We all know that emotions control every decision that an investor makes in any type of money related vehicle. Whether is be the stock market, real estate, art work or antiques, emotions ultimately set the final price on both sides of the transaction. Some investors have greater control over their emotions while other investors are destroyed by their emotional reactions to certain events.

One common occurrence that I have seen many investors make, including myself, is placing a position in a stock at the wrong time. My last article detailed the importance of timing, while this article will concentrate on the importance of staying focused and emotionally stable when things don’t work out as expected. In the past, I would study a stock’s chart, the fundamentals, the general market health and everything else that I felt necessary before placing a large sum of cash behind my beliefs. When things went wrong and I was forced to sell for a small loss, I would drop the stock from my watch lists and remove it from my memory. This was one of the biggest mistakes that I was making during my earlier years of investing. The greatest investors study their mistakes and learn why they were wrong. If you don’t learn from your mistakes, you will continue to repeat them and never move to the next level.

I was usually correct with my analysis on the particular stock but many times I was too early with my entry point during a new up-trend. Months later, I would come across the same stock in my screens but it was now up 25%, 50% or more from my initial buy point and stop loss. I would be frustrated for selling my stock too soon and was getting tired of using rules and missing big winners that I sold for a loss. I knew money could be made in Wall Street by using the law of averages to my advantage and employing strong money management skills but I needed to employ the rules more consistently. I started to practice what I was taught by selling my losers quickly and allowing my stronger stocks to ride their trends. Over time, I was experiencing a few more losers than winners but my stake was growing because these losers were smaller in size than the winners. The words written in the books were true; Jesse Livermore, Gerald Loeb and William O’Neil were all accurate with their lessons about cutting losses quickly.

More importantly, I learned to keep strong stocks on my radar even if I bought too soon and was forced to sell for a loss. My timing was wrong and my ego was shot because I was wrong, so I typically decided to stay away from that specific stock because it had already taken my cash and my pride. Emotionally, I was burned by the stock even though this was not entirely true. Investing is a game of trial and error. It is okay to buy a stock at the wrong time and sell, only to buy it again because they timing may be better. If you cut the losses small and allow winners to grow, the averages will ALWAYS work out, I promise. You must be honest with yourself to allow the averages to work out. You cannot allow a stock to drop past your sell point and you must try to always hold the strongest stocks without selling them during a premature pullback. This all sounds so easy but it is not! If it was so easy, we would all be extremely rich and the stock market would be everyone’s full time job.

I kept using my system of trial and error and started to record every thought and transaction I made. With my revised philosophy in place; I continued to study the stocks that I was forced to sell and tried my best to re-purchase, even at higher prices than my original position if the time was right. Even now I have these issues, the greatest traders of all time always had these issues and every fund manager must decide if the time is right. My latest example, which can relate to almost everyone in the community is Paincare Holdings, a stock that was purchased solely as a “test buy” that I was forced to sell. If things turn around and the general market starts to rally, I would have no problem buying the stock at a higher price than my original position if the opportunity presents itself.

LaBarge is another example, first showing up on the screens at $9.35 but during a down-trending market. The new pivot point and buy area was $14, over 50% higher than the original price but a solid entry point regardless of past gains or prices. Mentally it is always the toughest to buy a stock at a higher price than you were watching it at an earlier date but it can be the most rewarding strategy. Never look at a chart and toss away a candidate because it has moved up 50% or even doubled in recent months, the real move may just be beginning.

The moral of this article is to make you understand that timing may be your only issue when buying stocks so never throw away a possible superstar because you bought too soon. Keep it on your watch list and be prepared to initiate another position, even if it will cost you an extra point or two. If you buy again and it doesn’t work out, re-peat the process, there is always a chance that the stock was not meant to be or your analysis was slightly faulty. In either case, learn what you are doing right and wrong so you can be prepared to use those lessons with the next stock.

Chris Perruna – http://www.marketstockwatch.com

Chris is the founder and president of MarketStockWatch.com, an internet community that teaches you how to invest your money with solid rules. We don’t stop at just showing you our daily and weekly screens, we teach you how to make you own screens through education. Through our philosophy, you will be able to create your own methods and styles to become successful.

Here’s the challenging question: WHAT CAN I DO that’s profitable as a business?
Here’s a sound business philosophy: Produce value for yourself others by improving the quality of life.
Here’s a sound business goal: Have a lucrative Foreign Exchange (Forex) currency trading business online!

Forex – The buying of one currency and selling of another simultaneously
Forex – The Largest financial market in the world, larger than all US equity and Treasury markets combined!

Does the thought of casually making substantial income daily for doing what you love, instill a sense of passion and motivation? You’re probably ready to experience this as soon as possible. Read on!

You can easily start a business currency trading in the Forex market because –
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Trade from anywhere you have an internet connection. You have total freedom of location

Now there is one thing that takes us from imagining the profit goal to experiencing the profit goal. That one thing is take action right? If a profitable Forex trading business is the object of your desire, then just get it going! But when? How?

The winning techniques and concepts that were revealed to me came from a mentor dedicated to propelling me to action, to success! We used a complete forex trading & profit guide that’s been in place for years and it’s free – downloadable and easy to follow, obtained via – www.fxstrategycentral.com. Their differentiator is – they actually go the extra mile and position you to take the decisive winning action!

- In Forex, trading there aren’t any leading indicators that you have to look for.
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Just decide to make Forex trading your choice for lucrative profits and positive cash flow! The free downloadable e-guide mentioned is called “Forex Freedom”. Make the decision to commit a few more minutes each day with it, and you will find that momentum to your goal will move more in your favor – in both your trading performance and in your own personal fulfillment! For example make $200 to $3,000 a few hours work using some exclusive techniques!

In the e-guide, course materials will teach you truly remarkable step-by-step unique strategies to trade the FOREX in highly specialized ways! Those closely guarded techniques for successful Forex trading are clearly examined, described and expanded into an entire confidence-building, decision-strengthening, go-do-it process. The puzzle of what-to-do is simplified into clearly defined and easily achievable pieces.

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Sincerely,
Internet-mentored All Star

Peter is a professional trader, Paul is not. Peter has a tested, proven, written trading plan that he follows each time he enters a trade, Paul does not. Peter has agreed to meet with Paul to help Paul become a more successful trader.

Paul was early for his first appointment to see Peter a few days later – he was feeling both excited and apprehensive. Peter had told him he would show him how to use technical analysis and swing trading strategies to trade Stock market trends with confidence – but could he really do it?

Did he have the ability to become a successful trader after losing so much money in the market these last two years? Was he just wasting Peter’s time?

As he waited, he thought about the look Beth had given him when he had told her about his trading losses…the sense of failure he had experienced as she just walked away. The feeling of utter helplessness he had felt as the enormity of his losses had finally dawned on him. He had been so close to financial freedom, but now that had been taken away from him.

He was just starting to feel sorry for himself again when Peter strode into the foyer of the office building and wished everyone good morning – feeling sorry for himself would have to wait until later.

Peter motioned him to follow him to the elevator. Paul did so and they chatted as the lift took them to Peters 30th floor office. It was smaller than he had imagined, just a receptionists desk in the waiting room and one office with a view of the city.

He expected something grander, but the office was functional, and besides, Peter didn’t have a need for any more space as he had only 1 staff member, Kim, his Secretary and receptionist, host, coffee maker and confidant.

The focal point of Peter’s office was his trading screen – a triple screen plasma display monitor over 4 foot wide. “Not that’s a screen,” Paul thought to himself.

Kim brought in coffee and then left them alone. Paul poured them both a cup and took a seat.

Peter gazed out the window towards the city for more than a minute before speaking. “So you want to be a trader?” he finally asked. “Yes, but more than that, I want to be a great trader,” Paul answered, “Like you.”

“How do you know I am a great trader? And anyway, what is your definition of a great trader?” Peter asked.

“I heard you talking at the diner the other day – you certainly know what you are doing, and the market is up 5 days straight and more than 130 points since you bought the S&P 500 Index, that’s 20% in a week!” Paul explained. “I think anyone who can take their profits on the day of a major low like that and then have the ability to turn around and buy…and be dead right, is a great trader.”

“That is true, the Index is up a long way. And yes, I did get in at the low, didn’t I? So I guess, by your definition, I am a great trader,” Peter chuckled to himself.

“How far do you think the market will go up before it has a breather?” Peter asked. “I have no idea,” Paul replied. “Neither do I, that’s why I have placed my sell orders below the daily lows each day in case it turns around again and I’m ready to go short again,” Peter explained.

“It’s not so much picking the low that is important or even necessary, it’s managing the trade as it progresses that makes the money,” Peter added.

“But we’ll get to that later, let’s have a look at a chart and tell me what you see,” Peter said. He opened his charting software and soon they were looking at a monthly chart of the S&P 500 Index. Chart available at Stock Trading Review.com

“This is the last 3 years price history of the S&P 500 – what can you tell me about the direction of the trend?” Peter asked.

“It’s been going down,” Paul replied. “Correct, and which way have you been trading this market that has been in a clear down trend?” Peter continued. “I haven’t been trading it at all, I’ve just been fully invested, losing money,” Paul replied.

“Then you have indeed been trading it, my friend.” Peter continued. “By sitting on your hands for the last 2 and a half years while prices continued to fall, you have been fighting the trend. People who fight the trend always lose money.

“Then, you finally sold in a panic, like all the other small traders who finally gave up hope last week. You sold to people like me. The same thing happens every time there is a correction or bear market – the small traders hang on until they can’t stand to be in the market any longer, they all sell together in a panic and then the market goes up.”

“Tell me, looking at this chart, when did the downtrend start?” Peter asked.

“Well I guess around December, 2000 is where it looked like it started to fall away,” Paul replied. “Correct,” replied Peter.

“That means that from December 2000, there was no reason to be buying this Index, or buying Stocks that were showing the same chart pattern, and there was every reason to have your Stock portfolio hedged if you didn’t sell or have your money in cash.”

Paul looked at the chart and of course it was easy to see the trend was down with hindsight.

Before he could say anything, Peter continued. “Of course, hindsight trading is perfect, so how would you have known the best time to get out of the market or hedge your portfolio?” Paul looked at the chart and said, “I guess when the moving averages crossed over.”

“Correct,” said Peter. “So, for the last 2 and a half years, the trend on the monthly chart was down. “What else does this chart tell you about the market?”

Paul looked at the chart, but he wasn’t really sure what Peter wanted to know. “I’m not sure,” he finally confessed.

“Take a close look at the reactions within the downtrend. Notice that the largest one only managed to go against the trend for 3 months. In any timeframe, a market or Stock that can only go against the major trend for a few bars like this is in a very strong trend.

“Also, the Index was consistently closing below the short term moving average, and always closed below the longer term moving average – this is not something you want to sit through fully invested, holding on and hoping,” Peter continued.

Paul could see now the reason for his huge losses. He had looked at charts before but he had never looked at the big picture. The monthly chart showed the trend clearly – and it had been down. A simple moving average crossover sell signal would have saved his fortune…

“This simple timing system is what I use for my long term portfolio,” Peter continued. “I have 70% of the funds I have allocated to the Stock market invested for the long term in leveraged S&P 500 Index Funds. My investment in these funds forms the core of my Stock portfolio.

“I initially entered when I got a buy signal in 1994 and added more funds each month – 50-70% of my net short term trading profits and other income. I kept an eye on the monthly chart and didn’t get a sell signal until the end of 2000. I was fully invested in those funds from around 500 points to 1450 points.”

Peter then showed Paul a monthly chart going back to 1994. Paul looked at it in disbelief. He was looking at probably the greatest wealth creation trend in history and he had missed most of it because of his short term focus. Chart available at Stock Trading Review.com.

“Remember this Paul,” Peter said as they studied the long term chart, “Wealth comes from looking at the big picture. Many people believe that holding for the long term means forever. I prefer to hold things that are rising in value. If the trend turns down, I take my money and wait until the trend turns up again.

“This strategy of timing the market with a simple moving average crossover has made me a fortune while millions of people in this country have lost their life savings.

“Smart investors always invest the majority of their capital for the long term, but have clear guidelines for preserving it if the trend changes. They only trade with a small amount of money that they are prepared to lose.

“Your trading will be more profitable if you know that you have a substantial portfolio invested long term and it is increasing your wealth. By trading your entire account, and not managing it properly, you risked, and finally lost, most of it.

“And even though I bought a small position in Index futures a few days ago, my long term portfolio is still fully invested in Mutual Funds that trade inversely to the Index – in other words, the unit price of those Funds increases if the Index goes down.

“The trend is still down on the monthly chart as you can see, so that’s the way I want to be positioned with the majority of my portfolio. I think we have seen the low, but I am not prepared to risk my wealth on it. If the trend changes, then I will change with it. As you can see, I don’t have to make decisions very often.

“The market took nearly a year to form a top and start down. It might take a year to form a base if I am right and we are near the low. Patience and emotional control will make you a fortune -fear and greed will destroy your wealth.”

Peter let the enormity of the previous rally and subsequent bear market sink in, and then said, OK, “Now we’ve had a look at the big picture, let’s have a look at the weekly trend.” Chart available at Stock Trading Review.com.

As they looked at the weekly chart, Peter continued, “We know that the monthly trend is down – this weekly chart shows the most recent leg down that may have brought in the low for this bear market. The remaining 30% of my Stock market allocation is used to trade shorter term trends using both this timeframe and the daily chart.

“Bearing in mind that we are looking for trades with the major trend, we are looking to enter this market as soon as it confirms that the fast move down is indeed under way again after each of the bear market rallies that typically come along every few months. I have drawn a swing chart over the bar chart to highlight the swings of the market as it moved lower.

“Tell me what you see here,” Peter asked. “Again I see a down trend – the moving averages are more often than not heading down and the swing chart you have drawn over the bars is making lower tops and bottoms – the trend is definitely down,” Paul replied.

“And still you held on, while billions of dollars was wiped off the value of the Stock market all around you!” Peter said. “You knew the market was going down as you are somewhat familiar with charts, why did you not do anything to protect yourself?”

“I was always told that I should hang in for the long term – that the market always came back, and that it had never failed to make a new price high after every bear market. I guess I was too scared to do anything in case I got out right at the bottom. As it turned out, I did that anyway,” Paul said.

Peter continued, “Notice on this chart that the rallies were also no more than one or two bars. This indicates a very strong trend – not something anyone should be buying into or holding if they want to protect their wealth.

“There were many people buying the dips as the down trend unfolded. This strategy had worked well in the bull market, but it failed miserably when the bear market came along. Every rally failed, forcing buyers to become sellers as the trend continued down.

“Trading the market requires us to adapt – the market has seasons – if we are out of season with the market, we get crushed.

“The rallies were just traps. Every bear market has them, and every time, traders think they have picked the bottom, only to find that they have not.”

Paul looked at the chart and for the first time, with the help of the swing chart overlaid on top of the bars and the moving averages set as they were, he could see how simple it was to determine the trend. Especially the last few weeks – it was certainly a panic.

“Now, let’s have a look at the last few weeks to see what we can determine.” Chart available at Stock Trading Review.com.

“Again, I have drawn a swing chart over the price bars on this daily chart. Once you understand swing charts, you will be able to draw these lines in your mind and you will not need to draw them on your charts any more,” Peter said.

“As you can see, the moving averages are again moving down at a fair clip and the reactions to the down trend are no more than 3 bars. With the Monthly and Weekly trends strongly down, and a daily trend that is showing very weak rallies in this fashion, what else is a trader to do but short sell this market?” Peter asked.

Paul could see it clearly now, the trend was blindingly obvious -why had he not taken any notice before? There had been a fortune for the taking and he had not seen it.

“But how did you know for sure the market would turn on that day?” he asked Peter. “Ah, that is a lesson for another day my young friend. For now, lets make sure you understand trend trading first. Once you know what a trend looks like, you will be in a position to make consistent profits from the market, not before.”

With that, their first meeting was over. Peter had some important visitors waiting in the reception area to discuss a Joint Venture in a property development. It was time for Paul to go.

He thanked Peter for his time and left the office. As walked out through the reception area, Peter called out behind him, “When you get home, set up all the Stocks you owned in a watchlist on Incrediblecharts.com, set it to monthly, put some moving averages on them and work out where you should have exited – that is your homework for this week. I will see you next Wednesday at 8.00am. Don’t be late…”

Paul arrived home with a renewed sense of purpose.

He did as Peter ordered and as he went through his previous portfolio, he saw that he should have sold every Stock he had owned by January 2001 at the latest. He felt disgusted with himself at having not been able to see this sooner, but he consoled himself that at least now he was on the right track.

He was still apprehensive, but he had a chance to put things right for his family. He was determined to make it as a trader, and with Peter’s help, he felt he could indeed succeed…

To Your Trading Success,

Tony Spann and the Team

Stock Trading Review is dedicated to helping you succeed as a trader by sharing with you simple and easy to follow tips and techniques.

Join our FREE “Stock Trading Review” NewsLetter http://www.stocktradingreview.com/stock-trading-newsletter.html to get your hands on some real world “insider” stock trading tips and techniques and access to our exclusive “Members Only” Free Stock Trading System.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

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(c) 2005 Stock Trading Review – All Rights Reserved.

THE TRADE DECISION

1. Never add to a losing position.

2. Always determine a stop and a profit objective before entering a trade. Place stops based on market information, not your account balance. If a “proper” stop is too expensive, don’t do the trade.

3. Remember the “power of a position.” Never make a market judgment when you have a position.

4. Your decision to exit a trade means you perceive changing circumstances. Don’t suddenly think you can pick a price, exit at the market.

THE MARKET HAS CHARACTER

5. In a Bull market, never sell a dull market, in Bear market, never buy a dull market.

6. There are times, because of lack of liquidity, or excessive volatility, when you should not trade.

7. Trading systems that work in an up market may not work in a down market.

8. There are at least three types of markets: up trending, range bound, and down. Have different trading strategies for each.

9. Up market and down market patterns are ALWAYS present, merely one is more dominant. In an up market, for example, it is very easy to take sell signal after sell signal, only to be stopped out time and again. Select trades with the trend.

10. A buy signal that fails is a sell signal. A sell signal that fails is a buy signal.

11. It’s always easier to enter a losing trade.

12. In the “blowout” stage of the market, up or down, risk managers are issuing margin call position liquidation orders. They don’t check the screen for overbought or oversold, they just keep issuing liquidation orders. Don’t stand in front of a runaway freight train.

13. You are superstitious; don’t trade if something bothers you.

NEWS

14. Buy the rumor, sell the news.

15. News is only important when the market doesn’t react in the direction of the news.

16. Read today’s paper tomorrow. When you read yesterday’s paper each day with the knowledge of what the market already did, you will affirm that this mornings paper with yesterday’s news has nothing to do with today’s market.

A TIME TO TRADE

17. On the open, never enter a new trade in the direction of a gap. Never let the market make you make a trade. (Closing an existing position is obviously ok.)

18. The first and last tick are the most expensive. Get in late and out early.

19. When everyone is in, it’s time to get out.

20. Never trade when you are sick.

TRACKING YOUR TRADES

21. Size kills. Only change your unit of trading under a plan of attained goals. Also, have a plan for reducing size when your trading is cold or market volume is down.

22. Confidence kills. Remember, you really don’t know anything. Respect the market every second of every day. Expect the unexpected. Always know your position and exit your trade immediately whenever you feel uneasy.

23. Measure yourself by profitable “days in a row,” not by individual trades.

24. The best way to break a streak of “losing days in a row” is to not trade for a day.

25. Don’t stop trading when your on a winning streak. “When your hot, your hot.”

26. Three strikes and your out! Don’t turn three losing trades in a row into six in a row. When you’re off, turn off the screen, do something else. “When you’re not, you’re not.”

27. Scalpers reduce the number of variables effecting market risk by being in a position only for seconds. Day traders reduce market risk by being in trades for a matter of minutes.

28. If you convert a scalp or day trade into a position trade, by definition you did not consider the risks of the trade.

29. Don’t ever fret about a missed opportunity. There is always another one just around the corner. Besides, several just happened that you didn’t even know about.

MARKET OPINIONS

30. If you look for market secrets you will only find things that no one cares about. Use the conventional tools.

31. Never ask for someone else’s opinion, they probably did not do as much homework as you.
32. When the market is going up, say “the market is going up.” When the market is going down, say “the market is going down.” Say it without qualifications, no “buts” attached. This is a reality check, you’ll be amazed at how hard it is to say what is literally going on in front of you when your mind is full of preconceived opinions.

33. THE DAILY MARKET COMMENTARY: I’ve never had an opinion I didn’t like, however, successful day trading requires flexibility. Do your homework not to develop a market opinion, but rather to understand the potential for both sides of the market. This will allow you to make your trades based on what the market is doing at the time of the trade.

34. Here is a quote to remember: “When you wake up, your instincts are wrong.”

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

35. When you make a mistake of discipline, whine like a fool to anyone that will listen. Errors in discipline are mistakes you will keep on making for many years. Wearing ashes and sack cloth may help extend the time before you do it again.

36. If you squirmed and moaned while you read this list, then you share two obvious characteristics with many of us:

A. You have traded long enough to recognize that you (not the market) make mistakes, and you try to overcome them.

B. Now this is ugly, you have become part of the market and you can never leave.
No matter where life takes you, you will always check the market and always want to continue being a part of it. It’s like that first true love, it will always be there no matter what the distance, no matter whether they are alive or dead.

Joe Ross
Trading Educators Inc

Joe Ross has been trading for more than 47 years, and is a well known Master Trader. He has survived all the up and downs of the markets because of his adaptable trading style, using a low-risk approach that produces consistent profits.

Joe is the creator of the Ross hook, and has set new standards for low-risk trading with his concept of “The Law of Charts™.” Joe was a private trader for most of his life. In the mid 80′s he shift his focus and decided to share his knowledge. After his recovery, he founded Trading Educators in 1988 to teach aspiring traders how to make profits using his trading approach. He has written 12 major books on trading. All of them have become classics and have been translated into many different languages.

Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles. He did his Masters work in Computer Sciences at the George Washington University extension in Norfolk, VA. Joe still tutors, teaches, writes, and trades regularly. Joe is still an active and integral part of Trading Educators.

24ae

Most stock traders know that momentum trading can be a very profitable activity. You can make big amounts of cash in a short period of time.
The problem is, that if you don’t know what stocks to look for and how to approach them and leave everyting to chance, you could end up wasting money instead of making your profits grow.

That’s why the most important aspect of momentum trading is the knowledge FILTER you employ to make your buy and sell decisions. There are many “fantastic” stock systems and trading strategies outhere, but you need to test them in order to discover which ones help you the most. That’s part of your homework as a stocktrader. Test, test and test again.

Complicated online trading strategies that rely on a “boat load” of technical analysis indicators can make you slow, and being slow when trading hot momentum stocks can be as dangerous as not knowing what to do in the first place.

The worst thing that can happen to a beginner momentum trader is to get information overload. It’s better to go step by step, and test a simple stock trading strategy that can show you how to focus on concrete ways to make money and pick better hot stock trading opportunities once at a time.

Fortunatly there are great sites on the web today that can show you how to trade in a sharp and effective way. One of those sites is Sharp Trades http://www.sharptrades.com

In the end, momentum trading is all about buying and selling stocks according to your knowledge FILTER. Once you master and follow your proven filter parameters like a clock, you can expect to start making serious amounts of cash on a consistent basis.

Find out how to do it with ease and simplicity at Sharp Trades.

Dan Sheldon is a UK based momentum day trader focusing on US markets since 1986. He helps people become confident and practical momentum traders, showing them how to choose stocks with ease and simplicity every day at http://www.SharpTrades.com

Refuse is a serious issue in any society, about as serious as cleaning the water and air, even more so to some degree, especially if you study your history with regards to the plague. This is why it is considered one of the better long-term hold stocks to have in one’s portfolio. Today people are living much longer generally due to cleaner living environments, proper trash disposal, sewer treatment plants and a relatively clean civilization.

When building owners cut costs to keep their investments you have a considerable risk when you lengthen the time between trash intervals, even worse when the garbage companies cut corners or in one case an Environmental Company which is Canadian Based allowed untreated chemicals into where they should not be. Cutting corners to save money. But when it is this serious why is it done? Well for one people want something for nothing. Part of this reasoning of these companies is the stock gambler wanting exponential growth and demanding returns that do not exist under current thinking in a matured market such as trash and refuse in economic downturn. It was always considered a safe industry no matter what the economy was doing, yes it is safer than most, but not so safe as to be unaffected in economic recession as we saw in 2001-2003.

No matter how much you improve the efficiencies there is a diminishing return available, just like in manufacturing and Finite Capacity Scheduling models for workflow. When any company stays within a finite arena where there is little or no innovation in such a maturing market you run out of places to sell your wears. Think about it.

Lance Winslow

Most people start their trading career without a clue as to how they are going to decide what, how, or when to trade. Most traders start off with the stock market because that is what they are the most familiar with. They don’t usually start getting interested in markets like commodities of Forex until they are somewhat comfortable with trading stock. Probably they got interested in the stock market because of a conversation they heard at work or school about some stock that’s supposed to take off. Maybe they have a friend who regales them with their tales of how they bought Amazon or Yahoo at some great price and then watched it double or triple in a few months.

So off they go and open an account with a stock broker, thinking that all they have to do is buy the same stocks that Joe Bigmouth up at work is buying and they’ll make a killing. Chances are that Joe Bigmouth has LOST as much or more money on his trades as he’s made, but somehow the stories of his losses never make it to the breakroom. Even worse, maybe they start listening to their broker and following his advice – a sure way to not make consistent money. We can all predict how this story will end: our friend will get creamed by trying to trade the stock tips of others. If our friend is really serious about trading with any chance of success, he needs to have a plan, or at least some guiding principles to go by.

There are four basic concepts that most traders who get serious about their craft will fall into. These concepts are:

· Fundamentals: These traders base their trading decisions on the type of broad-based macroeconomic forces that can make markets move in one direction or another. These types of traders may be right about the general market direction most of the time, but the market usually makes very wide price swings as it goes along. These swings are usually big enough to wipe all but the biggest institutional traders who have very deep pockets and can afford the market swings against their position. The small-time trader usually can’t afford to take the kind of losses that are part of trading strictly fundamental news, and so they either lose their capital and are out of the game, or they must modify their fundamental strategy by incorporating one or more of the other trading concepts into their decision-making.

· Technical traders: These traders make their trading decisions by looking at price charts and interpreting the patterns and indicators on their charts. Their basic belief is that any information you need to know about the market is already factored into the price at any given time. They may use some type of fundamental information to give them a general idea of the direction the market is heading, but they will base all of their entry and exit decisions on how they interpret their price charts.

· Trend-Following or Swing Trading: These traders try to identify major up and down trends in the market, and once they identify a trend that is underway they jump on and try to ride out the trend until it starts reversing. Then they will usually exit their position, wait for the next trend to develop, and jump on board again going the other way.

· Seasonal Traders: These traders like to take advantage of the fact that certain markets tend to go up, down, or do certain types of things at the same time each year. They base their trades on the probability that such things will happen repeatedly and therefore give them the opportunities they seek.

There are other trading approaches to trading, but these are the biggies. Not all of these concepts will work with all markets. The Forex market is commonly perceived to have good opportunities for trend-following traders. Of course each of the concepts tend to overlap each other, but that can usually work out in favor of the trader who is willing to work at learning more than one trading concept. When such a trader sees agreement in two or more areas, he usually will be able to place a profitable trade.

Ted is part of a group of Forex traders
that makes its home at:

http://www.ForexProfitMentor.com

Check it out for the latest ideas on how YOU
can trade the Forex for profit!

If there ever was one business that has made a lot of people a lot of money it is futures trading, also known as commodity futures. This is one business that has made millionaires and multi-millionaires in a very short time while starting up with relatively small capital investments.

Just what is a “futures trading”? Loosely defined, a future is an agreement to buy or sell a given quantity of a particular commodity at specified future date at a pre-arranged price. You “speculate” the direction prices will take and decide to buy or sell based on that. Prices are, to a degree, predictable.

The money-making potential in futures trading is astounding. Examples; John Henry started with $16,000 and amassed a wealth worth more than $1.5 billion. Richard Dennis borrowed $1600 and made $200 million in about ten years. Granted, these examples are atypical. But you can see the potential.

Unlike other forms of business and trading such as real estate, stocks, brick-and-mortar etc., where you have to wait years to see any substantial returns, futures market is immediate.

Better still, you can start from your kitchen table, you never physically handle or deliver the commodities, nor market or advertise, and you can buy or sell large or small quantities.

You also have choice of a wide range of commodities from gold, grains, crude oil, gasoline, currencies, and agricultural products and many more to choose from.

As with any business where you can make lots of money fast, you can also loose lots of money fast. This is one reason why this business is not for everyone. It is certainly not for those who tend to get emotional when things seem not go as intended.

Actually, the more you’re able to keep your emotions in check, the more money you can make as panic and hysteria are commodity traders’ best friend.

When starting out, you might make losses. This is expected and may be a good thing as early success can give you a false impression about your own abilities, and lead to disaster. Loss should be treated as part of business and learning process. The key is to limit your losses by learning to trade like a professional. How?

Professionals approach futures as a business, as opposed to the slot-machine, hit-or-miss approach most people make. And, as with any business you need to understand how the market works.

This means learning as much as you can about the business. And no, you don’t have to pay $2500 to attend some seminar to learn “insider secrets”. You would be better off if you could take a trip to Chicago or New York Board of Trade and observe professionals at it. You’ll learn more this way than in any seminar.

Back to limiting losses. One way of limiting loss (risk management) is placing a stop-loss order on a trade. You pre-determine the amount of risk you are going to take, and stick to it. Successful traders always have a stop-loss order before initiating a trade.

Trading without a stop loss order can have catastrophic effects, especially to the inexperienced trader as they can find themselves unable to pull the plug until it’s too late.

Another key is diversification. As they say “never put all your eggs in the same basket”. A rule of thumb is not to risk more than ten percent of your equity in any one trade, thus preventing losing all your money in one or two bad trades.

Amateurs also make the mistake of re-investing all their earnings, and then loosing it all down the road. Professionals pull their profits and start small again, making small capital increments to facilitate growth.

Good record keeping is also important in that it shows you what is working and what is not, as well as the patterns.

Contrary to what you may have heard you don’t need a lot of money to get started in commodity trading. A good brokerage firm can help you get started without spending a fortune.

Details of running a successful futures trading business are beyond the scope of this article. The best investment you can make is to spend time learning how the business works, starting with the basics.

David Kamau owns http://www.mercantilecentral.com. Learn how to trade like a pro and make consistent profits trading futures. Go to: http://www.mercantilecentral.com/trade_like_a_pro.htm

The trash business in its efforts to cook their books trying to keep pace may find itself in some trouble. The efficiency per Garbage Truck unit numbers was growing exponentially at a time when consolidation has slowed as there is a decreasing number of worthy deals to make for a good value, Ah ha Warren Buffet’s favorite remarks are here too.

Not because we read all his essays but because in this regard and subject matter he is correct. Wayne Hiezenga in his expansion efforts battled the mob based trash companies, mom and pop shops and the interference from regulators and government being used and manipulated by the said competition in an effort to keep the norm without innovating, lowering costs for consumers or even attempting to better themselves. And why would they when they could lobby powerful allies in government to further corrupt their position of collecting $15.95 per month times the population base of an area. Talk about a gravy deal, there has been no better business than the trash business. Regulators are always tilting the field and pummeling some entrepreneur to save another lazier competitor. That is what they do best, so caught up in the game itself they do not even realize they are being played for suckers. Adam Smith warned us about this problem in Capitalism and we have not as of yet fixed that little issue.

Well where are the strongest profit regional markets for refuse companies? Places like SF, Dallas, Houston, LA, Bay Area, Boston, Philly, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, etc where during the recession had up to 28% unfilled office space; thus less people throwing away, shredding and recycling. The downtown office districts have picked up a bit, but certainly not at the level they were. This along with the high fuel prices could be the reason for the sagging prices, but do not call your investment lawyers or attorneys yet, the whole thing could rebound by fall. Think about it, think about all the trash in our society today.

