Pips and Stocks

Posted by admin on Jul 26, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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Those of you contemplating on getting in on stocks or in the stock market, should take time to learn about highslows, bidasks, charts, pips, spreads and so on to avoid up-and-coming high plunges. Staying informed is the key to successfully gaining in any stock market exchange industry. Despite, you want to commit oneself to charts and information that offers you trueness in the stock market, Forex exchange markets, and other stock industries. Failing to do so could lead to financial blunder.

About Stock Charts:

Charts are engaged in stock market exchange and Forex trading industries. The charts are guides, that aid strategists by allowing them to read, interpret through indicators, which submit signals. Inside the boundaries, the charts are treks, inherent strategies, powers, and so more.

In AMEX’s, strategists and investors base their bidsasks, or buy and sell on under and highs. The high and low in some instance have pips, currencies, spreads, or shares, which traders make good use of stock charts to keep up with these factors in stock exchange.

In the stock biz, small and large cyber-banking institutions, as well as large and small companies globally invest in stocks, or Forex stock exchange. Brokers, investors and traders use charts, which the strategists are, issued recites on both sides, which make up ask and bid phrase, depending on the stock market. The bids make up pricing, which initiates once indicators inside the boundaries programs alert traders on Seat Questioning that sprouts between buying currencies on conflicting sides. Once the brisk’ come in, the tradesman might select the option “ask” once the pricing occurs. The trader fundamentals proof on his, ‘ask’ which could alter.

Quotes enable traders to set their marks on pips, which can decide statistics that rise, in excess the averages. In AMEX’s, decimals convert in some instances to match exchange within the currencies of any participating country engaging in stock exchange. Decimals base values, which are dependable at all times.

Charts read out prints of daily activities in stock market exchange. The charts present the highs and lows, as well as various other factors in stock marketing, which are invaluable to anyone trading, investing or brokerage in the market.

One of the vast growing stock industries is FX or Forex market exchange. The foreign market exchanges currencies (E.g. USDJPY, EURUSD, etc) in stocks that have reached in the trillion brackets. That is trillions in a sole stock exchange industry. This fiscal market exchange has created the hardest mark in the stock market industries. The market has overridden the preponderant United States investment branches. In fact, the Europe (EUR) pound is more valuable currently than the pound in the United States of America.

If you intend to invest or take part in stock exchange, you are wise to become informed before making any investment. Those informed often have a better chance at winning in the game of stocks. Learn more about pips, spreads and other specifics so that you know what it outlines for you.

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Penny Stocks – Turn Your Pennies Into pounds

Posted by admin on Jul 19, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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Penny Stocks – Turn Your Pennies Into pounds

We’ve all heard about the investor how bragged about his 100% or 1000% return on a stock or about the guy who made it rich by investing in small caps, undiscovered stocks that made it big. In theory, it seems to be too easy. Invest in a couple of penny stocks, then sell them when they move up. Unfortunately, it is too easy. Too easy to lose money unless you know what to look for.

First, lets have a look at what types of companies trade on the OTC BB or Pink Sheets.

Stocks that no longer trade over 1 on the Nasdaq
These include companies that fell from grace (Enron). While it is possible that they may see better days in the future, the odds are stacked against them. Its usually best to avoid trading these stocks. If you feel that the temptation is too much, wait until the stock begins to rebound. If you try catching a falling knife, you will get hurt.

New Start Ups
Every year there are hundreds if not thousands of companies who decided to go public. Whether they need the money to expand their business, or are looking to cash out their equity, its a natural progression for a company with a compelling story, and a great track record to go public. While many of these companies will file for an IPO, many others will start off trading on the OTC BB as a penny stock

Second, lets look at some tips to help the penny stock trader avoid making costly mistakes.

Due Diligence
Stocks listed on the Pink Sheets don’t have to file annual or quarterly statements. This makes starting your due diligence difficult. Often, the information is sketchy at best, and typically, its biased. You should expect a shareholder to say good things about the company. If the company didn’t have potential, they wouldn’t be holding it. Or, they might be hoping to unload their shares and hope to talk you into buying.

