| |
| |
|
|
Stocks and Mutual Funds |
|
Buy Low - Sell High
Now where have I heard that before? I know. It was my broker. So I took his advice and bought some of the stocks he recommended. I am still waiting for the 'sell high' part of the equation. Everything he touted went up for a while and now it is lower than when I bought it. It is so low I can't bring myself to sell it. My capital has shrunk about 60% from where I started. That's a lot of money to me because it took a long time to save it. What happened? The brokerage company that your broker works for puts out recommendations almost very week for various companies listed on the major stock exchanges. They have simple things like Buy or Strong Buy. Then they have a complex group of words used when they downgrade a stock. It never goes from Buy to Sell. No, it becomes Accumulate, Underperform, Attractive, Market Perform, Neutral or some other meaningless term. If any stock is ever downgraded even one notch sell it immediately. Finally after a stock has lost 50% or more of its value it becomes a 'Hold". And you know where you are holding it. Last year the brokerage companies gave over 33,000 stock recommendations to their customers. Of those only 125 were Sell. On the NASDAQ exchange alone there were over 1,000 stocks that lost more than 90% of their value. The "experts", known as analysts, were all telling you to buy. Your kid could have thrown a dart at the Wall Street Journal in 1999 and done as good a job as almost any analyst. What I want to know (and I think you do too) is if they were smart enough to tell you to buy then why weren't they able to tell you to sell? I'll tell you why. Brokerage companies never give sell signals because they don't want to offend a company that might come out with a public offering on which they will make a killing. It is better to kill a few customers than miss out on several million dollars. You pay commission and ask for honest advice, but you are being fed disinformation. Is there any way you can protect yourself from this nonsense? Yes! It is called a stop-loss order. Brokers don't like them because then they have to watch your account. He will tell you you don't need it as he will watch your account. And pigs can fly. The average broker has 300 accounts and unless you have a large 6-figure account you will be on the bottom of the pile. Anyone can place a protective open stop-loss order for stocks. Most are about 8% to 15% below the highest closing price. I recommend that each Saturday morning you look in the paper for the Friday closing price of your stock and place your open stop each Monday morning with the broker. As your stock moves up keep raising the stop and you will sell near the high. Never lower it. This will lock in your profit or take you out of a losing position. I can assure you your broker will never call you to sell. Brokers are not taught to protect your capital. This is the only way to buy low, sell high, protect your capital and lock in your profits. Al Thomas' 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 at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know. Copyright 2005 al@mutualfundstrategy.com; 1-888-345-7870
MORE RESOURCES:
Standard Life Licenses Morningstar(R) Hypothetical Illustrator(TM) - Canada NewsWire (press release)
BUYINS.NET: TGIC, BVSN, ESPH, STKH, ORXGF, IMED Have Also Been ... - Trading Markets (press release)
Stocks-Mutual-Funds - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Social Insecurity Just about everything you have been told about Social Security is an obfuscation. That is a big word for convoluted truth or lie. Investing in the Stock Market - When To! Is really not as important as to how you invest in the stock market. And how you invest in the stock market should take into consideration what goals you are setting for that stock market investment. How to Short Stocks? How to Make Money when Your Stocks Go Down by Shorting The stock market can present you with a lot of hot stocks every day. Many of them are new technology stocks that come from the nanotech, biotech, voip, healthcare, homeland defense or internet sectors. Buy Low - Sell High Now where have I heard that before? I know. It was my broker. Why Investors Use Financial Planners Do you have a financial planner? Does one of your friends have a financial planner? Maybe you take your advice from your broker. As I have said countless times before a broker will make you broker. No Load Mutual Funds: Investment Hype vs. Investment Help With the internet such a huge part of our daily lives, many investors have access to a wide range of instant investment information.Whether you're into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures or options, there are tons of electronic investment newsletters offering to turn your small stake into a giant fortune. Its A Bull, Its A Bear, Its Suptertrader! The higher the market goes the more confusing are the "experts". In the September 14 issue of Investor's Business Daily newspaper we find the great prognosticators such as:Sheldon Jacobs, editor of No-Load Fund Investor newsletter quoted that he is recommending having more cash in your portfolio. 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. Advisory Service for You? It depends on your level of understanding of the market and the amount of money you have.If you a sophisticated investor with a substantial amount invested you are probably already receiving more than one. The Secret Method to Selecting a Winning Trading System Every successful trader has a winning system. There are of course, as many systems out there, as there are traders. Stock Trading Secrets? How often have you come across an advertisement or e-mail proclaiming to "teach" you the stock trading secrets that Wall Street Insiders don't want you to know? Usually included in the descriptions of these trading products are claims such as "Make 10K monthly in minutes per day", or "Learn the secrets of Professional Stock Brokers", etc. etc. Invest In The Stock Market For The RIGHT Reason, Using The RIGHT Choices Invest in the stock market for the RIGHT reason, using the RIGHT choices!Investing in the stock market is not purchasing a stock at 25 dollars a share, hoping it will go to 35 so you can sell it, then hoping it will drop back to 25 so you can buy it back, so that you can sell it again at 35, and so on and so forth.In my opinion, that is gambling. Overseas Investing: Going Against the Mainstream TOO OFTEN, INVESTORS SIMPLY CHOOSE TO follow the crowd. This strategy works in the short term, but can lead to difficulty in the longer haul. Long-Term Investment In Todays Market? The stock market is very unstable at this time going up and down while interest rates are so low you want to be a borrower and not a lender. Would you like some suggestions on how can you get the most out of low interest rates while being assured your principal will not disappear while you are trying to make some money? Of course, there is always the danger of borrowing the money and then spending it just because it is there. NASDAQ 800? In November of 2000 when the NASDAQ was trading at 3000 I wrote in this column that the NASDAQ Index would fall to 1500 and I got lots of heat for saying it. Microsoft had fallen from $129 to $60 per share. Trading Tips No 8: Picking the Best Stock Market Price Carefully thinking through your goal as a trader is of prime importance, when picking the best stock market price. It is very difficult if not impossible to meet a goal that is ill defined. My Stock - Right or Wrong We all know the expression, "My country, right or wrong", but have you ever thought about the stocks or mutual fund you own and said to yourself, "My stock - right or wrong" and held on to your position even as you saw your hard-earned money disappearing?This is the Buy N Hold strategy and, in case you haven't noticed, lost from 40% to 60% and more of investors' money from 2000 to 2003. Fortunately, for the past year stock markets around the world have gone up and folks have recovered about 25% to 30% from those low numbers. What is Involved in Peak Performance Trading? There is so much involved in developing peak performance, that I recommend that all traders have a business plan. We recommend that the business plan cover all of the following areas. 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. 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.
|
||||||||||||||