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. During this past 3 years I have made money each year because I was not afraid to sell. The great secret that Wall Street does not want investors to know is all about selling, not buying.
The recent headlines scream"10 Stocks To Buy Now", "100 Best Mutual Funds For 2003", "Make 25% With These Safe Stocks" and "Now Is The Time To Buy". All are either stupidity or wishful thinking. Brokers and financial planners don't want you to find out that they don't know either so they come up with great stories about the equities they recommend. Unfortunately, when the stock or fund heads down it becomes one of those buy and hold situations and they tell you that you are "in for the long haul" and "the market always comes back". I hope that by now you have learned this is not true.
When there is a secular bear market, as I believe we are in now, it could be many years before we get back to "even". Last year 96% of all stock equity mutual funds lost money and the average fund lost 21%. These are times when the only safe place for money is in cash ? a money market account. For the previous 3 years money in your mattress outperformed the stock market by 40% and for lots of folks much more. Here is one your broker will not tell you ? Cash Is A Position.
The first thing you must learn about investing is how to protect yourself from losses. I mean big losses. When I was a floor trader on the exchange I lost on about 40% of my trades, but I never lost much. I came to love those little losses because I still had almost all my money available to find a better position. One that would make money.
Almost all of the magazine writers, talking heads and brokerage analysts are professional losers. It is easy to prove because they never tell you where to sell what they are telling you to buy. If you don't go in with a plan to protect your money it is like a general who goes into battle with no plan for retreat should he find he couldn't win the battle. One of the simplest money savers is the 10% stop. It you buy a stock or no-load mutual fund you should not take more than a 10% loss. This will leave you with 90% of your money that could find a real winner. The small losses will never break you. It is sitting with a loss that gets bigger and bigger and bigger is the one that will ruin you.
Learning to love the little losses will make you rich.
Al Thomas
Author of "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!"
Never lose money in the stock market again.
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com
car service from Midway Burlington .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareI am sure that if you have a brokerage account... Read More
When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative"... Read More
It is finally catching up with them. The brokerage companies... Read More
I have watched my cat play with a bag of... Read More
There are many good penny stock investments available, which could... Read More
One of the great truisms of Wall Street is "Don't... Read More
What is the Series 7 Exam? If you... Read More
Minority Report the movie may not be far off if... Read More
Because there are so many stocks that are NOT paying... Read More
If you are a baby boomer, time is not on... Read More
Profitable day traders recognize that momentum trading is among the... Read More
Everyone who follows the financial news has heard of mutual... Read More
Should the market turn against you, it is important that... Read More
There are many important things you need to know to... Read More
Are you attracted to the idea of being in control... Read More
If you go to Haiti or other places in the... Read More
Has your broker been calling you recently with the "great... Read More
If you're a normal human being, your need to feel... Read More
After the publication of the first part of this two... Read More
Why? Because I am going to shatter your conventional wisdom... Read More
The bulls and bears of the stock market are both... Read More
That sounds like good advice doesn't it? Don't lose all... Read More
The single most expensive stock market trades are those made... Read More
Everything you invest in has risk so you want to... Read More
At some time in your life you have been on... Read More
Granger limo Chicago ..When we go to the circus we see a trapeze... Read More
One of the basic laws of physics is that a... Read More
It depends on your level of understanding of the market... Read More
Yesterday I received my monthly issue of MONEY magazine. This... Read More
When you become interested in a stock or mutual fund... Read More
A few years back ? it seems like an eternity... Read More
Are hedge funds a suitable investment for you? Hedge funds... Read More
Spread trading is a technique that can be used to... Read More
Every Wall Street analyst, financial planner and broker will tell... Read More
I often play a little game with myself when I... Read More
I go to the Money Show every year to visit... Read More
Are you attracted to the idea of being in control... Read More
The broker told me not to sell because the mutual... Read More
Peter is a professional trader, Paul is not. Peter has... Read More
Sometimes the best way of lowering exposure to risk is... Read More
For the last few weeks we have seen the stock... Read More
As one of my regular readers you know I have... Read More
I was devastated!I just couldn't believe it. I was 10... Read More
Because you don't feel too sure about which stock or... Read More
Dollar cost averaging is one of the most popular ideas... Read More
This is the continuing story of our two imaginary traders,... Read More
Stocks breakout from properly formed bases everyday but many investors... Read More
Most stock market traders have a favorite technical indicator.The one... Read More
Unfortunately, most of you who are reading my column are... Read More
Hello Inflation, it has been awhile, I see you on... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |