By: Mark Crisp

Everyone else making a fortune in stocks and you aren’t? Sick of watching stocks climb into space and you are not onboard? Want to finally make some profits the easy way in the stock market? You need my top ten stock trading tips:

1. Find them when they are still LOW!

A stock at its lowest point has no other way but to go up. You can make the most out of your money when you first bought the stock when it finds its way up. A stock that just reached the rock bottom has the most tendencies to go the opposite direction up and keep soaring.

Though you may say that this is a gamble for your part, but when a stock find its way up and keep its momentum; you find yourself a goldmine. Anyways, you went in with a very minimal risk.

2. The Early Bird Gets the Worm: Get them EARLY!

This is called penny stock investing. You get into the game from the beginning. It is common for these stocks to come up to as much as 100% on a 24 hour basis. A stock on its early stage has the most potential to find itself on the top of the food chain. When you identify these beginning stocks, you found yourself a good deal. You bought them cheap, you can sell them high.

3. Strike while the iron is hot: Get them when they are still rising!

In finding the rising stock, you can comfortably be assured that your investment is at the right track. A stock at a rise won’t be there if it’s doing something wrong. These kinds of skyrocketing stocks have larger chance to further go up because of right business decisions.

This kind of choice won’t be much of gamble than going for a stock on a slump. The downside on this kind of option is the amount of money that should be prepared. Expect this type of stock to be costly. But hey! It’s more or less a guaranteed profit.

4. Is The Business Making Money?

Ask if this company you are trying to invest on is really making money. You need to research on a company how they really do.

For example, you may consider that a fresh company is still yet to establish sales and profit. Though their ideas are feasible for marketing opportunities, fact still remains that it’s still up for a start.

5. Does the Business Actually have a product?

Dwell into the gist and details of the company. What are they selling? How are they actually making money?

You have a hundred and one ways to make money. Have a bird’s eye view how they generate profit. You can also check if others have tried it. Did they do well? Or was it a failure?

It helps if you are knowledgeable of the company’s business model.

6. How many competitors are there?

It is a good sign if there are other companies getting into the bandwagon. The increasing number of competitors simply means that there is a demand. When there is a demand, your stocks tend to go up.

However, you must also note the number of competitors if there are already so many. If this is the case, it’s hard to get into a business with so many competitors ahead already.

7. Is the Company a Leader or a Follower?

This tip is a follow up to number 6. When you have a good product out in the market and other companies try to venture same path; ask is the company a leader or a follower?

Know there history. Know how they performed in the past. How long have they stayed at the top? Did they find any slump and bounced back or did they have a successful past ever since?

Has the business established itself firmly that they will still be ahead even if there are already too many competitors?

8. Who are the people involved in the company?

Know who the investors in this company are as well as who’s running it. Try to make a research on their past record. Did they have any past failure in their ventures as businessmen? Or do they have this colorful resume of success written all over it?

These things will get you ahead. Siding with the proper people will increase your chance of success in finding the right hot stock.

9. The Scandals.

Take a good look at their past deals. Crooked deals from their records are among the things to look out for. If the company you are eyeing has this kind of past, take our advice: DO NOT BUY ANY OF THEIR STOCK.

10. What’s the newest BUZZ?

Good news regarding the company would increase their stock value up to 100%!

News about product releases and of similar content makes the buzz. This kind of news is an indicator of good things to come.

But a negative fuss on a company’s product would lead your stock the other way. In that case, do not buy their stocks.

by: John Petrick

Your target asset allocation, or the mix of stocks and bonds you have chosen to pursue your investment goals, provides the foundation for your financial plan. However, even the most appropriate asset allocation may be driven off track by a number of factors, including bouts of market volatility. Given the turbulence that has prevailed over the stock market during much of 2007, now may be an ideal time to determine whether recent market performance has affected your asset allocation’s “balance."

A portfolio review should be an integral part of an annual financial review that examines all aspects of your financial life — from income and expenses to college and retirement planning, taxes and estate plans. The goal of such a comprehensive review is to identify any important changes in your life and plan accordingly for the coming year.

The first step in conducting a ,is to calculate the percentage of your assets that is invested in stocks, bonds and other asset classes. Next you will need to decide whether you are comfortable with those allocations or whether you need to “rebalance" your investment mix to bring the allocations back to their original intended targets.

For instance, suppose that your portfolio is currently a mix of 70% stocks and 30% bonds, but you’d prefer a 60/40 mix. One way you could adjust your allocations would be to sell some of your stock investments to attain the desired 60% allocation. Or you could do the opposite and add more bonds to your portfolio. Keep in mind that there may be taxes, fees and strategic considerations associated with either option, so be sure to consult with a trusted investment and/or tax professional before making any decisions.

Portfolio Drift: An Example

To illustrate how investment performance can affect a portfolio over time — pushing it more and more out of sync with its original allocations — consider what would have happened to a hypothetical portfolio left unbalanced for the 20 years ended June 30, 2007. What began as a 70% allocation to U.S. stocks would have grown to 83.31% of the portfolio, while 10% allocations to government bonds, foreign stocks and money market instruments would have shrunk, reducing their intended risk reduction role in the portfolio.¹

Bonds haven’t been as volatile as stocks over long periods of time, but recent history shows that they too can experience performance patterns that may alter asset allocation. Consider the divergence of the stock and bond markets between 2000 and 2002 and how that may have affected asset allocations. While the S&P 500 returned -9.1% in 2000,
-11.9% the following year and -22.1% in 2002, long-term U.S. government bonds gained 20.3% in 2000, 4.3% in 2001 and 17.0% in 2002.²

Likewise, the performance dynamics of various styles of equities — e.g., small-cap stocks, foreign stocks, growth and value stocks — can effect your overall asset allocation when left unchecked. As an example, large-cap value stocks have outperformed large-cap growth stocks by an annualized pace of about 12% since March of 2000 (as measured by Russell 1000 Growth and Russell 1000 Value). This seven-year run would have left a portfolio that has not been rebalanced tilting heavily toward value stocks — and positioned poorly in terms of performance and risk — as the cycle shifts back toward growth.

Life and Lifestyle Changes

Market volatility is not the only factor that may cause you to rethink and rebalance your investment mix. Any new circumstances in your life or changes in your lifestyle may necessitate a reshuffling of assets.

For example, getting married and starting a family are two events that are likely to create a whole new set of high-priority financial needs. Or maybe your change was of a different nature: Did you get divorced, take a new job or embark on an entirely new career? Have you experienced a financial windfall? Did a loved one pass away? Maybe one of your children got married. Or perhaps you’ve become a grandparent. Each of these events — and others like them — will probably require you to reevaluate and enhance each of your strategies for pursuing all-around financial well being.

How often should you rebalance? The usual answer is anytime your goals change; otherwise, at least once a year. However, to keep close tabs on your investment plan and make sure it doesn’t drift far from your objectives, you and your advisor may prefer to set a percentage limit of variance, say 5% on either side of your intended target, that would trigger a review and possible rebalancing.

Working Together Toward Your Goals

Although rebalancing your portfolio can be challenging, it is generally the best way to stay focused on stated goals. By working closely with a trusted advisor who understands your life goals and offers ongoing advice in support of those goals, you will have a much better chance of keeping your financial plans on track — whatever life or the investment markets send your way.

¹Sources: Standard & Poor’s; Morgan Stanley Capital International; Lehman Brothers; Federal Reserve. Domestic stocks are represented by the total returns of the S&P 500; foreign stocks by the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australasia, Far East (EAFE®) Index; bonds by the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index; and money market funds by the Lehman Brothers 3-Month Treasury Bill Index. All are unmanaged indexes. Investors cannot invest directly in any index. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

²Source: Lehman Brothers. Represents the total returns of the Lehman Long-Term Government Bond Index.

There is not guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not ensure against market risk.

Stock investing involves risk including loss of principal.

Bonds are subject to market and interest rate risk if sold prior to maturity. Bond values will decline as interest rates rise and are subject to availability and change in price.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Contact:
Stuart T. Smith
CEO of SmallCapVoice

Small Cap NewsletterorSmall Cap Stock Investing

Article written by Stuart T. Smith

Article Submission by Small Cap Stocks

1. OPPORTUNITY. There are dozens of these every day, unfortunately you can’t buy them all, so only pick the top 10 and then narrow them down to 2 to 3.

This is done by using your buying criteria which is part of your trading plan which you already have written down. (Hopefully you have one?)

2. BUYING and SELLING. I have a pre planned strategy which I have developed by trial and error; this was achieved by learning by my trading mistakes and the mistakes of others.

3. PATIENCE.This is definitely a virtue worth developing. Sometimes the market is going up in the right direction, but is not going as fast upwards as you would like.

Be patient and use a “stop loss” to lock in those profits. However small they may be.

Also don’t always be in a hurry to “buy that next share” just because you have that money burning a hole in your pocket.

Do your homework and then you have chosen the right share for the right reasons and not just because it looked good.

4. STRESS.If it is hurting! Don’t do it, cut your losses or be content with a small profit and get out. I recently got out of MPO as I did not feel 100% comfortable and bought AUZ and made a profit of 12.5% for one days trading.

5. THINK and PLAN AHEAD. After I have bought a stock and once it has been cleared. I immediately put a sell order in at the price/ percentage that I had previously worked out using my trading plan.

This trading plan is not set in concrete as it is revised usually on a monthly basis. And always be prepared to improve on it where necessary.

Depending on the volume and the stock’s volatility I occasionally vary my profit margin upwards. If I do this, I always keep a watchful eye on its movement and put in a stop loss to lock in those precious profits.

6.HOPE.This has no place in a trader’s plan, as Hope leads to procrastination (putting thing off).And this will lead to losses which you can ill afford.

7. WORRYING. The same thing applies as above; if you are worrying about a stock then it is time to sell it.

8. FUN. You should enjoy trading for if isn’t fun then it’s time to put your money into managed funds and quit trading.

9. RESPONSIBILITY. Take responsibility for your trading mistakes and learn from them.
No one else made you buy that stock.

10. CONFIDENCE.Have faith in your abilities. At all times be a “Student” for you never know it all. And the minute you become complacent, something nasty comes along to bring you back to earth with a thump.

I hope these tips will give you some assistance in finding you profitable shares and improves your trading skills.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

streyke

Traders in shares, indices, forex or commodities should always have a backdrop of basic rules, which revolve around going with the trend, limiting losses and good money management. In other papers, we have covered these items extensively, together with how to avoid mistakes and other important factors to watch when trading CFDs. There are, however, some commonsense rules that do not have to be applied to rigorously, but add another level of comfort within what can be a very stressful process.

A simple first rule – watch the cost

Market makers and other brokers are not stupid, and the setting of prices and spreads (or slippage) depends on several factors including time of the day, volatility and before and after news items. If you have a system that is not tailored to quick, intra-day moves, and your chosen timeframe is to look for results within anything up to a month, then minute by minute timing is less important than getting the overall picture correct.

On that basis you need to reduce your slippage costs as much as possible, so the time to place trades should be when the spreads are narrowest. After a while you should be used to the normal minimum spreads on most shares, and unless there is a pressing need to immediately deal (maybe on a profits warning or takeover news), then it pays to always ensure the spread is at the minimum before dealing.

This means not trading in the first few minutes of the trading day as buyers and sellers position themselves for the session. Sometimes the whole market may not only be marked down, for instance on a heavy fall in Far Eastern stocks overnight, but spreads might be wider because of the frenetic nature of early dealing. After a while though the spreads should usually return to normal, and you can deal more comfortably.

Example: You have a system that uses 3% targets and 2% stops, and say you normally buy and sell Royal Bank of Scotland shares with a minimum 1p spread, which represents a 0.05% or 5 basis point spread. From time to time the spread widens and can be as much as 5p after an outside event or early in the morning. This means that if applied to both sides of the trade, dealing on this wider spread would cost an additional 0.4% or 40 more basis points and effectively negates almost half of the edge of your system, which is fairly serious.

