Its Snowing

The Winter Games for the Olympics are coming up soon and many will want to go to see the giant slalom event. That's the one where the skier starts off from the little hut at the top of a long slope, picks up speed and makes his way around poles on the way down. Each turn about a pole is precarious and some fall on the way down and are wiped out.

Kinda reminds me of the current stock market. Starting off slowly down from the safety of the top and as it become steeper it picks up speed. Each turn on the way down looks like a place to rally, but shortly thereafter it heads down again at even higher speed. And many are wiped out ? financially.

If you are not an expert you should not be on the course. If you are a beginner you better head for the "bunny" course where you won't get hurt. Safer, not as thrilling, but you will get to the bottom all in one piece. The "bunny" course in the retirement race is all in CDs and T-Bills; however, everything is guaranteed. It takes a long time to get there and you won't win any gold. You will have some silver.

Many have tried the steep championship financial course and been wiped so they hired an instructor such as a broker or financial planner. It is unfortunate that most of these instructors cannot make it to the gold at the bottom of the hill. How do you make it safely to the bottom with all your cash and yet do better than the CD people?

The next safest place is in no-load mutual funds, but there is a catch. You have to review your mutual funds every month. And what do I mean by that? Review? You must keep yourself from being wiped out on one of those steep downturns by selling any fund that goes below its previous 3-month price level. It is really that simple. If your fund went from $40 to $90 and was then trading at $80 with the previous 3-month low of $70 you would sell it as soon as it closed below $70.

This is as simple as it gets, but it means YOU must DO something and not sit there and watch your money disappear like the melting snow.

The secret of success in the stock market is selling. Learn to protect your profits and also protect yourself from losses when you buy. It's your money.

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

---

Mousetrap

The spring-loaded rat catcher is the ultimate low-tech device invented... Read More

Some Good News for A Change

Before we get into all the good news out there,... Read More

Pamplona, the Wild Investment Bulls

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

Living Trust Investing: Income Considerations when the Grantor Dies

A common problem I often see when working with living... Read More

Losses, not Profits, will Stop You from Trading in the Market

Should the market turn against you, it is important that... Read More

Trading For A Living - Part 1

There can't be many traders who haven't at least considered... Read More

Invest In The Stock Market For The RIGHT Reason, Using The RIGHT Choices

Invest in the stock market for the RIGHT reason, using... Read More

Staying Sane While Wall Street Crashes

Everybody is riding the Wall Street Roller coaster. Even if... Read More

Struggling Stocks, Booming Commodities

04/28/2005NASDAQ dropped -12.5% year to date in 2005. S&P500 index... Read More

Stock Market Investing Odds

The greatest stock market myth is the idea that investing... Read More

Investing in Trash Company Stocks

Refuse is a serious issue in any society, about as... Read More

Planning Your Dive and Diving Your Plan ? Trading!

A colleague of mine just returned from a scuba diving... Read More

Hedge Funds: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Alfred Winslow Jones started hedge funds in 1949. He was... Read More

Enron Cure

Let's hope you did not have any of the Enron... Read More

Trading For A Living

How many times have you said to yourself, "I'd like... Read More

Being Wrong Buying Stock is Okay

Being wrong is OK, but let's not carry it to... Read More

Momentum

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

401K-itis

Are you one of those many people who dread reading... Read More

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a... Read More

3 Components Needed for Beating the Market

Time to look back2004 is over, now we are in... Read More

Value Investing: Selecting From The Bargain Bin

Picking a beaten-down stock requires a different kind of selection... Read More

Time Out

Are you paying any attention to your retirement savings? Do... Read More

Its Snowing

The Winter Games for the Olympics are coming up soon... Read More

365/7/24

What does it take to be a stock trader? It... Read More

Forces that Move Stock Prices

Among the largest forces that affect stock prices are inflation,... Read More

Zero Sum Game

Most people think the stock market is a zero sum... Read More

Lights of the Stock Market

There are red lights, green lights, blue lights and spot... Read More

Defining a Long-Term Investment in the Stock Market

For some "long term" would mean holding a stock position... Read More

Oil Stocks As A Long Term Investment

The demand for world oil is increasing while world reserves... Read More

Mutual Fund Ball and Chain

The broker told me not to sell because the mutual... Read More

Why the Majority Fail at Stock Investing

The gleam and bright lights of Wall Street lure in... Read More

Why Stock Is More Risky Than Options!

You probably have been told that options are risky. Even... Read More

Good News?

As the man said, "I've got some good news and... Read More