Stocks Information
|
Dont Lose All Your Money
That sounds like good advice doesn't it? Don't lose all your money.After all what is an investor without funds in the brokerage account? Hint: BROKE!On the subject of investing, this means getting out of a trade when it goes against you. Don't lose all your money. This is the MOST important thing any investor can do. Cut your losses before you're broke. It's easy to do, but some investors find it hard to implement. Don't become so attached to your buying decision that you ignore this advice.Set a stop loss figure on every stock or investment you have. Decide on how much you are willing to lose before you buy. All brokerage accounts have a way to set a stop loss. You can do this right in your account so ...(related: Stocks)
Dont Spend Another Dollar On Business Opportunities Until You Read This
With an insecure job market, overworked employees,insufficient retirement savings and parents wanting theoption to stay home with their kids, it is notsurprising that many individuals are taking the leapinto online business opportunities.The need to create a secondary income is a smartmove for people wh...(related: Stocks)
Downdraft
For the year 2000 we have seen hundreds of mutual funds lose 40%, 50% and more of their value. This does not seem right since the fund is supposed to be managed by a professional. How can this "professional" do such a bad job? More than half of the funds this year will not out...(related: Stocks)
Duck
Duck! No I don't mean a quack, quack. I meant get down, look out for a huge blob of brown stuff is heading your way.This one is so large it is going to make Enron and Worldcom look like Boy Scouts stealing cookies at a picnic. As a result of these latest revelations we are going to have to find someo...(related: Stocks)
Duct Tape
Did you run out to buy that duct tape yet? Don't forget the plastic sheeting, bottles of water, canned food and a couple of books to read. What are you waiting for? I know - things to get better so you can resume your normal life style.While you were waiting did you happen to notice what is happening to your investment portfolio, your retirement account? For the past 3 years it has needed duct tape and plastic sheeting to protect it from the poison gas coming from Wall Street. The gases, otherwise known as hot air, are the news flashes the brokers have been telling you. Surely you have heard - "the market always comes back", "hang in there", "you are in for the long term" and other such noxious odors have paralyzed investors to keep them from selling. There was one breath of fresh air you have not heard f...(related: Stocks)
Economists #2
Economists know more about how the fragments of society work than anyone. In school they are taught to break down the economy into its tiniest parts and to quantify each minutiae so it c...(related: Stocks)
Economists
In today's volatile and confusing stock markets everyone is searching for a guru who knows which way the market is going and when. Ask any economist and he will have an answer. Ask 2 economists and you will have 2 answers. Ask 3 economists - ad infinitum.At the Federal Reserve Board we have Mr. Greenspan and all his economist Governors talking at each other about how to best micromanage the U.S. economy. Notice I said talki...(related: Stocks)
E-mini Day Trading - Day Trading For Beginners - Stock Market Timing Software
I mean it when I say that. While plastic silverware is fine for picnics and parties, it is totally inappropriate in a surgeon's hand with an open brain in front of him. Not only are plastic forks built incorrectly to perform delicate surgery, their cheap construction may actually cause further injury to the patient. I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want someone prodding around inside my head with one of those things!Ok, I'm joking. The truth of the matter is that you already knew that plastic forks were not meant to be used for brain surgery. It was obvious. In fact, it was so obvious that it seemed silly when I told it to you.You might have even laughed.But what if...(related: Stocks)
Emotional Involvement
I'll bet with almost anyone that has stocks or mutual funds in his portfolio that he has losers, but he won't sell them because he "likes them" or some similar excuse. This is the philosophy of a loser.You cannot become emotionally involved with anything you have bought whether it is stocks, mutual funds, collectibles, real estate, etc. etc. When you see the value of these things heading down it is time to try to salvage some of your money even if you have to take a loss.I have seen people hang on to a piece of land (or a stock) for years just so they could get out "even". Believe me "even" is not even. Suppose you paid $20,000 for the land and it took you 8 years to ...(related: Stocks)
Emotional Maturity
If you are going to be a winner in the stock market you must have emotional maturity. I did not say you had to be smart or know how to pick stocks and mutual funds.Once someone buys a stock or mutual fund he immediately seems to have a love affair with it. It can become a fatal attraction that can lead to disaster.All brokers and financial planners are taught to buy and hold no matter what happens to the price of an equity. They get married to it and hope that it wil...(related: Stocks)
Emotional Trading
The single most expensive stock market trades are those made with emotions, but, of course, you are not an emotional trader are you?Before you bought that stock, mutual fund or Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) you did your research to be sure that what you were buying would return a good profit over the long haul. You bought it and over time you look at it less and less.Ask yourself: when you plunked down your hard earned money did you have any idea where you would sell it or where you might exit the trade should the stock go dow...(related: Stocks)
Enron Cure
Let's hope you did not have any of the Enron stock. Maybe you know someone who did and lost everything, but you certainly might know several people who owned stock that lost almost everything. They probably aren't talking about it.According to Investor's Business Daily newspaper there are 1,387 companies that lost more than 90% of their value from the highest point during the last 5 years. That is almost as bad as Enron except the folks that own this junk have hopes that someday their stock will go back up. And pigs can fly.Do you realize that if a stock loses 50% from its high it must gain 100% to get back to the old high? And there are literally thousands of stocks that fall into that category. The people that own these dogs are waiting for them to rally so they can get out "even". What this means is ...(related: Stocks)
Enronization
Even if you don't own any of their stock or any stock at all you will want to read this.What Enron corporate officers did with their accounting firm is nothing new. It has been going on for years, but recentl...(related: Stocks)
Eternal Sunshine
There is a current movie entitled "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". It is about a man who has had a painful love affair and will do anything to rid his mind of those pain thoughts of a former love. He sees an advertisement that offers just such a service. It seems his former lover has the exact thoughts and she goes through the same treatment. Guess what? They meet again, do not recognize each other, and fall in love again.Does any of this sound familiar?May I gently remind you of what happened to your stock portfolio in 2000 to 2003? Please. Don't shoot the messenger. You fell in love with the stocks or mutual funds in your 401K and became wildly emotional about all the money your were making and how you thought about buying one of those islands ...(related: Stocks)
Evaluation I
An insane person cannot evaluate an insane evaluation system.As you know I have been trying to restore sanity to the insane premises Wall Street has been teaching its brokers and you for all these years. Their insanity has become so pervasive that it has become conventional wisdom. The brokerage houses have taught everyone to act insanely and to think that what they are doing is sane.Wall Street has taught you the insanity of doing research, dollar cost averaging and buying and holding. Anyone who can rub two braincells together can figure out that all these are lies. A book written 40 years ago by Nicholas Darvas called "How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Mar...(related: Stocks)
Evaluation Ii
As I said in Part I everyone in the insane asylum looks normal, but at least the doctors are sane. Unfortunately, in the insane asylum known as the stock market all the doctors (brokers) are also insane.The doctors in the insane asylum went to medical school to learn how to treat the patients so the could get well. On Wall Street you go to the doctor (broker) who is supposed to help you become financially well, maybe wealthy. Almost none of these Wall Street experts ever learned their profession. They have all been taught the three great prescriptions that make no sense...(related: Stocks)
Exchange Traded Funds Primer
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are a group of passive index funds that trade on an exchange like an individual stock. At the time of writing there are 162 ETFs with $220 billion in assets under...(related: Stocks)
Expense Ratios
Mutual funds and brokers are always preaching not to buy any fund with a high expense ratio. That is the annual costs of the fund to pay for trading of stocks within their portfolio, salaries, rent, telephone, analysts, etc. Most of them tell you not to buy one that exceeds 1.5%. There is also another expense added by some mutual funds called a 12b1 (usually from ¼% to 1%) that is supposed to be used for promotional purposes only. These numbers may appear small, but they are being applied to multi-millions, sometimes billions of dollars.The 12b1 is for advertising of the fund to bring in more investors. The more customers, the more money in the fund, spreads expenses over a greater amount of money and should reduce the expense ratio.We have seen allegations recently t...(related: Stocks)
Fake Money
Reach in your pocket and take out that big roll of bills. Depending on how many of them you have you feel pretty good. BUT did you know they are not worth the paper they are printed on? Huh? Let me explain.Yes, those bills are legal tender because those guys in Washington passed a law stating they must be accepted for payment. They are Federal Reserve Notes and it states right on the bill, "This is legal tender for all debts, public and private". That is OK, but if you go to the U.S. Mint will they redeem it in gold or silver? Years ago they did, but not...(related: Stocks)
?fears Only Enemy Is Action?