Moving on from this, it pays to stick to the biggest and most liquid stocks for the majority of your trading and this is a quick list of the leaders in the UK and which have the narrowest spreads:

Banks: Barclays, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered
Beverages: Diageo, SAB Miller
Food producers: Unilever
Food retailing: Tesco
Household Goods: Reckitt Benckiser
Insurance: Aviva, Prudential
Mining: Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata
Oils: BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group

Pharmaceuticals: Astra Zeneca, Glaxo Smithkline
Telecoms: BT, Vodafone
Tobacco: BAT Industries
Utilities: National Grid

Rule 2: Get to know a few stocks very closely and increase your knowledge

Many market professionals focus on one area of the market, and some simply trade a handful or even just one issue, be it a particular commodity, Treasury bond or stockmarket index. You will probably find that you become accustomed to the ebbs and flows of certain shares, and if you feel you are on the boil with these companies, then you have an edge.

If you decide to focus on say ten UK shares, you should get to know their trading ranges, average daily volume, sentiment to their particular sector, previous support and resistance levels, the tone of previous management comments and when news is due.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that when trading commodity stocks including miners and oil companies, you need to be aware of movements in the price and direction of principal metals and crude oil. Because there are other factors in play when institutions buy or sell in the market, such as dividend payments, overall market action or takeover hopes, share price movements can sometimes lag a rise or fall in the underlying commodity, but this is very important to each company’s overall profitability. Likewise, overall retail sales figures are important to the retail sector, which is obvious, and the health of the housing market and interest rates affect financial stocks.

A couple of extra rules

The ‘trend is your friend’ is a valid theme throughout swing trading, but it pays to only go long when the price offers further upside potential, or there is another volume and/or candlestick signal, otherwise you risk buying at the top. The aim is to ride an established trend, so while it is OK to miss the first part of a move, you should not buy when a trend may be about to reverse.

Broker upgrades and newspaper tips are a waste of time, because they are usually already factored into the market by the time it is your turn to place a trade. Whilst some analysis can be excellent and thought provoking, the persons giving the advice may sometimes have a different agenda. Price and volume action is the key when trading, but of course for longer term decision making the fundamentals must be examined as well.

Source: Free Articles

Mike Estrey is the Head of Research for Blue Index, the Day Trading specialists in Contracts for Difference. Foreign Exchange Trading also forms part of their extensive services.

Author: Enterprising Investor Forum

As we wrote in our post following the rate cut (link),things are probably going to get worse before they get better. But where does this leave us today; is the US heading towards a recession? We are not sure that a recession is around the corner quite yet but there are some alarming signs that we are definitely going to see the economy slowing down:

* fear of increasing unemployment rate
* decrease in new home constructions
* decrease of new car sales
* consumer confidence decreasing

Having said this, we would like to remind readers that recessions are part of normal economic cycles and that it would be naive to think that they will not happen. Looking back, we have had roughly the same number of recessions than periods of economic growth, even though recession are shorter in span.What is important, is to make sure that investors are aware of the economic climate and that they invest accordingly. As we already said, do not mistake last week’s strength in the markets as a sign that the Bulls are back for good! Be prudent and focus on capital preservation instead of speculating.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Contact:
Stuart T. Smith
CEO of SmallCapVoice

Small Cap Stocks
or
Small Cap Investor Relations

Article written by Stuart T. Smith

Article Submission by Small Cap Stock Investing

By: Luke Anderson

You may wonder, what is this buzz I keep hearing about options? Options are contracts giving the purchaser the right to buy or sell a security (stocks) at a set price for a set amount of time. Options come in many types, and the business of options trading is generally high risk. The buzz is created by the people who have the knowledge of when to buy, and more importantly, when to sell.

Naturally, because trading options is high risk, the payout is extremely high. It is not uncommon for some gains to exceed 1000%. However, most gains are in the 100%-150% range. Calculated over a standard period of one year, large amounts of investment can grow phenomenally large.

Options by nature are a losing proposition. 95% of the time, the odds are stacked against you. However, it's that 5% that yields the high payout. Given viable information, reaching into that 5% of success is fairly easy. There are many firms and organizations that have proven methods of tapping into that success rate.

How many stocks should you trade? A part of the secret success is monitoring patterns. There are many stocks that follow such a pattern, and once you recognize this, your first step is done. Generally, a small amount of stocks are needed following the trends above in order for you to find success.

