The Holy Grail (of Investment)

Every year I go to the Money Show in Orlando, Florida. Thousands attend. It is mostly an older crowd with the youngsters about 40 years of age. I have been saying for years that until you have lost enough money trying to make a fortune you will not become serious about investing. The under 40's are shooting for the moon and it has finally dawned on the over 40's (maybe it's the over 50's) that they must find a better way to get rich.

The Money Show presents a forum of recognized experts in their field. It may be long-term or short term trading. It could be in stocks, bonds, mutual fund, ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), oil and gas properties, options, commodity futures, managed accounts and other more esoteric venues.

Each one of the "experts" allows you to listen to him speak (at no charge) to tell you how he has found the secret to stock market success and why you should buy his Holy Grail service. You will receive his (daily, weekly, monthly) market letter for the ridiculously low price of from $250 to $5,000 or more. You may not have found the Holy Grail, but he has.

Almost all of them have a "when to buy" method, but very few have a "when to cash in your chips" method and fewer than that will have any way to protect yourself from losing it all should their Holy Grail method turn into Holy Cow.

The Orlando show occurs in February so every expert has his predictions for the coming year. The only bear I fount was Martin Weiss, but he wasn't a bull in 1999 either. No one wants to hear dire consequences of a bad year for their stocks so the audience is fed the kind of food they like. Everything is going to be even better this years and with my super software (or newsletter) you will make a better return than ever before.

During the three day show there were 396 individual presentations most of which ran about an hour more or less and then there were the extra charges for having breakfast, lunch, tea, whatever with one of the speakers. And these weren't cheap. You could also sign up for all day seminars. In the Exhibit Hall there was always an expert giving a lecture with a great slide show on how his Grail (I am getting hesitant about calling it Holy) will increase your portfolio.

Many investors came to see the guru whose market letter they were receiving. Very few of these mavens are making anyone rich, but there are some. My question to them is are they putting their own money on the line or are these results hypothetical? After attending several of these seminars each day with each presenter showing his magic get-rich formula it would seem these folks would go home more confused than when they came. There is no Holy Grail of investing. At least I have not found it nor do I know anyone who has. Do not rely on someone else to make you rich.' You have to do it yourself.

The real Holy Grail translates into two words - Hard Work.

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

---

Dont Buy Worldcom! A Guide to Wise Bottom Fishing

Over the past few months, several investment professionals have brought... Read More

Stock Market Diversification

In one of my previous articles (Investing in the stock... Read More

The Seven Mistakes All Novice Traders Make and How to Correct Them

We learnt the following the hard way! If any of... Read More

Successful Trading ? Taking Profits - Part 2

Suppose your position has made a big move and you... Read More

Lies, Damn Lies and Mutual Fund Returns

How many times has this happened to you? You're at... Read More

Low Expense Ratio

One of the big advertising kicks today from mutual funds... Read More

Overvalued & Underbought

With all the bad news that has been dumped upon... Read More

The Right Mutual Funds For Baby Boomers

If you are a baby boomer, time is not on... Read More

Alfred E. Newman

What! Me worry?Many of you remember the cover of MAD... Read More

Enronization

Even if you don't own any of their stock or... Read More

Stealth Bull

If you have been watching the stock market at all... Read More

The Club

Yesterday I received my monthly issue of MONEY magazine. This... Read More

Are You A Stockaholic?

Today's society gives special recognition to alcoholics, sexaholics, binge-aholics, shopaholics,... Read More

Momentum

One of the basic laws of physics states that a... Read More

Index Fund Trading Using Technical Analysis and Swing Trading Strategies

Index Fund Trading can be one of the most profitable...or... Read More

Investing in the Stock Market

From the book 'The Stockopoly Plan' by the author Charles... Read More

Investment Lawyers and Trash Stocks

The trash business in its efforts to cook their books... Read More

Discipline

One of the great "secrets" of successful people is discipline... Read More

What the SEC Really Thinks About Mutual Funds!

Let's go into the details of why non-indexed mutual funds... Read More

Stock Market Education; Day Trading for Beginnners; How to Pick Stocks

The trading method you employ to approach the stock market... Read More

How to Pay Less and Get More: Discount Broker vs Professional

How do you invest? What do you really pay? At... Read More

Selection Vs Direction

As I have said many times before in this column... Read More

Lemmings Are Gathering

Before they go over the cliff to their destruction these... Read More

Stock Trading - Daddy, Why Arent We Rich?

One Saturday morning, while he was sitting at his computer... Read More

Dont Spend Another Dollar on Business Opportunities Until You Read This

With an insecure job market, overworked employees, insufficient retirement savings... Read More

Prosperity

It has fallen upon the consumer to make our economy... Read More

Market Timing

Every broker and financial planner will tell you that you... Read More

Eternal Sunshine

There is a current movie entitled "Eternal Sunshine of the... Read More

Economists

In today's volatile and confusing stock markets everyone is searching... Read More

Look Out The Window

Quick, look out the window. It's raining. No, the sun's... Read More

What is Involved in Peak Performance Trading?

There is so much involved in developing peak performance, that... Read More

Your Trading Objective: Why is that so Important?

You've decided to try your luck at trading stocks or... Read More

Pamplona, the Wild Investment Bulls

You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More