One of the basic laws of physics is that a body in motion will remain in motion unless disturbed by another force. What has this to do with the stock market?
For the last 2 years the long-term trend of the market has been down with a few momentary deviations. When a baseball player hits a ball it comes off his bat at full speed and as it makes its arc through the air it slows down and is buffeted by the wind. Sometimes he hits a weak shot and once in a while he gets a home run. You can almost tell when it leaves the bat whether it will be a good one.
On March 1 and March 4 the market came to the plate and it went up so fast and with so much energy it looks like we have a home run in the making. It has been my experience not to argue with an accomplished athlete. The athletes we are dealing with here are the professional traders such as hedge fund and mutual fund managers. They have come forward and put their money where their mouth is. It looks like the ball is going to go a long way.
You as the small investor will want get on board while the ball is in the upward trajectory. Picking individual stocks is extremely difficult as I discussed in last week's column, but it can be done if you want to do the work. There is an easier way.
No-load mutual funds are the answer. Good ones (that means those that have been going up steadily for the past 6 months) are relatively easy to find, Do NOT buy any fund with a commission charge. If you do you will be starting in a hole and must crawl out before you have a chance to make money. Brokers will tell you that the load funds are better. They are lying.
There are several places to look. At the library you should see the Investor's Business Daily newspaper. In the Mutual Fund section you will find the top 25 funds for the past 6 months. This is not published every day so you will have to look in several issues to find it. You can make a list of the first 15 and in the same newspaper is the listing of all mutual funds you will see their toll free number. Call each one to be sure it has no commission charge or redemption fee. You can select from this group for your investments.
If you don't have a computer at home use the one at the library and go to www.smartmoney.com. Under mutual funds they will show you a list of the best performing funds for the past year. They also show if they have a commission charge. From this list you will be able to buy some very good no-load funds.
Which ones you buy are not that important as long as they are going up. Never keep any fund that is not on one these lists. When they stop going up it is time to sell them.
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
custom home cleaning Wilmette ..If you are going to be a winner in the... Read More
Investors who exclusively use broadly diversified, no load mutual funds... Read More
People are always asking me when should I sell my... Read More
What is the Series 7 Exam? If you... Read More
The stock market is very unstable at this time going... Read More
Money: the most charged word in the planet. It means... Read More
If you haven't heard of the technical indicator with the... Read More
Let's discuss commodities; with the latest Enron situation, it is... Read More
Reduce your investing and stock market risks by:Setting your sights... Read More
For weeks, no, months we have been bombarded with nothing... Read More
Congress recently passed another new law that is supposed to... Read More
Wall Street's watchword has always been diversification, but what does... Read More
I use the P/E ratio as a secondary indicator for... Read More
A stock market index is a statistical measure of changes... Read More
Sometime in the third quarter of 1997, someone told me... Read More
A PEG ratio cannot be used alone but is a... Read More
When you become interested in a stock or mutual fund... Read More
Mutual funds were moderately successful in creating a presence in... Read More
Most stock market traders have a favorite technical indicator.The one... Read More
Checked your 401K lately? Going back to about a year... Read More
It is commonly reported that the stock market averages about... Read More
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and all the King's... Read More
Maximizing a stock market investmentThere are several factors an investor... Read More
What are you thinking when it comes to your no... Read More
If you have been watching the stock market at all... Read More
same day cleaning service Morton Grove ..Sidney felt sick as she looked at her latest OptionsXpress... Read More
If you are serious about making and keeping money by... Read More
Using Swing Trading Strategies and Technical Analysis when Trading Stocks... Read More
On November 17 I bought 7 different mutual funds and... Read More
Yesterday I received my monthly issue of MONEY magazine. This... Read More
When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative"... Read More
First let's see what protectionism is. According to Mr. Webster... Read More
One of the things people are always asking me is... Read More
If you are fed up with early redemption charges and... Read More
Regardless of the fact that the world's stock markets have... Read More
If you don't know what a Roth IRA is then... Read More
If you haven't heard of the technical indicator with the... Read More
Have you ever thought of investing? Do you have a... Read More
How do you invest? What do you really pay? At... Read More
You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More
The Surgeon General of the United States says that smoking... Read More
Over the past few months, several investment professionals have brought... Read More
I would like to share with the reader an article... Read More
During our travel down life's path we come to many... Read More
The stock market has been in an up trend for... Read More
The Winter Games for the Olympics are coming up soon... Read More
If you have been dealing with mutual funds for any... Read More
Reach in your pocket and take out that big roll... Read More
Everyone who invests in the stock market wants to be... Read More
Do you have a financial planner? Does one of your... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |