Wall Street has been preaching for years and years to investors how and where to put their money. The "experts" have put forth these ideas for so long that they seem to be carved in stone just like Moses did with God's 10 Commandments. The only difference is that what Wall Street preaches is lies that will make you broke.
It will be difficult in this short space to elaborate on them, but please stop and give a long think to all of these commandments.
1. Do research
2. Buy and Hold
3. Dollar Cost Average
4. Diversify
5. Buy a good stock and put it away
6. You can't afford to be out of the market
7. Never try to time the market
8. Rearrange your portfolio with age
9. Your broker will watch your account
10. The market always comes back
The first 3 are preached by every broker who breathes. Consider that if you can find out about a company so can everyone else so what good is it? If you haven't figured out Buy and Hold by now you are either broke or have not owned any stock. Dollar Cost Average is only for suckers ? you could have bought Enron from $90 to nothing. When your broker says diversify he means he doesn't know what to do with your money so he recommends putting some here and some there and a little in the safety deposit box or under the bed and hopes some of it will make a profit. He doesn't know.
Hope is the most expensive word in the dictionary of any investor.
Buy a good stock and put it away. That is what the talking heads in CNBC-TV have been saying. Brokers, analysts and financial planners touted Enron last year as a quality stock. Even their bonds carried an investment grade rating. I don't mean to leave out Xerox, Global Crossing, Pan American (for you old timers) and about a thousand others if you want to take the time to look. I am not exaggerating. In 2000 there were more than 1,000 stocks on the Nasdaq that lost 90% of their value.
Charles Schwab says you can't afford to be out of the market. He wants to keep your money. I'm sure he will say you can't time the market, but there are many of us who have been doing it for years. When they say that I know they have not taken the time to learn their trade ? investing to make money. Rearrange you portfolio with age should be rearrange your portfolio to make a profit and not lose what you have.
Your broker will watch your account ? get smaller. He never tells you to sell those losers or put in a stop-loss order. And you know because you have been told so many times that the market always comes back ? except when it doesn't, especially to the stocks you own.
Put these lies, oops, commandments, up on your wall and recite them to your broker when he calls or you might want to send him a copy.
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.
1-888-345-7870; http://www.mutualfundmagic.com
This is a rather simple strategy with which I am... Read More
A stock market index is a statistical measure of changes... Read More
"Buy and hold" is one of the most heralded investment... Read More
Recently I was invited to appear on a live CNNfn... Read More
This is the continuing story of our two imaginary traders,... Read More
In a previously written article, we expanded the use of... Read More
Is really not as important as to how you invest... Read More
The basis of diminishing return discussions surround such simple notions;... Read More
Just 30 years ago the stock market was a shadow... Read More
Mutual funds were moderately successful in creating a presence in... Read More
If you've ever flipped on the television to CNN Financial... Read More
So you're started trading, you bought some positions with your... Read More
Congress recently passed another new law that is supposed to... Read More
When you invest in the stock market for ever-increasing cash... Read More
Picture one of those clubs where only the real heavyweights... Read More
Inverted interest rates? What's that? Who cares? Even if you... Read More
Are you paying any attention to your retirement savings? Do... Read More
It takes a total mental commitment to the task. It... Read More
Now that you have some money burning a hole in... Read More
Since I can remember, and that's a long time ago,... Read More
As one of my regular readers you know I have... Read More
If there is one term over-used when talking about making... Read More
A Guide to Using Stop Loss Orders Stop losses are... Read More
If you have not back tested your trading system, you... Read More
This is an extract of an article which was first... Read More
O'Hare Chicago prom limo ..This is a rather simple strategy with which I am... Read More
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are growing. Investors are choosing low... Read More
Checked your 401K lately? Going back to about a year... Read More
Let's assume that you want to make some serious money... Read More
The Law of Chaos is the theory of random unpredictable... Read More
People are always asking me when should I sell my... Read More
∙ Make every investment in the stock market a long-term... Read More
When you invest in the stock market for ever-increasing cash... Read More
What does it mean to short a stock?This means that... Read More
In 1960 an engineer working for a watch company in... Read More
So you're started trading, you bought some positions with your... Read More
Two weeks ago I wrote about what the Securities and... Read More
Every broker and financial planner will tell you that you... Read More
After some forty years of banking and investments, I retired... Read More
When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative"... Read More
How do you make money without picking tops and bottoms?I... Read More
The Bollinger Band theory is designed to depict the volatility... Read More
Money management starts with protecting your capital, realizing profits and... Read More
I am sure that if you have a brokerage account... Read More
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall and all the King's... Read More
The fight continues to rage among traders who use technical... Read More
A Guide to Using Stop Loss Orders Stop losses are... Read More
Every successful trader has a winning system. There are of... Read More
In November of 2000 when the NASDAQ was trading at... Read More
There has been great condemnation recently because China has been... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |