If you have talked to a stock broker or financial planner in the last few days I will bet they all agree that there are some great bargains out there and now is the time to start buying in anticipation that the market will go back up. You will also find agreement from the talking heads on CNBC and those talk radio station stock mavens. No one says sell. It looks like bottom pickers heaven.
A year ago when the Nasdaq was 2000 points higher they were telling you the same thing. Buy. Buy. Buy. If they are so smart to get you to buy now then why weren't they smart enough to tell you to sell when it was way up there? There are two basic rules for professional traders: never let a profitable trade go to a loss and never take a large loss. The talking heads are either not professionals or don't understand their business.
Since the beginning of the year the tech stocks have lost 34% and from last year they are down from the highs 65% and it looks like they are going lower. Isn't it time to end the bloodletting and sell? The problem with the small investor is he doesn't believe he has a loss until he sells. Wall Street has taught him that the market 'always comes back'. Folks, not this time.
All classes of mutual funds have posted losses in the first quarter of 2001 for the first time since 1980.
Has your broker or financial planner called you to sell out to go to the safe haven of a money market fund? I will bet he hasn't. Unfortunately these "experts" are not taught to protect your capital. They will watch their customers' account dwindle away 30%, 40% 50% and more and never do anything about it. It isn't their money. It is yours. You have to take the responsibility to guard it. The average broker has 300 clients. Unless you are a 7-figure account you will not receive any attention. Of the 77,000,000 mutual fund owners in the U.S. 80% of those accounts have less than $50,000. Their advice is either none or bad.
We know the economy is slowing down and has been since early last fall. The market was continuing to go up in anticipation and was ignoring underlying facts. The emotional enthusiasm was carrying it to new highs almost every day. Of course, Mr. Greenspan didn't help anything by raising interest rates when he should have known better. It is the brokers' job to sell stock and make commission, but it should also be his job to advise the neophyte investor to protect his capital.
The trend is your friend. The trend is down. It is still not too late to sell and put what's left of your cash in a money market account. Forget about your losses. That money is gone. You must protect what you have left. Never try to pick the bottom. There are no "bargains" at this level. Cash is the best position right now.
Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.
Copyright 2005
tidy up service Glenview ..Maximizing a stock market investmentThere are several factors an investor... Read More
Let's assume that you want to make some serious money... Read More
Just about everything you have been told about Social Security... Read More
Ever jumped out of an airplane? It's OK if you... Read More
A 'stock option' is a contract between two parties giving... Read More
Forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided... Read More
Every day on CNBC-TV they show a 200-day moving average... Read More
Financial markets provide their participants with the most favorable conditions... Read More
Inverted interest rates? What's that? Who cares? Even if you... Read More
When it comes to buying a stock or mutual fund... Read More
One Saturday morning, while he was sitting at his computer... Read More
The spring-loaded rat catcher is the ultimate low-tech device invented... Read More
You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More
Look back over the years and try to remember how... Read More
Sometime in the third quarter of 1997, someone told me... Read More
When most analysts, financial planners, fund specialists and investors try... Read More
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... Read More
Professional stock options traders use the term lean to refer... Read More
Well, not really. What I mean is I don't mind... Read More
This is the continuing story of our two imaginary traders,... Read More
This is an extract of an article which was first... Read More
One of the main reasons many of us get into... Read More
Using Swing Trading Strategies and Technical Analysis when Trading Stocks... Read More
It takes a total mental commitment to the task. It... Read More
AS BUILDERS BEGIN WORK ON THE FREEDOM TOWER in New... Read More
full-service cleaning Mundelein ..What a great statement!I just heard someone use it in... Read More
Picking a beaten-down stock requires a different kind of selection... Read More
One of the great truisms of Wall Street is "Don't... Read More
Never lose money in the stock market again. Yeah, I... Read More
When it comes to buying a stock or mutual fund... Read More
Over the past few months, several investment professionals have brought... Read More
So you're started trading, you bought some positions with your... Read More
The spring-loaded rat catcher is the ultimate low-tech device invented... Read More
Mutual funds and brokers are always preaching not to buy... Read More
When will the stock market stop going down and start... Read More
Most stock traders know that momentum trading can be a... Read More
TOO OFTEN, INVESTORS SIMPLY CHOOSE TO follow the crowd. This... Read More
When most analysts, financial planners, fund specialists and investors try... Read More
Let me start by saying that...Most online brokers do not... Read More
The broker told me not to sell because the mutual... Read More
Everybody is riding the Wall Street Roller coaster. Even if... Read More
Are you attracted to the idea of being in control... Read More
You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More
Trading is a fascinating activity.There are so many layers to... Read More
If you have talked to a stock broker or financial... Read More
When an individual investor wants to roll up his sleeves... Read More
I have been trading for several decades and was an... Read More
As I have said many times before in this column... Read More
Every Wall Street analyst, financial planner and broker will tell... Read More
Its dinnertime and the phone rings. It's Joe Noname with... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |