I am hearing predictions by brokers, financial planners, talk show hosts and the talking heads on TV that the market is going back to its old highs - DOW 11,700 and NASDAQ 5000 here we come.
It seems to me that in 2000 I heard these same people saying there was no top to the market and were looking into their crystal balls for DOW 30,000 or some other fantastic number. Suddenly the market turned over with the DOW dropping 3,000 points and the NASDAQ losing 80% of its value. Can it happen again? I don't predict and all I can say is the market can do anything.
BUT what if it does turn down? Are you going to sit as you did before and watch your money disappear? Right now everything looks rosy and the momentum is carrying the indexes higher almost every day. Buy and hold is the right strategy.
Hind sight is always 20/20 and you will want to own stocks and mutual funds now, but not get caught in the next down draft. There will be one! There always has and you can see it clearly if you are a student of market history. Since 1900 there have been 16 to 18-year cycles of bull and bear markets and within those there have been other shorter cycles of ups and downs.
Many brokers and investors try to predict when those turns will occur and they are mostly wrong. It is definitely not a good idea to try to outguess the market. You must learn to read the rather obvious signs of the major turns. I say obvious, but it is clear they are not obvious to most brokers or financial planners. Having been a professional trader, exchange member and floor trader for many years I will tell you the obvious 'secret'.
Using a 200-day moving average of any one of the major indexes (I prefer the S&P500) you can plot these every day and when the index penetrates the 200-day line in an upward direction it is a signal to buy. That is where we are now. Inversely when it penetrates that line going down it is time to sell and put your money in cash or bonds. If you don't want to do the math computations there is an excellent chart in the Investor's Business Daily newspaper called their Mutual Fund Index that will do all the work for you.
It is nothing more complicated than that and you can go back into history as far as you wish and you will see it proven time after time. You are holding stocks or funds while the market is going up and you are in cash while it is going down. Don't be fooled by "research" or by any other complicated method. This works.
There is no need to predict the market. It will tell you in simple language what it is doing and whether you should be a buyer or seller.
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
spotless home service Glenview .!Money: the most charged word in the planet. It means... Read More
There is so much involved in developing peak performance, that... Read More
The stock market often closes a week in the middle... Read More
Every successful trader has a winning system. There are of... Read More
Today we are inundated with tons of information about the... Read More
Every publicly traded company is required by the SEC(Securities and... Read More
Money management starts with protecting your capital, realizing profits and... Read More
In 1960 an engineer working for a watch company in... Read More
Before we get into all the good news out there,... Read More
Sometime in the third quarter of 1997, someone told me... Read More
One of the greatest challenges of investing in stocks is... Read More
A 'stock option' is a contract between two parties giving... Read More
Profitable day traders recognize that momentum trading is among the... Read More
Stock trading remains a very competitive field and the stock... Read More
Trading is a fascinating activity.There are so many layers to... Read More
Investors who exclusively use broadly diversified, no load mutual funds... Read More
In a previously written article, we expanded the use of... Read More
People are constantly asking me why is the stock market... Read More
Wall Street has been preaching the doctrine of Buy and... Read More
Never lose money in the stock market again. Yeah, I... Read More
As one of my regular readers you know I have... Read More
One of the main reasons many of us get into... Read More
If you have been watching the stock market at all... Read More
Today's society gives special recognition to alcoholics, sexaholics, binge-aholics, shopaholics,... Read More
If you are serious about making and keeping money by... Read More
after renovation cleaning Arlington Heights .!Profitable day traders recognize that momentum trading is among the... Read More
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are growing. Investors are choosing low... Read More
When it comes to stock market trading it PAYS to... Read More
When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative"... Read More
An investor can find and research the best stock on... Read More
It has been said that low cost or even free... Read More
I feel that an investment strategy in the stock market... Read More
If you have talked to a stock broker or financial... Read More
This article describes the model of a natural relationship between... Read More
Being wrong is OK, but let's not carry it to... Read More
I have watched my cat play with a bag of... Read More
You've decided to try your luck at trading stocks or... Read More
As an investor you will want to check out any... Read More
This is a guide to the different types of mutual... Read More
If you have a pension plan at work you will... Read More
How many people went to a cash position this week?... Read More
Much like the middle child, mid-cap stocks have long struggled... Read More
Stock trading can be a very profitable activity. You can... Read More
During the month of January the Dow Jones Industrial Average,... Read More
Very few people, even professionals, have heard of the Dalbar... Read More
I have a 2-car garage. There are nice shelves on... Read More
Among the largest forces that affect stock prices are inflation,... Read More
Sometime in the third quarter of 1997, someone told me... Read More
Whenever I see mutual fund comparisons in the trade publications... Read More
Both the stock market and oil prices rallied recently, which... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |