Why the Majority Fail at Stock Investing
The gleam and bright lights of Wall Street lure in many new investors each year, only to send them home crying to their friends and family. Why do so many people fail when it comes to the stock market? The reason is very simple: Hard work! Most people are looking for a quick buck or a fast path to riches. This is not the case when it comes to investing in individual stocks. If you wish to invest in stocks, treat it like a business, NOT A HOBBY. For example: A retail outfit can't make money if it doesn't have goods to sell, the same goes for investors, without cash, you can't invest. What do I mean? All investors need rules and you need to follow these rules or money WILL be LOST. If you lose your initial investment, you are out of business (just like the retail store). I don't necessarily care what your rules are but they need to be proven and then followed to a "T".
Think about this for a moment: How much time do you spend researching and following up on your investments? Most people will spend more time researching their next car to buy, their next pair of sneakers, the best suit, the best dress, the best pasta sauce, etc. but these same people rarely spend more than 15 minutes a month researching their own stocks. I know of a person that spends hours clipping coupons (saving cents to a few dollars) but just minutes investing thousands in stocks.
This is why the majority of people FAIL at investing, because they don't know what they are doing, they don't care to know where their money is and they don't know who to hire to invest their money. If you are not interested in learning how to invest properly using your OWN system of trial and error over many years, I suggest that you invest in mutual funds or similar diversified vehicles. Over the long run (minimum 20 years), mutual funds and dollar cost averaging will give you favorable results with minimal worries. I will elaborate into methods that can be used to invest successfully in individuals stocks in following articles.
About the Author:
Chris Perruna
http://www.marketstockwatch.com
Chris is the founder and CEO of MarketStockWatch.com, an internet community that teaches you how to invest your money with solid rules. We don't stop at just showing you our daily and weekly screens, we teach you how to make you own screens through education. Through our philosophy, you will be able to create your own methods and styles to become successful.
More Resources
Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exitingMore Stocks & Mutual Funds Information:
Related Articles
One Way Street
Ever turn down a street, get half way and suddenly realize it is one way and you are going the wrong way? Is that the way you feel when you look at your stock brokerage statement?In either case don't panic. You can get out of that one way street by carefully backing out.
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.
Market Timing?
The recent criminal fiasco in the mutual fund industry is being used by Wall Street to persuade investors that market timing is a bad thing. The late trading by Janus, Bank America and several other well known mutual funds is falsely being called market timing.
What Our Investment Advisor Wont Say Off The Bat
Most advisors will tell you they can beat the market. They may even point to years in which they did.
Stocks: Understand What You Buy!
"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action!" Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)I don't really know how cars actually work. Not really! I know how to drive them, but if you asked me how they work, I would not really know how to definitely explain it.
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.
A Penny for Your Stocks
According to Investopedia Inc. the penny stock market has seen phenomenal growth this past decade.
Whos Calling?
Its dinnertime and the phone rings. It's Joe Noname with SuchNSuch Investment Company and has he got a deal for you.
Basics of Stock Market
Financial markets provide their participants with the most favorable conditions for purchase/sale of financial instruments they have inside. Their major functions are: guaranteeing liquidity, forming assets prices within establishing proposition and demand and decreasing of operational expenses, incurred by the participants of the market.
Is Your Garage Full Of Junk?
I have a 2-car garage. There are nice shelves on one side and a good practical workbench with a vice on the other side.
Forecasting the Stock Market
Every day I see in the financial section of newspapers how to forecast what the market will do in 6 months, 12 months, several years. "Ten stocks that will double in the next 6 months.
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.
How To Make, And Keep, Money Trading Stocks
If you are serious about making and keeping money by trading stocks, then there are three things you need to do, and do well.Money managementOrdersTrading systemMoney managementMoney management comes first.
Buying Stocks and the Importance of Correct Timing
An investor can find and research the best stock on the market, one with huge potential but if the general market indices are negative, it will most likely be the wrong time to buy. A stock with tremendous accelerating earnings, rising sales, an up-trending chart pattern and a strong industry group may sound excellent to buy but will mean absolutely nothing if the market is positioned to move in the opposite direction of your expectations.
Successful Trading - Establish Your Risk Level
Before you embark upon a journey of trading stocks or futures, and before you make any trades, you MUST determine and establish your risk level. Traders that fail to do this are usually doomed from the start.
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.
Lemmings Are Gathering
Before they go over the cliff to their destruction these little furry ones get together for a party and celebration. Each tells the other how smart he has been with his investments and buying and selling of stocks and real estate.
Trading Systems
To become a successful trader you must have some kind of method or system to follow that will keep you on track. You may be buying and selling on tips, the weather or phases of the moon (there is a system like that).
Is the Stock Market for You?
Many people would like to diversify their portfolios to expand their holdings. Making it big in the stock market has been a dream for many people who want to strike it rich.
Choosing a Stock Broker
If you were to find that you had some severe illness that required surgery, would you attempt to perform that surgery upon yourself? What if your car broke down and needed a valve job? Would you get out the Craftsman tool set you got for Christmas three years ago and start tinkering under the hood even though you know absolutely nothing about engines? Of course you wouldn't do either of these things because there are times in life when we know we must seek the assistance of a professional. So why is it that so many people try to make their own investment decisions without consulting a professional stock broker?A stock broker is a trained financial professional who knows how to watch the trends of the stock market, is kept up to date on financial developments by her brokerage firm, and knows how to make wise and sound investment decisions.