| |
| |
|
|
Stocks & Mutual Funds Information |
|
|
|
Frog In The Pot
You remember the story about the frog that was put into a pot of cold water on the stove. He was not concerned. Someone lit the burner and the water began getting warm, the frog was very comfortable and as the water became warmer he was so relaxed and complacent that he fell asleep - never to awaken. Mr. Frog reminds me of today's stock market investors and that includes all folks with IRAs, 401Ks and the like. Stocks have been slowly rising for the past year and a half (the water is becoming warmer and warmer) and no one is paying any attention to his investment positions. The market is becoming overheated and many investors are about to become boiled. Too many are swimming fat and happy in the increasing warmth with no thought of exit. Currently the long term market trend is up so complacency reigns supreme. It is doing exactly the same as in 2000. When 2002 ended we had a surplus of boiled frogs. A smart frog will not be lulled to sleep and will have a plan to jump out of the pot. A frog without a plan plans to be frog soup. There are many ways for the frog to escape and there are many ways for investors to retain their profits or at least not lose their money the next time the market heads down. It will if past performance is any guide to futures results. Any plan to jump out is better than no plan at all. Whether you own stocks, mutual funds or ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) you can set a limit as to how much you are willing to lose from this point (that's now, today). Any fool (frog) can buy, but it is the wise man (frog) who knows how to sell (escape the pot). If you want to have money for retirement you must protect your capital from loss with a risk management strategy. First protect your principle and then protect the profits you have made on the recent stock market advance. It is not difficult to do. With stocks and ETFs you can place an Open Stop Loss Order with your broker or financial planner. He won't like this, but it is your money not his. Don't let him talk you out of it. For regular mutual funds you must have a mental stop and when that price is hit you call your broker (he won't call you) or the fund directly to tell them to transfer your funds to a Money Market account. Cash is a position. If you are not familiar with stop loss orders you can find books in your library and there are hundreds of articles on the Internet. See some of my previous articles on my web site. The water is heating up. Don't fall asleep and become a poor frog. Al Thomas' best selling book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter and receive his market letter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know. Copyright 2005
MORE RESOURCES:
Stocks-Mutual-Funds - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Top 25 Growth Funds On Monday, November 25, 2000 Investor's Business Daily listed on page B1 the Top 25 Growth Mutual Funds for the last 36 months along with their performance for the year 2000 to date. Only four showed a profit this year of 21% and the other three had increases of 12%, 5%, and 5%. Understanding the Bulls and the Bears If you've ever flipped on the television to CNN Financial or paged through the finance section of your local newspaper, you may have seen or heard references made to "the bulls and the bears." If you didn't know what was meant by those terms, you're about to find out. China Syndrome There has been great condemnation recently because China has been selling its goods on the world market at prices below what other countries, especially the U.S. The Big Bad Bear The big bad bear is stirring again. So far he has stretched, yawned and peaked out of his cave. Analyzing Growth Stocks: An Important Focus For Any Investor Analyzing growth stocks is an important focus for any investor. This is especially important, since stocks are an irreplaceable part of any good investment plan, and since unbiased stock research is hard to find. How to Evaluate Load vs. No Load Mutual Funds If you have been dealing with mutual funds for any length of time, you undoubtedly have faced the question of which is better: Load Funds or No Load Funds. If you are new to investing, "load" simply refers to the commission paid to the broker selling the fund. A Good Fund Manager Every Wall Street analyst, financial planner and broker will tell you that the right way to pick a mutual fund is find a good money manager of a fund that has a long time record.Yes, I believe that too, but it is amazing that when you go back in time to see what this genius did with the mutual fund, you will find years he has had some terrible losses. Dont Fight The Fed One of the great truisms of Wall Street is "Don't fight the Fed". For the long term investors this has resulted in greater profits. Leverage - Margin Debt What is leverage?Here is a definition of leverage from an online dictionary "leverage - The use of credit or borrowed funds to improve one's speculative capacity and increase the rate of return from an investment, as in buying securities on margin."Essentially, the core idea of leverage is that investors can use less money to control bigger amount of investment so that investors can make more money when the price movement is in investors' favor. How Commodity Trading Differs from Stock Trading There are major differences between trading stocks and trading futures. While stories of fortunes made or lost overnight on the futures markets are largely untrue, the futures trader, if using a sound trading system, can usually make more money on the futures market and make it much faster. Maximizing a Stock Market Investment Maximizing a stock market investmentThere are several factors an investor in the stock market should consider for a maximum return on an investment:1. All stock purchases should be commission-free. Lights of the Stock Market There are red lights, green lights, blue lights and spot lights. There are orange lights, pink light and flash lights. Ignore Stock Market Talking Heads You should ignore analysts on TV, the radio, the newspaper and all other TALKING HEADS when it comes to investing! What stocks do they talk about? - The same old group, every day of every year - Why? Because they don't know any better, they are sheep like the general public, repeating what every economic textbook says and every other economist tells them to say. Everyday, the same companies are highlighted on the evening news -WHY?They aren't going anywhere. Swing Trading Strategies Using Swing Trading Strategies and Technical Analysis when Trading Stocks to Make Consistent Trading Profits.This article is one small part of a series of lessons using Swing Trading Strategies and Technical Analysis developed by WD Gann which are designed to show how anyone can build a profitable Stock or Commodity trading business from scratch. Robert Rodriguez Weathers the Stock Market Robert Rodriguez likes to buy stocks at their lows. When there are not enough stocks hitting new lows, he closes his fund and piles up cash. You Don't HAVE To Be Trading As a novice trader, you'll often feel the need to trade.You may be bored or frustrated. 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. The Secret Art of Backtesting If you have not back tested your trading system, you might as well trade with your eyes close. In fact, whatever technical analysis criterion you use to trade with, be it moving averages, candle sticks, volatility breakouts, fibonacci retracements or any other trading system you have devised you're going to need to back test your trading system thoroughly and objectively in order to remove any possible doubt about it's capability. The Stock Market - Part 1: Believe It Or Not, Its Always Been Your Best Friend And Always Will Be Regardless of the fact that the world's stock markets have shown absolutely no growth between the date of writing this article (Late April 2005) and the late 1990s, they should still be looked at with more than just a sideways glance.Speak gently to them, speak well of them to your friends, learn to trust them, cuddle up close and get to know them - and they will reward you in a way that the banks, mutual funds (Unit Trusts in the UK), pension funds and insurance companies never can or will. How We Eluded The Bear Of 2000 The date October 13, 2000 will forever be embedded in my mind. It was the day after our mutual fund trend tracking indicator had broken its long-term trend line and I sold 100% of my clients' invested positions (and my own) and moved the proceeds to the safety of money market accounts.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |