks display.
About the Author:
Jason Brook is the author of The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Day Trading Penny Stocks. His website can be found at http://www.daytradepennystocks.com
Read more articles by: Jason Brook
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