What a great statement!I just heard someone use it in the context of personal and financial success and it struck me as a brilliant summary of an issue we raise in the SMG Tutorials.Fear is a huge issue with a lot of traders. And interestingly, not just fear of failure bu...(related: Stocks)
Financial Crime
Congress recently passed another new law that is supposed to outlaw financial crime. Corporate officers will be sent to jail for "cooking the books" as it is called. Among other things it is taking the stockholders money and paying themselves huge bonuses for nonperformance. These guys are even worse than mutual fund managers who do the same thing ? get paid big salaries yet continue to lose your money.I can remember many years ago (I've got a few years on me) when they started building ver...(related: Stocks)
Finding A Good Stock
One of the things people are always asking me is how can I find a good stock. The answer I give does not please them. I say, "You are not qualified to pick stock. You don't know how so don't try. Put your money in a no-load mutual fund that is going up".The next cry is, "I don't want to buy mutual funds. What do I do?"OK, so I'll tell you. It is easy. You will have to do less than an hour of work. None of that Wall Street mythology about research which is all horse hockey. The way Wall Street does research is worthless. And don't listen to any broker. Advice from a broker is a eulogy for your money.They want you to look at the company prospectus. This document isn't worth the paper it i...(related: Stocks)
Fools Gold
The stock market has been in an up trend for more than a year. Almost everyone is feeling good and many believe we are back in the old bull market with the previous high of the Dow Jones Industrial Average just about to be broken.This could be the case, but what if what we are seeing is all glitter and only has sparkle with no value whatsoever. Any one who tells you he knows is either a liar or a fool. Only the market itself will tell what it is doing and very few take the time to learn its language.The most important thing about the stock market is the major trend. For the past year it has been up and during that time you should have owned equities ? stocks and mutual funds. Some time in the future it will turn down ...(related: Stocks)
Forces That Move Stock Prices
Among the largest forces that affect stock prices are inflation, interest rates, bonds, commodities and currencies. At times the stock market suddenly reverses itself followed typically by published explanations phrased to suggest that the writer's keen observation allowed him to predict the market turn. Such circumstances leave investors somewhat awed and amazed at the infinite amount of continuing factual input and infallible interpretation needed to avoid going against the market. While there are continuing sources of input that one needs in order to invest successfully in the stock market, they are finite. If you contact me at my web site, I'll be glad to share some with you. What is more important though is to have a...(related: Stocks)
Forecasting The Stock Market
Every day I see in the financialsection of newspapers how to forecast what themarket will do in 6 months, 12 months, severalyears. "Ten stocks that will double in the next 6months." Right! I have trouble trying to forecastwhat it will do tomorrow. Do not trust any whoclaims he knows what the future will be for themarket.Of course, your broker will send yougobs of slick material about various companiesthat predict they will double or triple in thenext 12 months. On the New York Stock Exchangethere will be about one half of one per cent(0.5%) of companies that will double this year.Are you smart enough to pick those winners? I'mnot and I am considere...(related: Stocks)
Frog In The Pot
You remember the story about the frog that was put into a pot of cold water on the stove. Hewas not concerned. Someone lit the burner andthe water began getting warm, the frog was verycomfortable and as the water became warmer hewas so relaxed and complacent that he fellasleep ? never to awaken.Mr. Frog reminds me of today's stock marketinvestors and that includes all folks with IRAs,401Ks and the like. Stocks have been slowlyrising for the past year and a half (the wateris becoming warmer and warmer) and no one ispaying any attention to his investmentpositions. The market is becoming overheated andmany investors are about to become boiled. Toomany are swimming fat and happy in theincreasing warmth with no thought of exit.Currently the long term market trend is up so complacency reigns supreme. It i...(related: Stocks)
Getting Even
I know there are a lot of you out there who would like to "get even" with the stock market. Many are on the diet of "I hope, I hope". As a professional trader I can tell you that diet will make you very sick.If you play any game of chance like poker you know you are not going to win every hand. In fact you are going to lose more hands than you win, but at the end of the evening you can still come out a...(related: Stocks)
Gold Fever
Right now there doesn't seem to be any "gold fever". Very few are out looking to strike it rich in this sector.Way back when at Sutter's Mill in California the discovery of gold was accidental. One of Sutter's employees picked up a shiny stone out of the stream and suddenly the fever caught everyone. Gold fever is one of the most catching and dangerous "diseases" that has afflicted man since the beginning of time. Many have died or gone broke chasing this elusive element. We are about to see it happen again. The first ones to catch it usually do very well, but as the fever spreads to the general population the affliction mutates to fear of not gett...(related: Stocks)
Good News?
As the man said, "I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. What do you want to hear first?" It was replied, "Tell me the good news first". The good news is that they are going to make some changes in the mutual fund industry reporting to help the investor and the bad news is it isn't going to make any difference in your bottom line.It seems that us small investors are getting the usual window dressing to make it seem that we are getting a good deal, but when you go in the store to try on the merchandise it still doesn't fit any better.Here is what the Securities and Exchange Commission passed as a new regulation for registered mutual funds. Instead of 50% of the Board of Directors being from outside the company they now must select 7...(related: Stocks)
Good Stock Market Tip; Good Return!
Forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided from your stock portfolio. That's right! Forget making a profit. The burden is now lifted - no more pressure on making a buck in the stock market. (Instead of trying to bend the spoon, that is impossible, instead just think of the spoon as ? omigosh! - I'm in the Matrix!) When you focus on the amount of money your holdings ar...(related: Stocks)
Gurgle Gurgle
Caught in a whirlpool and being sucked under. No life vest or other device to save you. Gurgle, gurgle. Down you go.This last couple of weeks in the stock market kinda feels like that whirlpool when you look at your financial statements. Of course, your broker will tell you this is a "normal correction and it gives you a chance to buy more so you can dollar cost average. He could be right about this being a correction, but dollar cost averaging down is 100% wrong. The proper way to average into a financial holding is buy more as it goes up in value, never down.There is a basic law of physics that applies equally well to many things including the stock market. An object in motion will remain in motion...(related: Stocks)
Hedge Fund Advertising
Have you seen all those big full page ads for hedge funds in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Investors Business Daily? Youhaven't. Maybe they are being drowned out by the regular mutual funds who continually tell you how great they are.Shucks! I forgot. Hedge funds are not allowed to advertise. I wonder why. Maybe they thinkthat their potential customers are too dumb toknow that hedge funds are a poor investment. Could be. The Securities and Exchange Commissioni...(related: Stocks)
Hedge Funds: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Alfred Winslow Jones started hedge funds in 1949. He was a pioneer of non-traditional investment strategies. "Non-traditional" categorizes hedge funds quite accurately. Hedge funds have the potential to make an investor quite a bit of money, but many do not understand the nature of hedge funds. Hedge funds have undergone skepticism because they do not have to disclose their ac...(related: Stocks)
Hedge Funds
You read and hear a lot about hedge funds. Unfortunately, most of what you hear is negative because it comes from the major media that has an interest in reporting negatives about them because the major media is supported by so-called standard mutual funds and brokerage companies that spend big bucks for advertising. Hedge funds are NOT allowed to advertise.First of all a hedge fund is almost identical to a mutual fund. There have actually been fewer fraud complaints about hedge funds than about mutual funds. That doesn't mean they don't lose money just as regular mutual funds do.The underperformance of mutual funds is not highlighted i...(related: Stocks)
High Price/earnings Ratios And The Stock Market: A Personal Odyssey
After some forty years of banking and investments, I retired in 2001. But since I do not golf, I soon found retirement to be very boring. So I decided to return to the investment world after ten months. However, those ten months were not a complete waste of time, for I had spent them in trying to utilize my forty years of investment experience to gain perspective on the most recent stock market "bubble" and subsequent "crash."There were several people who saw the stock market crash coming, but they had different...(related: Stocks)
Hill Of Hope
Just about now everyone is confused as to which way the stock market is going to go - up or down. For the past 3 years it has been headed south, but the Wall Street experts have told us that the market never goes down 4 years in a row so this has to be an up year. But no guarantees.The old saying is that the stock market climbs a wall of worry. We watch sharp moves up followed by days, sometimes weeks of weakness and then another shot to higher prices. From 1982 to 2000 this went on until we absolutely, positively knew it was going to continue forever. The current mindset is you can't...(related: Stocks)
Historical Briefing: Stocks, Finance And Money
The World Bank claims that some two billion of the world'scitizens live on $1 per day or less! That fact absolutelyshocked me. With this statistic in mind it becomes important tofocus on all of the things that have served as money over thehistory of civilization. Aztecs used Cocoa beans, Norwegiansused Butter and dried cod, many Indian tribes used animal skinsand some of the early colonists used grains. It's worth thinkingabout this the next time you pick up your paycheck. The word"salary" is derived from the word SALT, which is what was the...(related: Stocks)
Hold Em And Fold Em
When most analysts, financial planners, fund specialists and investors try to decide whether to buy a particular stock they immediately go to the financial statements to determine the growth potential of the company. Numbers and more numbers. Then management analysis and industry speculation. Unless you are an experienced financial analyst (and there are not very many good ones) the numbers in the reported statements can be very misleading - just as the company Controller wants them to be.Let's not consider fraud as there has been plenty of that both here and abroad. They are all honest (I hope). Most corporate executives want to remain within the law so they report statements that are true to the FASB - Financial Accounting Standards Board.As the old ...(related: Stocks)
|
|
|
Enronization
Even if you don't own any of their stock or any stock at all you will want to read this.What Enron corporate officers did with their accounting firm is nothing new. It has been going on for years, but recentl...(related: Stocks)
Protect Your 401k
Checked your 401K lately? Going back to about a year ago many of these retirement accounts have shrunk by 30%, some even more. What Happened?You have been putting money in for years and your employer may have been contributing to your plan also. It is not supposed to get smaller. You are planning to spend that mon...(related: Stocks)
Protectionism
First let's see what protectionism is. According to Mr. Webster it is the advocacy, system, or theory of protecting domestic producers by impeding or limiting, as by tariffs or quotas, the importation of foreign goods and services.That sounds pretty good. It is something that will protect the jobs of our workers from goods that can be produced elsewhere and undercut the prices of our l...(related: Stocks)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved. | Stocks