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. Suddenly the market turned over with the DOW dropping 3,000 points and the NASDAQ losing 80% of its value. Can it happen again? I don't predict and all I can say is the market can do anything.
BUT what if it does turn down? Are you going to sit as you did before and watch your money disappear? Right now everything looks rosy and the momentum is carrying the indexes higher almost every day. Buy and hold is the right strategy.
Hind sight is always 20/20 and you will want to own stocks and mutual funds now, but not get caught in the next down draft. There will be one! There always has and you can see it clearly if you are a student of market history. Since 1900 there have been 16 to 18-year cycles of bull and bear markets and within those there have been other shorter cycles of ups and downs.
Many brokers and investors try to predict when those turns will occur and they are mostly wrong. It is definitely not a good idea to try to outguess the market. You must learn to read the rather obvious signs of the major turns. I say obvious, but it is clear they are not obvious to most brokers or financial planners. Having been a professional trader, exchange member and floor trader for many years I will tell you the obvious 'secret'.
Using a 200-day moving average of any one of the major indexes (I prefer the S&P500) you can plot these every day and when the index penetrates the 200-day line in an upward direction it is a signal to buy. That is where we are now. Inversely when it penetrates that line going down it is time to sell and put your money in cash or bonds. If you don't want to do the math computations there is an excellent chart in the Investor's Business Daily newspaper called their Mutual Fund Index that will do all the work for you.
It is nothing more complicated than that and you can go back into history as far as you wish and you will see it proven time after time. You are holding stocks or funds while the market is going up and you are in cash while it is going down. Don't be fooled by "research" or by any other complicated method. This works.
There is no need to predict the market. It will tell you in simple language what it is doing and whether you should be a buyer or seller.
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
post construction cleaning Deerfield ..Every day I hear from the "experts" on CNBC-TV and... Read More
I am hearing predictions by brokers, financial planners, talk show... Read More
If you go to Haiti or other places in the... Read More
Do you have a financial planner? Does one of your... Read More
Wall Street's watchword has always been diversification, but what does... Read More
It looks like we have now entered a new bull... Read More
Recently I was invited to appear on a live CNNfn... Read More
As an investor you will want to check out any... Read More
I am taking the time to help others learn the... Read More
What does it mean to short a stock?This means that... Read More
Outlined below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of... Read More
The stock market often closes a week in the middle... Read More
There is so much involved in developing peak performance, that... Read More
The bulls and bears of the stock market are both... Read More
If you don't know where you are going any road... Read More
During our travel down life's path we come to many... Read More
When we go to the circus we see a trapeze... Read More
For years investors have been taught to look into the... Read More
Quick, look out the window. It's raining. No, the sun's... Read More
The stock market can present you with a lot of... Read More
It seems that every day I turn on the TV... Read More
Day trading is all about making buy and sell decisions.... Read More
When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative"... Read More
What does it take to be a stock trader? It... Read More
From the book 'The Stockopoly Plan' by the author Charles... Read More
Airbnb cleaning service Bannockburn ..This is the continuing story of our two imaginary traders,... Read More
Most people think the stock market is a zero sum... Read More
In November of 2000 when the NASDAQ was trading at... Read More
Invest in the stock market for the RIGHT reason, using... Read More
Over the past few months, several investment professionals have brought... Read More
There are many important things you need to know to... Read More
Three little pigs went to the market to stock up... Read More
How many times has this happened to you? You're at... Read More
If you don't know what a Roth IRA is then... Read More
The trading method you employ to approach the stock market... Read More
You'd have had to be living on a desert island... Read More
In my opinion, due to the volatility of stock market... Read More
Financial markets provide their participants with the most favorable conditions... Read More
There are formulas for just about everything, but it has... Read More
According to Investopedia Inc. the penny stock market has seen... Read More
Mutual funds by definition are a mixed bag of stocks,... Read More
I am taking the time to help others learn the... Read More
Well, not really. What I mean is I don't mind... Read More
Being wrong is OK, but let's not carry it to... Read More
Every publicly traded company is required by the SEC(Securities and... Read More
With all the bad news that has been dumped upon... Read More
The demand for world oil is increasing while world reserves... Read More
Wall Street has been preaching the doctrine of Buy and... Read More
Four blind men were asked to give a description of... Read More
I read a comment by a forum member on another... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |