Mar 1
Knowing When to Hold Them
icon1 Nelson Pellew | icon2 stock trading | icon4 03 1st, 2010| icon3No Comments »

The stock market is a cruel mistress. She beckons, and we obey. It has been the lure of many a great man and clever woman, each seeking to reap a financial whirlwind, and more often than not merely reaping the whirlwind. So it is that the common investor — or the would-be investor — finds himself (or herself).

To be sure, there are enough people uninterested enough, or cowed enough, to let other people manage their money, there is a tenacious breed of investor known as the “day trader” that simply will not submit. To their credit, they are confident they know best how to invest and divest their fortunes. While their bold surety is to be commended, it can tend to be foolhardy at times.

To borrow a broken meme, knowing when to hold them — as Mr. Rogers crooned — and when to fold them, are more than fashionable skills — they are crucial. Divesting from a stock too soon could be futile, while investing too late could be ruinous. Timing is everything. Of course, it is not necessarily an innate hunch — timing is as much a result of the proper training and experience.

While stock trading online has been kind to some, it has been cruel to others. Those who enjoy some moderate modicum of success have, in all likelihood, learned through the veritable school of hard knocks. The fact that they are still engaged in a viable livelihood has more to do with investing conservatively, graduating incrementally to larger and larger sums of capital.

In summation, it is the slow turtle that wins the investment race. To be sure, the hare makes for a dynamic spectacle, but more times than not he or she is relegated to a meager, pathetic existence. Wise investment, copious research, and a penchant for knowing what will be the next “big thing” will serve your well. The trick, of course, is honing each of these in tandem.

For the bold, there is always the promise of stock trading online. Yes, the lure of the Market knows no bounds and no common sense.

Feb 18
3 Advantages of Stock Trading
icon1 Shaun Rosenberg | icon2 stock trading | icon4 02 18th, 2010| icon3No Comments »

Trading stocks can be a very powerful way of growing your money. In fact there are ways to make money in different kinds of market. But why should you care? What are the benefits of learning to trade stocks?

There are pretty much 3 reasons why you should look into trading stocks.

1. Extra Income

The income potential for stock trading is enormous. In fact there is no limit to the amount of money someone can make in the stock market.

Of course there are going to be wins and losses in the market, but there are strategies out there that can give you an edge and help you be a profitable trader on average. This can lead to a large income that may be capable of supporting you one day.

2. Growth

The stock market also allows for large growth over time. This is especially true for traders because compound interest can really add up. Small consistent gains can be many times better than larger ones which occur less often.

3. The Wealthy Invest into Stocks

There are a lot of millionaires who made it all through the stock market. Even the ones who have made their money through other sources still realize how powerful the stock market can be. A large percentage of rich invest or trade stocks, it just has such a great growth potential that it can be a terrible thing to pass up.

But wait a minute, isn’t it risky to trade in the stock market? Well of course there are risks, the majority of traders do end up losing their money. However many go on to make consistent gains from it year after year. The good news is, anyone can learn to trade stocks and be a profitable trader over the long term. The only thing it takes is the desire to learn from your mistakes and constantly improve yourself.

For more information on the stock market visit Shaun’s site http://www.stocks-simplified.com

Feb 16

Spend some time with a seasoned trader, and he or she will tell you: there are just some things a trader or investor shouldn’t do.

That’s right – you may know a trader or investor who has made these mistakes and become the “statistic”: a recent study found that over 82% of traders made significant losses and closed their accounts after 9 months. For the long term investors it is slightly better, but that doesn’t account for the thousands of retiree who had to return to work after the 2008 bear market.

So here is a list of 10 killer reasons reasons why traders and investors fail. What does it mean for you? Well you can enjoy more success in the market simply by doing the opposite of everything on this list – and you will know what to look out for and avoid in the future. And then click on the link at the bottom for even more things to watch out for!

Ready? Let’s get started!

1: They don’t create a plan. You wouldn’t start a business without a business plan, would you? Then why start trading without a trading plan? List your entry and exit rules, you money management, your goals. All of these things bring you greater success.

2: They get attached to a particular stock. Your parents hold the stock. Your boss holds the stock. Your friends are all in the stock. The only thing is – it is sinking faster than the titanic. Don’t get attached! And have a pre-determined point of exit. It could save your account.

3: They haven’t got tested rules for entry and exit. Would you fire a nuclear missile randomly into the air? Of course not! Someone could get hurt! It’s the same with trading – find rules that work, rules that you have tested. Don’t just buy or sell randomly or you will get hurt.

4: They think the market will stay “this way” forever. If there is anything that’s true about the markets, it is they are ever changing. What works today may not work tomorrow, and today’s bull market will become tomorrow’s bear. The market will never “stay this way forever”. Be prepared, and never stop learning.

5: They over-analyze. More commonly known as analysis paralysis, this can happen when you do so much research and get so many conflicting views that you find you can’t actually make a trade. Keep it simple – all the best traders do.

6: They give up too quickly (and don’t let their expectancy work). Many methods will work over the longer term, given a positive expectancy. But some traders or investors get discouraged and give up, right when the market conditions are about to change in their favor.

7: They listen to the news. Everybody loves gossip, and traders and investors are no exception. The only trouble is when it comes to the news: they are reporters, not investors! They don’t actually know what the blazers is going on! So they make something up, like “hedge funds are short selling” or “investors are running to safe-haven assets”. If you want gossip, listen to the news. If you want trading wins, get a solid system.

8: They use too much leverage. Leverage can be great, when used wisely. It can help you increase the amount of trades you have on, and take short positions, and it’s even tax deductible in many countries. But leverage is a double edged sword. Use too much of it and it can take you and your account down.

9: They turn their money over to “experts”. The fact is, even most professional traders are not even right 50% of the time. And a large majority of managed funds don’t even perform as well as their index, let alone out perform it. No one will care as much about your money as you. Get educated.

10: They want to become millionaires overnight. Becoming a millionaire takes time – time for your compounding to grow your account, and time for your expectancy to show a consistent result. The truth is that people who want to be millionaires straight away usually go bust sooner.

Get 31 MORE reasons why traders and investors fail and things to watch out for at Dave’s free site www.ASXmarketwatch.com.

Feb 13

The study of chart patterns are an element of buying and selling rules in technical analysis stock trading. These patterns provide an excellent confirmation for the next trend move. They are one of the most accurate, yet uncomplicated to use technical analysis tools. They are patterns that appear on the charts of stocks which supply you with forecasting tools of imminent price movement. A number of patterns are more reliable than others for predicting price.

Price is forecasted by patterns because basically, patterns are actually little more than an attempt to forecast trend continuation or trend reversal at the earliest achievable moment in time. These patterns are often the initial initiation that traders have to charting a stock. These patterns are simply a system for the common trader to accurately position himself for a greater probability of making a profit in this backstabbing world of stock trading.

These patterns repeat themselves in all time frames and in all stocks because these formations are a consequence of human nature and psychological reactions to the markets. These formations repeat themselves for the reason that people do not change and their emotions will cause them to make the same errors over and over again.

Impressive Triangle Patterns

Triangles are some of the most celebrated chart patterns used in technical analysis today. The three kinds of triangles, which differ in form and inference, are the ascending triangle, descending triangle, and the symmetrical triangle. Whilst the form of the triangle is noteworthy of more significance is the direction that the market takes when it breaks out of the triangle.

The reason behind why these patterns are so infamous is that they are relatively easy to see and are dependable market indicators. Technical investors must show caution in acting on them too early, though (i.e. attempting to guess the direction of the breakout). Triangle patterns are not 100% accurate but instead are closer to 75% reliable, therefore it is important to use a stop loss. This will save you from a big loss on the trade.

Good Ascending Triangle

The ascending triangle is made up of a horizontal upper trendline and a rising lower trendline. This pattern suggests that the bulls are able to take the stock up to the flat upper trendline resistance time and time again as the bears are losing the ability to take the stock back down to the lower support line (that is rising lower trendline).

The ascending triangle is considered as a more reliable pattern when they are formed in an uptrend. Buy signals are given once the price does a breakout above the resistance level. An ascending triangle is bullish in both up trends and down trends. The existence of an ascending triangle pattern usually signifies a positive trend regarding the price per share of the stock you are analyzing.

Evil Descending Triangle

The descending triangle is made up of a falling upper trendline and a flat lower trendline. This formation suggests that the bears can take the stock down to the flat lower trendline support over and over again while the bulls have lost the ability to take the stock back up to the upper resistance line (that is falling upper trendline).

Descending triangles materialize during an overall downtrend as the flat support level and the down-trending resistance level that encompass the consolidation zone converge. They usually imply a continuation of the previous trend. Descending triangles, with a previous uptrend, are predicted to break up and out, rather than down and out. Descending triangles provide technical traders the opportunity to make considerable profits over a short period of time. The most common price targets are normally set to equal the entry price minus the vertical height between the two trendlines.

Neutral Symmetrical Triangles

Symmetrical triangles form with lower highs and higher lows. Because of their shape, they can act as either a continuation or a reversal pattern. The price movement within the pattern is rather neutral, but sooner or later will do a breakout and go back into the direction of the underlying trend.

Symmetrical triangle patterns appear when the stock being charted achieves gradually higher daily low trading prices, while at the same time exhibiting lower intraday highs. This pattern of activity forms a triangle that is proportioned in nature.

Symmetrical triangle patterns are commonly referred to as spring coils. This is because, as time progresses, prices trade within a ever smaller range, with the market making lower highs and higher lows. Emotion builds into the apex of the pattern and sooner or later a breakout occurs. Breakouts usually take place in the middle or the final third of the triangle as with the other sloping triangles.

Symmetrical triangle breakouts are outstanding entry points, when accompanied by high volume.

Final Thoughts On Breakouts

Breakouts from a triangle, that has become narrow, can be significant because buying or selling interest has accumulated while the price of the stock has gone sideways. Breakouts normally happen after going about two-thirds to three-quarters of the distance between the beginning of the formation and the apex, but there are exceptions. Furthermore, price can break out to the upside, in which case the pattern becomes a continuation pattern rather than a reversal pattern.

The technical analysis of stock market they don’t want you to know about. Discover the secrets of how to trade profitably against institutional traders and hedge funds. Learn how not to get blind-sided during different times of the year by going to stock market trading tips

Feb 12

So you want to increase your wealth by investing in ASX Shares? Start out on the right foot and you could eventually supplement the income from your job. But make one of a few fatal mistakes and you could see yourself right out of the market, never to trade again.

If you had invested $150 a month in the ASX share market starting in 1980, and earning an average of 15% per annum, today you would have $1,038,490 or over one million dollars. $38 a week. Not bad, eh?

But not everyone makes it that far. In fact, a great deal of people investing in ASX shares lose a portion of their money, get scared out of the market and never invest again. And the sad part is they never discover that million dollars we just spoke about because after all, you’ve got to be in it to win it.

So if you are trading in ASX shares, there is something important you should know. One of the first but most overlooked essentials in investing is making a solid trading plan. In fact, without it you simply shouldn’t be investing. But how do you find a trading plan that suits you, and helps you make the most from your money?

Well, there are many different ways to invest – in fact as many people as there are investing. But there are a few solid ground rules that will definitely help you out. Therefore, your trading plan should have the following:

1: Your Entry and Exit Rules – these are the solid rules you have outlined allowing you to buy and sell your shares. It could be based on fundamental reasons, like a company’s earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), or it could be based on technical reasons, like a Dow Theory entry signal. Whatever you decide, you should follow them diligently.

2: Your Money Management Rules – these are the rules for how much you will invest in a single position, and then in your total positions. This means you decide how much is right for you when putting money in a share. Obviously, if you put too much into one share on the ASX, you will lose all your money if it disappears. But also, if you put your money into too many shares it will be hard for you to outperform the market. Usually between 6 and 12 positions is optimum.

Having these in place will set you on your way to a solid start in ASX Shares.

Get more from your ASX Shares with a free course on trading and investing. There’s also free research on Australian Stocks – all at www.asxmarketwatch.com .

Feb 9

Ask two different economists when a recession will end, and you’re likely to get four different answers. That’s right, they don’t really know – at least not in advance. But despite this, I am going to show you a very simple way to find out for yourself when a recession will end.

But just think with me for a moment – can you imagine what this knowledge would do for you? How it would help your business? How it could help your job? Maybe you could start looking for that position you really want but were waiting for the economic recession to end. Or maybe you could start increasing your advertising, taking advantage of increasing sales at the end of the recession.

So, how do we tell when an economic recession will end? The answer is extremely simple – and yet it has been proven over many decades of data this last century.

In fact it is so simple your children could research it in the comfort of your own home.

And this is where we look to the stock market for the answer – as Ken Fisher outlined in his book, “The Wall Street Waltz”, the stock market has a magical way of leading the overall economy. Fisher discovered that the stock market will start going up before the end of an economic recession is announced.

There are so many examples of this I could not possibly list them all, but going back a mere 60 years the market started to decline half way through 1948. But six months later in 1949, the economic recession was announced. Amazingly, as people were despairing and selling their assets, the market started moving upwards half way through 1949. Six months later in 1950 the recession was deemed to be over.

But there are many more: markets in 1952 declined before a recession was announced in 1953. The stock market had predicted an economic recession again – and the end was no different.

We can see the same pattern in 1957, 1960, 1967, 1970, 1974, and then in more recent recessions like the early 1990’s and 2002. The average time-frame that the stock market leads the economy by is 6 months. Of course some will be more, and some will be less, but as a general rule 6 months is a good one to go by.

So what does this mean for you? Well, the next time a recession hits (and it will), keep a close eye on the stock market. When it starts to rise, in 6 months time you’ll be ready to take full advantage of a booming economy!

Get your free course on trading and investing, at Dave McLachlan’s site ASXmarketwatch.com. Dave also offers independant stock market research to help people just like you.

Feb 2

Operating penny shares is like going into an auction. How does it start? An asking price is set at the lowest value and then when the bidding starts, the price rises. If you’re the seller, you check your starting price and compare it with the current bid. If your selling price is met, you trade and then the transaction is closed. The difference with an auction is that the price doesn’t go down. Stock prices do. Today there a number of techniques being developed to monitor your penny stock info and bidding.

Researching – Any active stock investor would tell you that you have to do your own research. While penny stock advisors and brokerage firms help in facilitating your sale, it is always helpful to have your penny stock info ready when needed. The more you know, the better your opportunity to gain profit. The more you understand the trade, the lesser your chances of falling into the pit.

However, because of the availability of free information in the internet, it can be a bit difficult to make decisions. Especially if you are new to the business, experience is your better half. Be attentive and be very alert about fabricated information. This is a trading business and it involves money. You have to be able to know which penny stock info is reliable for your use.

There are softwares that are being developed to help small cap investors and stock brokers monitor the stocks. The moment your stocks are pegged, it can be a roller coaster ride. Thus you need to stay close to the facts and observe your investment in the penny stock market. Here are some tips and information about how the transactions are made:

- Buying Penny Stocks – Set your funds ready and be sure you’ll be able to pay the shares and your stock broker’s commission.

- Symbols – These are initials or abbreviations of companies that are selling their shares to the public stock exchange. This is standardized for easy management, inventory, and recall.

- Stock Exchange – The more dependable stocks are being traded in major stock exchange. Examples are NASDAQ, NYSE, and AMEX.

- Establish The Volume of Shares – Of course, you must be clear on your penny stock info sheets how much of the shares you want to buy or sell. But beware and don’t fall into extra commissions being charged to you.

- Opening and Closing Dates. These are dates that you set your stock to be available for sale. This must also include active dates (dates when your shares are still open for bid) and the date when you hope to close your stocks.

- Selling Your Penny Stocks – It is important to take note of the above mentioned – the volume of shares to sell, ticker symbol, names of the stock and the stock exchange.

- Share Price and the Dates – Again it is important not to miss out the selling price and the time span to which your stocks are active and open for bidding.

This isn’t all. But this article doesn’t intend to give you any penny stock info overload. Too much technical knowledge may not be a good practice. Take this investment carefully. Your penny stocks are good money and therefore delicate. Make haste slowly.

Begin your business in penny stock trading. Learn reliable penny stock pick online.

Jan 24
Tax Advantages of ETFs
icon1 Jeffrey Jackson | icon2 stock trading | icon4 01 24th, 2010| icon3No Comments »

As it turns out, ETFs are rather tax efficient. Investors don’t have to pay capital gains taxes until the final sale of the ETF. There is no way to avoid paying taxes; however money that would have gone to taxes can be reinvested to generate more wealth by delaying tax payment.

Any benefits or gains are attached to the marginal tax rate along with the ROI and longevity of it. Tax advantages of ETFs resemble that those of tax manages index funds. ETFs are much more advantageous than actively managed funds.

Normal mutual funds continue to accumulate unrealized capital gains liabilities for any and all stocks that have risen in value. When these stocks are sold, the fund calculates and distributes the capital gains taxes to its members in direct proportion to their ownership. This diminishes any upside gained by allowing money that would be allotted for taxes to accumulate in the ETF and grow.

In comparison to actively managed funds both ETFs and mutual funds have modest distribution. It would be important to note that ETFs have significantly less capital gains liability. The more turnover experienced from picking stocks, the more adamantly the fund will enforce tax payment to its investors.

An interesting detail that goes much unknown is that many mutual fund investors end up paying the bill for investors who evade the liability, especially in a soft market. Those who evade the taxes will sell their stock before the day of record and don’t receive a bill while those loyal investors stay, and end up paying for the full liability. ETFs don’t have that same downfall.

A loophole with regulation exists under which ETFs are considered to be created by trading alike certificates called an in-kind trade. The IRS does not charge the same capital gain because it is viewed as trading identical items. Traditional mutual funds will exchange cash for stocks which trigger a tax liability from the IRS. ETFs have a huge tax advantage.

Black Sand trading is an online stock trading tool that indicates to online traders where and how to invest their money. Black Sand’s clients have consistently achieved a 53% or greater ROI over the past seven years following Black Sand’s signal. For more information about trading and using Black Sand Trading visit our website.

Jan 23

Making the right penny stock pick is the goal of every investor in the penny stock trade. However, it is not an easy thing to do, especially for the new investor. You may enter the stock trade with high hopes, but get discouraged at the hurdles you encounter. But if you manage to overcome the first few obstacles, you can consider yourself mentally prepared for what is yet to come.

In this trading business, it is important to understand that your key to success is always based on facts supported with a rational conclusion. Even with the best penny stock pick can’t compete with your decision.

But even with these not-so-encouraging comments, penny stock trading can be worth your investment. That is no myth and there are people who can tell you that it’s even fun. So where do you start? Know the basics first. Here are five tips that are most important to get your excited.

- Do not buy shares from ambiguous claims. Of course you wouldn’t buy a product in a grocery store if the label doesn’t say much about its content, would you? There may be phone calls and emails you’ll be getting saying stuff about penny shares that are up for grabs. Verify this claim first. Verify the source of the information too. It is important in your penny stock pick to have track records and an accurate stock price before you buy a penny share. The point is, don’t buy if the information you need is not given completely.

-Familiarize yourself with the PE ratio. This pertains to the price to earnings ratio, and is the value set by the stock market itself for every dollar per share of the annual earnings of a company. This might sound a little too technical if this is your first time to invest, but do not let this scare you off. The PE ratio principle is one of the basics of the stock market that you would like to understand better. You will not regret it, because it will provide a sturdy foundation in making a penny stock pick.

-Be very suspicious when you encounter penny shares that have been sensationalized. Hyping up penny shares is usually part of a greater scam that will have you lose a lot of money in the end. Just make sure that when you are choosing a penny stock, it is not because of the hype, but because of your thorough research on the background and the potential of the stock.

- Advice is always helpful but only if there is credibility in it. You decided to throw in your investments in your penny stock pick because it is your personal decision to. That means whatever risk you have, loss or gain is all yours for the taking. If someone else gives you an advice, make sure that they have traded their own money and have a good track record of successful transactions.

- Wherever you may seek assistance with your investment, remember that these are just sources of support. Statistics, research, brokerage firms, and friends in the trade can all give you pointers, but these should just be the foundations for your decision, not your actual choice. The final say on the penny stock pick should be yours.

Get the best tips on how to choose a penny stock pick. Learn more about investing in penny stock from the pros.

Jan 20

In this guide we thought we could take a look at forex trading. There’s a lot of individuals that have heard about forex trading and are curious about if they can make money, so hopefully this article helps.

There’s been a big increase in the amount of individuals that trade currencies on the internet. It’s an exhilirating way to make cash and unlike stock trading, the forex markets are open throughout the whole day.

Like trading in stocks, the idea is to buy when the cost is low and sell high. Currencies are constantly changing in rate, therefore when people can sell a particular currency for a higher price than it was acquired for, a profit is made.

What is it that causes a currency to shift in price? There’s a number of elements, but we want to quickly look at two of the major ones.

First, the prevailing established interest rates in a certain country plays a big role on the rate of exchange of their currency. If a country increases rates of interest this causes more foreigners to make investments in the country. These new investments lead to an increased demand for the country’s money and it increases in value. There’s a good deal of money that can be made if you can forecast when rates of interest will rise in a country.

You will find countries that have a currency whose rate is very much tied to commodities. Certain countries that are large exporters of commodities will have a currency that wavers as the cost of a certain commodity does. The greater the cost, the more demand exists for the currency from other countries and this causes a boost in price of the currency.

One of the biggest tips we have for people wanting to get involved in forex trading is to buy a computer forex trading software. These programs are designed by pro forex traders anduse info from the markets and then pick out the currencies to buy or sell. There are lots of currency traders make use of only these sorts of forex programs to make their cash, but I tend to utilize these programs in combination with trades that are based on my own ideas.

People can make a good deal of income in the currency markets. After you get the right trading tools, it’s an exhilirating way to make additional money..

There’s lots of Day Trading Tips online so it’s easy to start educating yourself about this exciting way to earn an income. Click Here for information on a trading system that makes many people a healthy income.

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