Stocks listed on the OTC BB file annual and quarterly statements. This provides some measure of financial success. You’ll find most penny stocks lose money, whether through managerial incompetence, or research and development. The key is to identify the companies whose management has a record of consistently making money, or at the very least, delivering on their business plan, and decreasing expenses.

Penny Stock Newsletters
Being a writer for The Leading Source (http:www.1source4stocks.com) puts me in a biased position when speaking to penny stock newsletters. Here’s what I can tell you: be careful! Check the disclaimer for the amount the newsletter is being paid to carry the profile. Are they being paid in cash or in shares? You’ll likely find a corelation between the number of shares they are being paid, and the rating on the hype meter. Does that mean that you should avoid any stock where the company is paying IR professionals in shares? No. Just keep in mind that they are selling a story, and if they sell the story to other shareholders, they will gain. This is not a problem if you get in early, but could be a problem if you aren’t able to jump in right away.

Take a look at the track record of the newsletter. Have they profiled winners? Do they state the facts, or state the hype? Do they also offer unpaid stock profiles? If they do, you’ll likely find that they do their own research in all companies, and are looking to ensure that they aren’t passing a weak stock your way just to pay the bills.

If a company is paying an IR professional money to profile a stock to its subscribers, should you avoid it? Of course not. Think of the payment as advertising. They are promoting the company, and trying to get exposure. Like any company, the only way to get exposure is through some method of advertising. So dont dismiss a paid profile as hype. Keep it in the back of your mind while you are reading the profile, but pay attention to the profile. You may find a diamond in the rough that no one has discovered.

Volume
If you want to make money, you have to be able to buy and sell enough shares to lock in your profit, or protect your capital. If ABC company’s daily volume is only 500 shares a day, it may take you several days to accumulate a position worth taking. If there is bad news, who is going to buy your shares? If the volume is low, stay away. Its not worth it. If you feel that strongly about owning the company, consider contacting the company directly and working out a deal.

Buy Results, Not the Story
If you buy the hype, odds are, you will end up being the last one to own the shares, while everyone else has sold off their position. Look at a company, take a look at what their business plan was, and confirm if they have followed through on that plan. Were they successful? Did they bring a product to market on time? Did the company follow through on its acquisition strategy in the manner they set out? The hype might get you a quick pop, however, unless you are watching your trading screen every second of the trading day, you will miss out.

Size matters
There are thousands upon thousands of penny stocks. The size of your position should not be anymore than 2000 – 3000. While this may not seem like much, keep in mind that its not unusual for a 0.10 company to drop to 0.05. That’s a 50% loss. If your position is 10 000, a 50% haircut leaves you with only 5000. Keep your losses to a minimum. If the company has done well, and you are up, either take your profits off the table, or add to your position, and be sure to reset your stop loss so as to protect your previous profits. Capital preservation is the key to successful trading.

Have a plan before you buy. What are your reasons for buying. What is your exit strategy? Where is your stop loss? At what point will you take your profit? Write down these answers before you place that buy order.

Penny stock investing can be profitable. Remember, you are taking larger risks than you would if you were purchasing shares in a bank stock. That risk can be rewarded with returns that you cant get with a bank stock, or, it will be met with a large loss and a bad taste in your mouth for investing in penny stocks.

Do your homework, don’t believe the hype, and protect your capital.

Note: The Leading Source provides its subscribers with both paid and unpaid profiles. Follow those tips and you will watch your pennies grow into pounds.

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Penny Stocks Beyond the Pump and Dump

Posted by admin on Jul 12, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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Penny Stocks can be a great investment, but you have to know what to look for, or sometimes more accurately, what to look out for. Buying Penny Stocks based on a recent email you received, or what you heard from someone you barely know, is not usually a good idea. Penny Stocks have historically been a source of wealth for many investors, but conversely have been the source of countless lost small fortunes. Determining what is good advice, mixed with all the hype, can sometimes be a very difficult process. You don’t have to be a stock market guru or brilliant investor to make a killing with Penny Stocks, but you do have to be willing to do your homework, and use a great deal of common sense to stay alive when you are swimming with the sharks in what can be dangerous waters.