What if I can't watch the market daily? Some people get tied up with other things, family, work, Warhammer Online, etc, and can't keep an eye on the market. Options do allow investors to be passive in their buying and selling. Risk tolerance factors can be built in, which tend to not allow huge gains, but modest gains continually over time. 25% per month over time adds up.

The most common way to trade stock options is trading standardized options contracts that are listed by various futures and options exchanges - there are currently six exchanges in the United States that list standardized options contracts based on underlying stocks - The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX), American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and NYSE Arca in New York City, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) which are all open-outcry marketplaces, and the International Securities Exchange (ISE) and Boston Options Exchange (BOX) are electronic marketplaces. However, even for the non-electronic exchanges, competition and the introduction of automated execution (AutoEx) has led, by late 2006, to hybridization where all but the largest trades are executed electronically. In Europe the main exchanges where stock options are traded are Euronext.liffe and Eurex.

There are also over-the-counter options contracts that are traded not on exchanges, but between two independent parties. At least one of those parties is usually a large financial institution with a balance sheet big enough to underwrite such a contract.

As you can see, the world of options is fairly complex, and risky. However, if you have access to the right information and know-how, trading options can be very lucrative over a short period of time. Teaming with a firm that specializes in the technicalities of investment and trading options is a great place to start. Often, they will have time proven methods to spot trends, and offer great buying/selling advice.

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

By: stapin

Investing in stocks is a risky business. There are some risks you have some control over and others that you can only guard against. Thoughtful investment selections that meet your goals and risk profile keep individual stock and bond risks at an acceptable level.

However, other risks are inherent to investing you have no control over. Most of these risks affect the market or the economy and require investors to adjust portfolios or ride out the storm.

Here are four major types of risks that investors face and some strategies, where appropriate for dealing with the problems caused by these market and economic shifts.

Economic Risks One of the most obvious risks of investing is that the economy can go bad. Following the market bust in 2000 and the terrorists' attacks in 2001, the economy settled into a sour spell. A combination of factors saw the market indexes lose significant percentages.

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Winning Stock Pick Remember CKXE .10 to $30.00 30,000% Gain RRGI next ? futuresuperstock.net It has taken years to return to levels close to pre-9/11 marks. For young investors, the best strategy is often to just hunker down and ride out these downturns. If you can increase your position in good solid companies, these troughs are often good times to do so.

Foreign stocks can be a bright spot when the domestic market is in the dumps if you do your homework. Thanks to globalization, some U.S. companies earn a majority of their profits overseas.

Older investors are in a tighter bind. If you are in or near retirement, a major downturn in stocks can be devastating if you haven't shifted significant assets to bonds or fixed income securities.

Inflation Inflation is the tax on everyone. It destroys value and creates recessions. Although we believe inflation is under our control, the cure of higher interest rates may at some point be as bad as the problem.

Investors historically have retreated to "hard assets" such as real estate and precious metals, especially gold, in times of inflation.

Inflation hurts investors on fixed incomes the most, since it erodes the value of their income stream. Stocks are the best protection against inflation since companies have the ability to adjust prices to the rate of inflation.

It is not a perfect solution, but that is why even retired investors should maintain some of their assets in stocks.

Market Value Risk Market value risk refers to what happens when the market turns against or ignores your investment. This happens when the market goes off chasing the "next hot thing" and leaves many good, but unexciting companies behind.

Some investors find this a good thing and view it as an opportunity to load up on great stocks at a time when the market isn't bidding up the price.

On the other hand, it doesn't advance your cause to watch your investment flat-line month after month while other parts of the market are going up.

The lesson is don't get caught with all you investments in one sector of the economy. By spreading your investments across several sectors, you have a better chance of participating in growth of some of your stocks at any one time.

Too Conservative There is nothing wrong with being a conservative or careful investor. However, if you never take any risk it may be difficult to reach your financial goals. You may have to finance 15 to 20 years of retirement with your nest egg. Keeping it all in savings instruments may not get the job done.

Conclusion I believe if you learn about the risks of investing and do your homework on individual investments, you can make decisions that will help you meet your financial goals and still let you sleep at night.


Article written by Ken Little.
Types of Investing Risks
Stock Picks - Day Trade - stock picks - 1dayhold

Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com