Downdraft
For the year 2000 we have seen hundreds of mutual funds lose 40%, 50% and more of their value. This does not seem right since the fund is supposed to be managed by a professional. How can this “professional” do such a bad job? More than half of the funds this year will not out perform the S&P500 index which closed down about 10%. What is going on?
Dollar Cost AveragingDollar cost averaging is one of the most popular ideas in the investment community. Everyone seems to like it and it has become a watchword among stock and mutual fund brokers. If it is properly done you will make money, if not you will lose money or at best stay even. Let’s examine the basic premise behind this method of investing.
DirectionIt is difficult to make money in a bull market, but what do you do when you are in a bear market? In what direction should you go not only to make money but to protect what you have from loss?
Dispelling Illusions of the Stock MarketHow can you dispel an illusion unless you look directly at it? The magician distracts the eye with one hand while he does his manipulation with the other. You are looking in the wrong place and not seeing what is actually happening.
DuckDuck! No I don’t mean a quack, quack. I meant get down, look out for a huge blob of brown stuff is heading your way. This one is so large it is going to make Enron and Worldcom look like Boy Scouts stealing cookies at a picnic. As a result of these latest revelations we are going to have to find someone new to blame. So far the blame …
Don’t Ask Your BrokerUnfortunately, most of you who are reading my column are suffering some substantial losses in the stock market. Whether it is mutual funds or individual stocks everything with mighty few exceptions is going down. Maybe you are just giving back some nice profits, but maybe it is beginning to bite into your original principal.
How Much Money Can I Make With Trading? What Account Size Do I Need To Start?These questions are the most frequently asked questions. In this article you will find detailed answers to these questions.
Traders, Defend Against the Dreaded Death Spiral.a.k.a. DTM: Decisive Trade Management and Using Trading Stops It has often been said that there is only two ways to get hurt really bad on a stock trade, getting caught in a “death spiral” by not using DTM: Decisive Trade Management in the way of stop loses and having a stock halted on you. Halts you have zero control over. Death spirals are of your own making if you do not practice the use of stop loses.
Buy Low – Sell HighNow where have I heard that before? I know. It was my broker. So I took his advice and bought some of the stocks he recommended. I am still waiting for the ‘sell high’ part of the equation. Everything he touted went up for a while and now it is lower than when I bought it. It is so low I can’t bring myself to sell it. My capital has shrunk about 60% from where I started. That’s a lot of money to me because it took a long time to save it. What happened?
CashHow many people went to a cash position this week? There is no question that this market has scared the bajebers out of many investors, me included. Fortunately, I started going to cash some time ago, but I did give back a substantial amount of my profit.