Lance Winslow

Over the next couple of months, I will be examining some of the best money making ideas on the web, examining them in detail, also revealing some of the benefits, and putting to rest some of the concerns people have about being potentially ripped off by what some would call “Scams”.

E currency trading
Better known as E-currency exchanging. This business has been around since the late 90s and is here to stay. Everyone on the internet who buys or sells something may purchase in a foreign currency. As a result, that currency needs to be exchanged to the currency of the vendor who is selling the product. E-currency exchanging provides the perfect platform to do this.
If you go on a holiday and exchange your well earned pounds or dollars for your holiday currency the man who exchanges your pounds or dollars will charge you a fee for the privilege of exchanging the money. With E currency you are the man providing the service that is exchanging the money! Moreover, you charge a fee for exchanging the money.

No customer hassles
The neat thing about this business is there is no need for selling, getting customers, and getting people to look at your products. The customers are already there ready and waiting to exchange e currency.

How much can you make?
This all depends on how much you are willing to put into the system up front. If you started with say, $200 and somebody else invested $1000 the person who invested $1000 will have his portfolio grow a lot faster than the smaller amount. Most people will double there money within 45 days.

What do I need to get started?
You need an e-currency account like e-gold. E-gold is an e-currency account that exchanges any hard currency into the equivalent metal i.e. e-gold. You can access their site here. www.e-gold.com. You cannot fund e-gold directly. You will need an intermediate inxchange service like EMO corp. who take your cash via wire or credit/debit card and then you can buy e-gold via the site. Their site is www.emocorp.com
Then what you need to do is open a DXinOne account. DXinOne are the exchange merchants responsible for performing all the exchanges that occur on the internet. You can create an account here https://www.dxinone.com

E-Currency Exchange Training – Learn the e-currency exchange business for free. Huge resource for learning a very profitable business. Work from home and your own hours with minimal investment.

Any questions about this business visit my website
www.answertobiz.co.uk.

Iain Howard is an established DXInOne e-currency trader

How is it possible that trash Companies are posting less than expected results? Trash Companies are thought of by prudish investors as some of the safest stocks to own. Ask Warren in his Buffet of Essays on Corporate America. Companies which service the needs of the people tend to stay afloat longer and respond very little to economic down turn. Most investment advisors and attorneys would agree. And anyone who has ever stopped to ponder the idea of recession proof businesses would inevitably put Trash and Refuse companies at the top of the list. What other companies? Environmental Companies, Security Companies, Cigarette makers, vice industries (gambling, drinking, risqué type businesses).

We had put together a list last year for our own company of industries during the recessions which were safest to do services for without being strung out on accounts receivables or having companies file bankruptcy on us. We are in the cleaning business and only got burned by a few such industries we had put on the list. Yes all those listed and about 23 others were on the said list in a Memo we call “Letter’s from Lance” copying the Michael Dell theory of management and personal contact to each and every member on the team, his of course discussed in his book, “Dell” by Dell. He called them ‘Messages from Mike’.

If you are wondering how a guy who washes cars can have so much data output, realize we do these discussions from the top of our heads, so it is merely a fact of putting into key strokes, the data is data from past experiences, knowledge and insight from reading many different and unique sources as to never be jaded by Corporate Propaganda, Media Hysteria, here say or rumors. Before you call your investment attorney to sue the trash company for their forward looking statements, think about the changes in that industry. Also understand that 23% to 40% of their business comes from commercial accounts not residential accounts, thus during a recession it may not always be the safest bet, but all in all not a bad bet. If you want further advice call; Jim Kramer on Mad Money; let him tell you. Think about it.

Lance Winslow

“Hey Joe! I want to learn how to trade, but I’m having a conflict. Is trading futures gambling?”

Trading futures is gambling only when you trade them without full knowledge of what you are doing. There is a good measure of self-knowledge required to choose the proper course to follow if you want to become a trader. It has even been postulated that many small traders in the futures markets, without knowing it, secretly want to lose. They jump in with high hopes—but feeling vaguely guilty. Guilty over ‘gambling’ with the family’s money, guilty over trying to get ‘something for nothing,’ or guilty over plunging in without really having done much research or analysis. Then they punish themselves, for these or other sins, by selling out, demoralized, at a loss.

A trader is gambling when he/she trades from ignorance. The gambler makes his trading decisions on gut feelings, hopes, dreams of getting rich quick, tips from the broker, “inside information” from friends, and from the improper understanding and use of indicators, oscillators, moving averages, and mechanical trading systems. In general, he is looking for a way to shortcut having to truly learn what is going on. Unfortunately, most people who attempt to trade fall into this category.

However, true trading is actually speculation (managed risk). The speculator is willing to accept the risk of price fluctuation in return for the greater leverage that comes with that risk in the hopes of earning a greater profit. The true speculator makes his trading decisions based on knowledge gathered from Information about the behavior of the underlying, seasonality, historical and current trends, chart analysis, fundamentals, the market dynamics, and knowledge of those who trade it.

Joe Ross has been trading for more than 47 years, and is a well known Master Trader. He has survived all the up and downs of the markets because of his adaptable trading style, using a low-risk approach that produces consistent profits.

Joe is the creator of the Ross hook, and has set new standards for low-risk trading with his concept of “The Law of Charts™.” Joe was a private trader for most of his life. In the mid 80′s he shift his focus and decided to share his knowledge. After his recovery, he founded Trading Educators in 1988 to teach aspiring traders how to make profits using his trading approach. He has written 12 major books on trading. All of them have become classics and have been translated into many different languages.

Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles. He did his Masters work in Computer Sciences at the George Washington University extension in Norfolk, VA. Joe still tutors, teaches, writes, and trades regularly. Joe is still an active and integral part of Trading Educators.

Trading Educators Inc

Analyzing growth stocks is an important focus for any investor. This is especially important, since stocks are an irreplaceable part of any good investment plan, and since unbiased stock research is hard to find. Still, we need to look at the big picture once in a while. Since so much has changed lately, this may be a good time to “take stock”. Many have reevaluated their investment strategies. The problem is that many of these reevaluations are moving people away from their goals. As the market has dropped, rather than moving toward buying at the cheaper prices, we’ve seen people move away from stocks, a strategy which has little long-term benefit.

THE PICTURE

It’s all about planning for the future. The first step is to picture the future you have in mind.
Most of us already have part of the picture in our sights. We picture ourselves in a home, with food, heat, clothing — the necessities. Beyond the basics, some of us may picture ourselves raising a family and possibly supporting our kids’ education or business ventures or helping them buy their first home. Others may imagine supporting a church or charity, or accomplishing some great humanitarian goal. Most imagine some type of vacation at least once in a lifetime, or a personal goal that we’ve always wanted to achieve. Regardless of specifics, trying to get as clear a picture of your intentions as possible is an important first step. Once we know where we’re going, we can begin mapping our path

THE PLAN

Those who fail to plan, have already planned to fail. It is nearly impossible to reach a goal if there’s no strategy in place. Of course, there are a variety of personal decisions and trade-offs involved in any plan, and only a portion of these involve finances. Let’s focus here on the financial dimension of the plan, because the financial decisions are often the ones that prevent us from reaching our goals. Financial decisions are never easy, and the issues quite often reach to the core of our being. They involve our deepest values, our choices of what is most important in our lives. If other people are involved in our life, we need to balance our values with those of our families.

Creating the financial plan involves three steps: goal-setting, measurement and implementation.

Goal-setting requires us to determine both the specific achievements we desire and the timing of these achievements. For example, it is not enough to know that we want to own a 1000 square foot home on the beach in Hawaii. We must also identify any time-frames we have in mind. Measurement requires us to evaluate the cost of our goals, and determine our pacing. We must figure out what it will take, then, based upon our timing needs, pace our plan by calculating what the per-year savings must be and the growth rate our saving must achieve to accomplish that goal. Pacing for our goals is the most technical portion of the planning process, and often where people fall down on the job. Inflation in the economy is a complicating factor here too. If we don’t take inflation into account, a long-term plan is often doomed. Imagine someone who saved up for 30 years to buy a house, ignoring inflation. She’d have saved up $25,000, and wouldn’t be able to afford anything. Her cost calculation must recognize that money loses value over time. Making these calculations can seem intimidating for the inexperienced. We have charts and graphs that we use to assist our clients in making these judgments, but for those who aren’t nearby, the American Savings Education Council has some excellent resources on the web that are fairly simple to use.

Once we’ve gone to the trouble of learning precisely what we need to achieve our goals, its time to begin translating these specifics into an action plan. This is part of the plan implementation. The implementation stage requires us to determine the best way to reach our (now very specific) goals. The factors we will need to look at include income levels, savings decisions, and investment strategies.

Alas, this is all part of the next installment in this column. Stay tuned.

To send comments or to learn more about Scott Pearson’s Investment Management Services, visit http://www.valueview.net

Scott Pearson is an investment advisor, writer, editor, instructor, and business leader. As President and Chief Investment Officer of Value View Financial Corp., he offers investment management services to a wide variety of clients. His own newsletter, Investor’s Value View, is distributed worldwide and provides general money tips and investment advice to readers both internationally, and in the U.S.

Day trading consists of the direct opening and closing of stock positions with major stock exchanges, either using a computer on the trading floor of a branch office of a day trading firm, or using one’s home or business computer to access an internet broker. The keyword in this definition is direct. In day trading, a trader has direct electronic access to NASDAQ market maker or NYSE specialists.

The market makers are NASD brokers and dealers who buy or sell NASDAQ stocks for the accounts of others, engage in the securities business for their own proprietary accounts. In essence, the market makers are stock merchants. One NASDAQ stock will have many market makers who are continuously trading in that stock and thus making a market for that stock. On the other hand, one NYSE stock will have one assigned NYSE specialist. The role of the NYSE specialist is to maintain a fair and orderly market in that security. The specialist may act either as a broker and execute orders for other securities brokers or as a dealer in a principal capacity when trading for his or her wo0n account. The specialist will take on the role of a principal infrequently in order to maintain stock marketability and counter temporary imbalances in the supply and demand of that security.

The day trader does not need a stock broker. The trader is not using a telephone to call a stockbroker, and the broker is not relaying that order to the brokerage firm’s order desk. The clerk is not routing that order to the market maker. Day trading firms eliminate all that. Consequently, day trading firms have eliminated time delays and most of the expenses associated with middlemen processing trade orders. The day traders are their own brokers, and their order executions are fast and affordable.

The day trader can simply key in the stock symbol on a computer that has specialized trade execution software, press the appropriate function key, and buy or sell shares of stock on a major exchange. The software used by the day trading firms for order execution is relatively user-friendly7 and provides an efficient interface between the stock exchanges and the day trader.

About the author: Tony Reed is the author of ” What’s day trading“, please visit his website stock investing & day trading for more information.