Stocks & Mutual Funds Information
Performance Funds
Mutual funds are doing more and more to discourage investors from leaving them and taking their money to a better performing fund. What does better performing mean? It has nothing to do with who the manager is, what the expense ratio is or how well they performed over the past 5 or 10 years.
The Big Bad Bear
The big bad bear is stirring again. So far he has stretched, yawned and peaked out of his cave.
Which Way The Market
I am hearing predictions by brokers, financial planners, talk show hosts and the talking heads on TV that the market is going back to its old highs - DOW 11,700 and NASDAQ 5000 here we come.It seems to me that in 2000 I heard these same people saying there was no top to the market and were looking into their crystal balls for DOW 30,000 or some other fantastic number.
Selling
The stock market has been going up for more than 7 months and many investors who held on through the big crash of 2000 are seeing their portfolios get back some of what had disappeared. Is now the time to sell those equities that are 'even' with what you paid for them? No.
VooDoo Training For the Stock Market
If you go to Haiti or other places in the Caribbean you may run into the Voodoo tradition of magic. There are long and mostly noisy rituals with the medicine man spouting words that bring great power and conjure up whatever it is the supplicant desires.
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.
Look Out The Window
Quick, look out the window. It's raining.
War Market
There is no question that the stock market is being affected by war jitters. When it looks like peace we have a strong rally.
Selection Vs Direction
As I have said many times before in this column it really doesn't make any difference what you buy - stocks, funds or indexes - it takes smarts to know when to sell. Direction of the general market is more important than selection of any equity.
Humpty Dumpty the Stock Market Falls Down
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and all the King's horsemen could not put Humpty Dumpty back together again.The Stock Market has had a great fall and all the brokers, CEOs, analysts and politicians have not been able to get it back up again.
Never Lose Money
Never lose money in the stock market again. Yeah, I know.
Pathways
During our travel down life's path we come to many places where the trail divides and we must make a decision. Some involve psychological (emotional) choices - marriage, divorce, leaving home, career changes, etc.
I Love To Lose Money
Well, not really. What I mean is I don't mind losing a small amount when I have to sell a stock or mutual fund that is going down or taking away the profit I have made.
Mr. Market
I constantly hear the talking heads on CNBC-TV, the radio and other places talking about THE market. Of course, they mean the stock market which actually now is world wide and no longer just concentrated in New York.
Roller Coaster
I love roller coasters. The steeper the better.
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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.
Peer Groups
Whenever I see mutual fund comparisons in the trade publications and in the financial section of the newspaper they almost always mention a specific fund and tell you how good it is in relation to its peer group. A peer group is a specialized sector of mutual funds that all invest in about the same type of stocks or areas of the world or size of companies or some such categorization.
What Are You Waiting For?
Do you own any mutual funds? In an IRA or 401K or wherever. Privately or at work.
Lifestyle Funds Provide Greater Security?
With the stock market stubbornly refusing to settle down and smooth out, Wall Street has been scrambling to come up with "product" they can sell to gun shy investors.One such new concept is the Lifestyle fund; an extremely diversified package designed to be the single fund in an investor's portfolio.
The 1% Solution
You probably know the story of Sherlock Holmes and the 7% solution. He had a drug addiction.
Kick The Tires
Before you buy another car you walk around the lot, kick the tires, slam the doors and look at the mileage indicator. That's an odometer.
Moving Averages
Every day on CNBC-TV they show a 200-day moving average line superimposed on the stock price history. It seems they give great credence to this manufactured line as it represents 10 months of price action.
Is Active Trading The Answer?
One of the main reasons many of us get into investing is to become financially independent. Who isn't trying to amass a portfolio with enough income to ensure that we don't have to work when we should be playing golf or traveling the world.
Stock Insurance
You have a lock on your house. You have a lock on your car.
12 Basic Stock Investing Rules Every Successful Investor Should Follow
There are many important things you need to know to trade and invest successfully in the stock market or any other market. 12 of the most important things that I can share with you based on many years of trading experience are enumerated below.
Trading For A Living
How many times have you said to yourself, "I'd like to quit this job and just make a living trading in the stock market"? Well, maybe you can, BUT..
Price to Earnings Ratio - P/E
After finding the price of a particular stock, usually the next number everyone looks at is the P/E ratio.P/E is the ratio of a company's share price to its per-share earnings.
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.
Intervention
Intervention. Now don't let that big word scare you.
Trading For A Living - Part 1
There can't be many traders who haven't at least considered the idea of telling the boss what they think of him, throwing it all in and going off to trade the stock market for a living. It's a big risk financially, and that uncertainty is what stops most from jumping ship.
Analyst Reports
When you become interested in a stock or mutual fund you can call your broker and he will send you reports on how the company is doing, what their management is like and what might be the projected earnings for the company and how the industry is doing. Great information.
How To Buy And Hold
One of the most believed bits of conventional wisdom from Wall Street is to Buy and Hold. Any stock or mutual fund should be put away for eternity and never sold.
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.
Two for the Money
Look back over the years and try to remember how many different stocks and mutual funds you have owned. Suppose you had owned only 2 different equities during that entire time.
Stuff
I continually hear from economists, talking heads, other market letter writers, analysts and assorted "experts" that I need to know all kinds of "stuff" about the stocks and mutual funds I am going to buy and I should keep up with them on a regular basis.What is this important "stuff"?Let's see.