There are many great small companies in existence today, struggling to stay afloat, that are tomorrow’s rising stars. Without the capital to grow and expand very few of our current generation of conglomerates would be more than a forgotten flash in the pan. Selling shares of a company can inject the needed capital into a niche business that may take it into the next level. However not all, if not most, of these tiny corporations will be around for very long. This creates an interesting situation for us, the investor or speculator. While the company in question may not be worth much today, what might that company be worth tomorrow? Hence the term speculation, which is the lifeblood of any Penny Stock trader.

Unfortunately, within this world there are a few unseemly characters, who seek to part you from your hard earned pounds. And, they will go to nearly whatever means is necessary to achieve their goal. PR firms, or Investor Awareness firms, are sometime hired to promote a small corporation’s stock in hopes of raising the share price. This in itself is not necessarily a sign of ill intent. Many times a small company may be very good at what it does, but for whatever reason finds itself unable to generate enough press interest in their successes to generate buying activity of their stock shares. However, this is occasionally done with the sole purpose of raising prices rapidly in an attempt to make quick profits on a very hollow company, one that has no real market or solid foundation. Hence the phrase, pump and dump. Pump and dump in a nutshell means, exaggeratedly “pumping” up the company in question with the primary intent of “dumping” their shares once the share prices begin to rise.

What can you do to protect yourself from being caught up in a pump and dump scenario? Most importantly you must use your own due diligence to wade through the hype. Ask yourself a few basic questions about the company in question. Are they making money? Are they creating new products? Are these new products going to be valuable in the future? The rules for trading Penny Stocks aren’t much different from those of trading large cap stocks. However, the risks can be much larger, but the rewards can be as well.

If you aren’t willing to do at least a bit of homework, investing in any stock is not a good idea. Never rely entirely on anyone’s advice, especially when dealing with Penny Stocks. But, if you take the time to research your investments, investing in Penny Stocks can be a very financially rewarding experience.

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Penny Stock Strategies

Posted by admin on Jul 5, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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Why should the rich guys have all the fun? The small investor can seek out huge returns too…if they know how.

Technical analysis that uses statistics for forecasting price fluctuations is one approach. However, because it is difficult to track changes in fractions of a penny, there simply isnt enough data to be able to analyze. Therefore, you have to keep an ear to the ground when you trade penny stocks.

One of the biggest forces that drive penny stock prices is hype. Whether its online in discussion forums or chats, or offline with publicity and press, hype can cause swings in penny stock prices.

Are you looking to trade penny stocks to earn a good return on your money? Penny stocks can be profitable for some, but it can also be a money-losing experience.

What should you watch for when you trade penny stocks?

What are some strategies that professionals and amateurs use when dabbling in the penny stock trade?

One technique that some experts who trade penny stocks implement is to focus on a particular stock. Get to know the stock inside and out; that is, get to know the company behind the stock, any news about that company, and anything else that might affect the stock price. Target one stock, listen to the buzz, and see how the stock responds. The louder the buzz gets, the larger the potential for a big price swing.

Many people who trade penny stocks are small-time investors who dont have more than 1,000 of investment capital. These people trade penny stocks because it gives them more shares for the money.

Where they might be able to buy dozens of shares in a major exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange, they can buy hundreds when they trade penny stocks. The potential for loss is big, however. Its almost closer to gambling than investing. The money used is strictly risk capital. Once the money is gone, its gone.

Another subset of people that trade penny stocks are amateur investors who use the buy and hold strategy. They purchase a stock and retain it for long periods of time, hoping that the stock skyrockets at some point in the future.

Unfortunately, this strategy hardly ever pays off in the way that the investor had hoped. In the long-term, the stock could end up being completely worthless.

Trading penny stocks can be a profitable, and even fun way to invest. It certainly isnt a traditional method of investing, and is unlike old standbys such as bonds and mutual funds. However, trading penny stocks isnt for all people.

You should have a high tolerance for risk, a willingness to analyze every minutiae of your penny stock, and some intestinal fortitude. Have fun with penny stock trading, but dont expect to stumble into the next WalMart for pennies on the pound.

And remember, as with anything else in life with high potential for gain there is also high potential for loss. Do your homework, follow your rules, and plan to prosper.

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Of Stocks, Stockholders And Stock Market

Posted by admin on Jun 28, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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A copper mining enterprise Stora Kopparberg first introduced the system of stock in the 13th century. The financial backers and owners felt the need to raise money for investment in the new projects of the same company so they started the method of stock and shares. It was also required in order to ward off the threat to the ownership rights if the company was sold, which would mean complete loss of control.

The investors got the monetary support they were looking for and at the same time solved ownership issues in case the company was sold by granting stocks to the people. Plus, they sold a part to people and still retained control over the company. Thus, the owner had some portion of the assets, some power to make decision conditionally. In return, they shared a part of the profit with the stockowner as dividend.

Financially, stock implies the ownership or share in a corporation. It gives the stockowner the right to claim a share in the assets and income of the corporation. The two types of stocks, preferred and common differ in many respects. The common stock owners can vote at the shareholders’ meetings whereas the preferred stockowners cannot vote. Common stockowners get dividends declared by the company, whereas preferred stock owners have higher claim in assets and income of the company. Preferred stock entitles the owner to have his dividends earlier than the common stock owner. Preferred stock owner gets the priority when the company goes bankrupt. Besides these two, the other types of stock are dual class shares and treasury stock.

A stockowner is not liable to losses in case the company closes and has loans to pay back. The loss of the stockholders is limited to the money that would have been made by converting the assets into cash since all the money would be used to repay the loans to the creditors.

A stock exchange is the place where trading of shares is carried out. Individuals and companies sell and purchase shares on a large scale. Generally, a particular company trades only in one specific market and is said to be on the list of that particular stock exchange. However, big multinational companies can be listed on many stock exchanges. This is called inter-listed shares.

There are various methods to buy or sell finance stocks, but the commonest among them is through the mediator called stockbroker, who actually transfers the shares from one owner to another. Stocks can be bought directly from the company also.

The stock market of a country is an indicator of its economy, which just goes to show the growth and power of the stock market.

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My Simple Penny Stock Picking System

Posted by admin on Jun 21, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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Before investing your hard-earned cash into penny stocks, it is important to research the penny stocks you want to invest in before committing any cash.. You want to find profitable penny stocks. To do this, youll need penny stock leads. Leads are just names of penny stocks that you are thinking of investing in.

There are many ways to get penny stock leads. For example, searching the internet (blogs and forums), joining a penny stock mailing list or keeping an eye out on the news. The main idea is to build a list of around 5 to 10 quality leads that are worthy of your money.

After you have a list of leads, youll want to choose one or two of them. Youll need to go through your list and discard stocks which do not meet your criteria. This process can be tedious but it will be well worth it in the end.

The criteria that I look for include – company history, business plan, opinions of individuals and experts, financial information, competition, track record of the board of directors, company reports and broker recommendations. Using the variables, I can quickly establish whether a particular stock is worth investing in.

Once my list has been cut down to 1 or 2 stocks, Ill ask for opinions from other people to confirm my selections. It is very important to listen to the views of other investors because, in most cases, theyll have something valuable to contribute to your research. Perhaps, you missed out a vital piece of information which other investors could highlight for you.

Now that I have 1 or 2 stocks out of my original list of 10, I feel confident that I have done my due diligence and I am ready to invest. I use this process every time Im investing in penny stocks and , so far, it has been simple but profitable.

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Lows and Highs in Stocks

Posted by admin on Jun 14, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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In stocks, traders and investors base their bidsasks, or buy and sell on lows and highs. The high and low in some instances have pips, currencies, spreads, or shares involved.

Most people in the trading industry will use charts to keep updated on pips. Pips are what traders call percentages factored into points. The percentages are quotes that determine the price set on currencies. The charts help these traders to keep track so they know when to buy and sell.

In the business, small and large banking institutions, as well as large and small companies invest in stocks, or Forex exchange. Using charts, the traders are provided quotes on both sides, which make up ask and bid phrase, depending on the stock market. The bids make up pricing, which is prompted once indicators within programs alert traders on Base Exchange that occurs between buying currencies on opposing sides. Once the alerts come in, the trader may select “ask” has the pricing occurs. The trader bases exchange on his, ask’ which could flip at the drop of a dime.

Quotes enable traders to set their marks on pips, which can decide decimals that rise over the averages. In stocks, decimals convert in some instances to match exchange within the currencies of a sole country. Decimals base values, which are constant at all times.

One of the largest industries and growing is Forex. The foreign market exchanges currencies in stocks that have reached in the trillions of pound brackets. That is trillions in a sole industry. This fiscal market has made the highest mark in the stock market industry. The market has overridden the largest United States equity branches.

Charts are employed in Forex. The guides, aid traders by allowing them to read, interpret through indicators, which send signals. Within the charts are treks, basic strategies, powers, and so on.

Anyone intending to get in on stocks or in the stock market, should take time to learn about highslows, bidasks, charts, pips, spreads and so on to avoid increasing the high risks. Staying informed is the key to successfully gaining in any stock exchange. Still, you want to choose charts and information that offers you precision in the stock market, Forex exchange markets and other stock industries.

Your best solution for just starting out is to download free charts that allow you to monitor and analyze, while exploring pips, spreads, highs, lows, currencies and so on in stocks.

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Looking To Get Started With Penny Stocks?

Posted by admin on Jun 7, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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If you are looking are thinking that Penny Stocks are a Get Rich Quick Scheme, Im sorry to disappoint you. Although great fortunes can be made from penny stocks, people can also lose everything they invest in Penny Stocks. The most important investment you can make at the start of your investment career is to invest in education.

Why Education and not stock?

Diving head first into the stock market is a great way of losing your money which is why we dont recommend it. The best thing to do is to read, read and read some more before investing. One of the best places to get free information on penny stocks and trading methods is from the internet.

Forums, websites, news sites and eBooks are a great way to improve your penny stock investment education. There are some great books that you can borrow from libraries or purchase cheaply from shops.

When reading on the internet, please be cautious of stock recommendations and strategies and methods. Stock recommendations and opinions from internet forums can be biased and cannot be fully trusted without doing your own research. Similarly, eBooks with strategies which promise great returns usually do not work as suggested. The reason for this is, even if the strategy worked well for the author, there is no guarantee that it will work for everyone else because everyone is different although you may learn something that you did not already know.

Google News has a business section which is group for free up-to-date information on stocks. Yahoo Finance also has good news section and also provides free charts and company information.

No matter who you get advice from, whether its from a financial consultant or friend, you should always carry out your own additional research. You should make decisions based on facts rather than opinions.

When you feel confident enough you can try some test trades. You can either keep a record of your trades on paper or you can use a stocks simulator website where you invest with fake money. There is a website called Champion Investor (ChampInvest.com) which is great for this purpose as it also calculates profits and losses automatically. Also, if you the top performer of the month, you will be rewarded with 1000.

Using a stock simulator means that you will not lose your hard-earned cash if you make a bad investment. Instead, you will learn not to do it again without losing your money.

If you are consistently able to make a profit with your test trades then you can move onto the real thing. Keep your investment strategy exactly as it was when you were making profitable test trades, but instead of using fake money, you will be using your own money through a stock broker.

So, to summarise – if you are looking to get started in penny stocks, please do not dive in head first without investing your education first.

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Investor Awareness Campaigns: A Look at the Other Side

Posted by admin on May 31, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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So you’ve signed up for a newsletter which promises to give you great stocks picks. Trust their stock picks and you wont miss out on the latest stock market darling. You dont want to miss out on another company who’s shares have moved up over 100%. Follow their advice and you will never have to do your own due diligence again!

If only it were that simple!

Stock promotion has been around for decades and when done for the right reasons, can provide potential investors with an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of an up and coming company. Unfortunately, like all good things, there are just enough bad seeds out there to give the whole investor awareness industry a bad name. Far too many investors have been caught in a game of pump and dump. Perhaps a look from the investor awareness side of things will help you avoid being caught.

Why do companies hire investor awareness firms?
Many small businesses are great at what they do. Many have found their own niche and continue to build their company. The problem is, they have difficulties getting the word out about their success story. As such, with no new investors, the share price remain stagnant, and long time insiders are unable to either raise money to finance growth, or to cash out some of their hard earned equity.

An investor awareness firm can help publicly traded companies get the story out to newsletter subscribers. With the facts in hand, these subscribers may decide to turn into investors. The more investors out there, the more opportunity for everyone to make money.

What should you, the subscriber, be aware of?

a)Investor awareness firms are paid a fee. It costs money to generate campaigns, press releases, newspaper articles etc, and the fee helps to compensate for these expenses, as well as pay for the firms time in creating the campaign. These firms are either paid out in cash, or if the investor awareness firm feels strongly about the future of the company, they may become shareholders. If the share price moves up, their compensation moves up also. Quite the incentive to do a great job for the company.

Its recommended that if the newsletter you subscribe to receives shares for their compensation, find out if these are restricted shares, or free trading shares. If they are free trading shares, you may end up buying their shares as the firm sells to cover expenses. Not all firms sell immediately, so its best to make sure. If the shares are restricted, its a safe bet that you and the firm are in it together for at least the life of the campaign or until the shares become unrestricted.

Most campaigns last 1-3 months, but many firms in fact provide coverage past that point.

b)Watch for insider selling. While there is nothing wrong with an insider monetizing their investment, if you see a substantial number of shares being sold at the same time as the campaign is going on, you may find yourself buying shares from the insiders and be left holding them for awhile.

Remember, if the company outlook is so bright, insiders will know better than you, and will hold knowing they will eventually get a much, much higher price.

c)Pump and Dump – its not just insiders you have to worry about. Its in the best interest of a company who has been compensated with shares in the company to see the share price move higher. Watch for an overly bullish spin on stocks that are being promoted by those who have received shares in the company. Find out if the firm has to hold the shares for a period of time, or are they able to sell the shares anytime. If there is a restriction placed on the sale of shares, you stand a better chance of making money on an even playing field.

Most credible newsletters will provide their subscribers with the facts and let the information speak for itself. You dont need to spin a good story: it spins itself!

d)Do your own due diligence – is this company making money? Do they have a product that will be in demand in the future? Is the company creating new products? Investing in penny stocks is no different than investing in large caps; only the risk is different. Ask the questions and only invest when you feel 100% behind the company.

Don’t automatically assume that just because an investor awareness firm accepts shares for compensation means that they are part of a pump and dump scenario. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind from the perspective of the IA firm as to why they might accept shares over cash.

1.Chance for a higher payoff. If the campaign is successful, they stand to make more money. Many of the owners of these firms are also investors. If the future looks good for the company, why wouldnt they want a part of that future?

2.It may have been the only way to make the deal. The investor awareness firm will do its own due diligence before deciding that the deal is worth it. Its their money on the line. For many publicly traded companies, they may not have enough funds available to pay 50 000 or more for a high profile campaign. They may however have enough shares on hand. Once the share price is high enough, they can go after financing, providing the company with cash to finance further growth.

Can you make money when a stock is being promoted? Of course, and many investors make a lot of money thanks to the attraction of new investors. The key is to find the companies who are geniunely attempting to increase shareholder value versus trying to line their own pockets at the expense of shareholders. Only your due diligence can help you do that. Penny stocks can provide investors with a high return, however, it takes more due diligence than luck to jump onboard the right one.

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Investment Strategy: The Investor’s Creed

Posted by admin on May 24, 2010 in Stocks and Shares Rates
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Fascinating, isn’t it, this stock market of ours, with its unpredictability, promise, and unscripted daily drama! But individual investors are even more interesting. We’ve become the product of a media driven culture that must have reasons, predictability, blame, scapegoats, and even that four-letter word, certainty. We are a culture of investors where hindsight is rapidly replacing the reality-based foresight that once was flowing in our now real-time veins… just like downhill racing, grouse hunting, and Super Bowls.

The Stock Market is a dynamic place where investors can consistently make reasonable returns on their capital if they comply with the basic principles of the endeavor AND if they don’t measure their progress too frequently with irrelevant measuring devices. The classic investment strategy is so simple and so trite that most investors dismiss it routinely and move on in their search for the holy investment grail(s): a stock market that only rises and a bond market capable of paying higher interest rates at stable or higher prices! Just not going to happen

This is mythology, not investing. Investors who grasp the realities of these wonderful marketplaces recognize the opportunities and embrace them with an understanding that goes beyond the media hype and side show performance enhancement barkers. Simply put, when investment grade securities rise in price [As they are now, with the DJIA finally putting together a successful attack on the 11,000 barrier], Take Your Profits, because that’s the purpose of investing in the stock market! On the flip side (and there has always been a flip side, more commonly dreaded as a “correction”), replenish your portfolio inventory with investment grade securities. Yes, even some that you may have just sold days or weeks ago during the rally. This is much more than an oversimplification; it is a long-term (a year or two is not long term.) strategy that succeeds… cycle, after cycle, after cycle. Sounds an awful lot like Buy LowSell High doesn’t it? Obviously, Wall Street can’t let you know that it is quite so simple!

[Note that Dow Jones 11,000 was last breached during the infancy of this century, and that the last All Time High in this much too widely followed average occurred late in 1999. When the DJIA banner is repositioned on that historical peak of 11,700 or so, it will represent no less than six years of zero growth in this, the most respected, of all Market Indicators! Would the media strip the gold medal from this Stock Market Icon if it knew that during these same years: (1) There have been significantly more stocks rising in price on a daily basis than moving lower. In fact, more than two-thirds of the last 68 months have been positive. (2) Since April 2000, there have been 120 more positive days in NYSE issue breadth than negative days. (3) 250% more NYSE stocks established new high price levels than new lows. (4) We are working on our sixth consecutive year of positive issue breadth!]

So understand that your portfolio statement values will rise and fall throughout time, and rather than rejoice or cry, you should be taking actions that will enhance your “Working Capital” and the ability of your portfolio to accomplish your long term goals and objectives. Through the simple application of a few easy to memorize rules, you can plot a course to an investment portfolio that regularly achieves higher highs and (much more importantly), higher lows! Left to its own devices, like the DJIA for example, an unmanaged portfolio is likely to have long periods of unproductive sideways motion. You can ill afford to travel six years at a break even pace, and it is foolish, even irresponsible, to expect any unmanaged or passively directed approach to be in sync with your personal financial needs.

Five simple concepts of Asset Allocation, Investment Strategy, and Psychology are summed up quite nicely in what I call “The Investor’s Creed”:

(1) My intention is to be fully invested in accordance with my planned equityfixed income asset allocation. (2) On the other hand, every security I own is for sale, and every security I own generates some form of cash flow that cannot be reinvested immediately. (3) I am happy when my cash position is nearly 0% because all of my money is then working as hard as it possibly can to meet my objectives. (4) But, I am ecstatic when my cash position approaches 100% because that means Ive sold everything at a profit, and that I am in a position to (5) take advantage of any new investment opportunities (that fit my guidelines) as soon as I become aware of them.

If you are managing your portfolio properly, your cash position has been rising lately, as you take profits on the securities you purchased when prices were falling just a few months ago and (this is a big and) you could well be chock full of cash well before the market blows the whistle on its advance! Yes, if you are going about the investment process properly, you will be swimming in cash at about the same time Wall Street discovers the rally and starts encouraging people to weight their portfolios more heavily into stocks; the number of IPOs coming to market starts to rise exponentially; morning drive radio DJ’s start to laugh about their stock market successes; and all of your friends start to talk about their new investment guru or the 30% gains in their growth Mutual Funds. What are you doing in cash!

This is what I call “smart” cash, because it represents realized profits, interest, and dividends that are just catching a breather on the bench after a scoring drive. As the gains compound at money market rates, the disciplined coach looks for sure signs of investor greed in the market place: fixed income prices fall as speculators abandon their long term goals and reach for the new investment stars that are sure to propel equity prices ever higher, boring investment grade equities fall in price as well because it now clear [for the scadieighth (sic) time] that the market will never fall again particularly NASDAQ, which could double and still not be where it was six years ago. And the beat goes on, cycle after cycle, generation after generation. What do you think; will today’s coaches be any smarter than those of the late nineties? Have they learned that it is the very strength of a rising market that proves to be its greatest weakness!

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