Posts Tagged ‘Investing’
Bullet Advisory Indian Stocks -excellent Expert Advice Investing by India’s Most Respeceted and Preferred Blog
Posted by admin in Preferred Stock on January 21st, 2010
Investing
In global slowdown some stocks are down from 50 to 90% concern over.Investors hit cooked their fingers.People hit lost their shirts.Is Investing in stocks a sin question they communicate themselves.No it is an art.Timing the mart is as important as investing.Technicals do take over fundamentals in stockmarkets.You can’t be blindly finance ignoring the technicals.One should not essay to find the reasons why markets are falling and essay to correlate things like crude oil prices v/s note or gold or stocks and be optimistic when prices are falling.Stock Price is the king.It tells you everything which you don’t know in advance.There is no think to hold the function and essay to reassert when you are stopped out at a portion price.Squaring soured the function is of maturity importance than to find what is happening.Emotions are to be controlled and aggregation the losses with spirit.There is always a incoming day provided you live.It is exclusive sin if don’t follow stoplosses,technicals,try to ignore losing positions,live in hope.Nobody crapper support you if you can’t support yourself.Be learned,be practical,don’t overtrade,minimise the loss,respect the toll are slogans which investor has to advert all the time otherwise you know markets are merciless,they don’t care who you are and what is your position.You module be out of mart not the markets.
In short people should educate themselves,should not be ashamed to ask experts a question if in doubt,take investing as a business,should not take anything granted,should not be fearful and try to to fight out wnen in soup,timely decision can save hard earned money and lives.
Weighing Your Personal Situation When Investing In Stocks
Posted by admin in Preferred Stock on January 18th, 2010
Your age, the state of your health, the number of dependents you support, the kind of job you have, whether you are a man or a woman, what kind of goals you have set for yourself – all these, and more, are factors which will bear on your decision whether or not to invest.
There is no rule, no prescription governing these factors, either singly or in combination. Again, the decision is yours. It is well to wonder, however, whether your personal situation contains any elements which might conflict with your freedom, need, or desire to invest.
There is, for instance, no age more appropriate than another for investment. But it is conceivable that a young man might find family obligations, such as a new house, absorbing all his resources, that a middle-aged man might prefer to invest surplus funds in his business, and that an elderly man might feel he is too far along for the amount he is able to invest to bring him any significant return.
On the other hand, a young man, if he is able to invest at all regularly, can look forward to a fairly considerable estate in 30 or 40 years. A middle-aged man who finds the premiums for a new insurance policy higher than he feels like paying might decide that investments might help cushion the requirements of the years past 60. And an elderly man, with family responsibilities and obligations behind him, might decide that a sturdy stock returning a comfortable 5 or 6 per cent is better than the interest rate he can get at a savings bank.
Whether you are a man or a woman will not have much to do with your readiness to invest. For, surprising as it may seem, the Stock Exchange survey referred to earlier showed that there are more women shareholders than men. Out of the 12.5 million total, nearly 6.4 million, or 52.5 per cent, are women. Naturally, a good many of them are shareholders in name only; their husbands have bought the securities or willed them. But for many others, investment has become a normal and acceptable way to put money to work. There is no telling, either, how many women, having inherited stocks, have since taken a lively interest in investment as part of the responsibility of preserving their capital. Certainly brokers will tell you that woman customers are no longer the rarity they once were.
The kind of goals you have will very often be bound up in just such things as whether you are young or old, in business or retired, childless or the chief of a tribe; and the achievement of many of them will require money. If that is so, investment is worth serious consideration. Some people, of course, may prefer to invest in books, or paintings, or travel, and for them the attention that must be paid to investment, or the attractiveness of the financial reward may just not be worth their while.
The story is told of the two salesmen who met in the club car on the train. “How’s business?” asked the first. “Oh, very good,” said the second, “and yours?” “Fine, fine,” said the first. “Got orders for a thousand gross last week. I sell buttons.” “Really,” said the second. “I’ve had one order in the last three years.” “You call that good?” said the first. “Well,” answered the other, “you see, I sell suspension bridges.”
Like the salesmen, the investor must have a clear notion of his goals and expectations, must realize that what is normal and acceptable to someone else might not be what he would choose for himself.
Stock Investing Basics – 3 Things to Do Before You Get Started
Posted by admin in Preferred Stock on January 12th, 2010
No doubt you can make millions of dollar and get rich from stock market, but it won’t happen if you missed these critical checklists in the first place. In case you are so eager to invest in stock market, hold yourself first. Make sure you have the right starting point before putting any money in any stock.
Have Enough Money
You can invest everything you have in savings into stock market, but it is like risking your life into it. The truth is, there is nothing as guaranteed as cash deposit when it comes to investing no matter how strong the stock is. So, it is a wise decision to create an emergency fund in case the stock is turning against you. I always advise my friends to keep at least six months income worth in savings before investing in share market.
Trust me, you can concentrate much better by doing just this.
Understand Yourself
There are many ways to make money in stock market. For instance, you can buy and hold the stock forever, buy and sell stocks after holding them for few years or even trade the stocks in the same day. Believe me, there is no one way that is better than the other. It is really up to you which investing style suits your needs. Besides, your investing capability, commitment and the available fund will affect your preference too.
Spend time asking yourself, which investing style you prefer the most.
Aware of the Risks
There are three risks associated with stock investing; namely individual financial risk (possibility of you went broke), company business risk (possibility of the company went down) and market risk (possibility of weak market sentiment). There is no way you can avoid these risks, but you can reduce the risks by applying some mitigation measures. For example, invest in stock market whenever you have enough money or buy stocks that offer huge growth potential only.
It is not about avoiding risk that matters, but how you can manage the risk is more important.
Not many investors did these whenever they’ve decided to invest in stock market. What they do is simply jump into the market using others tips. Stock brokers, insiders and friends influence them the most in deciding which stocks to invest. If you are high risk investors’ type, then it is fine. But if you are looking for long term profits, I suggest you stop it now.
Investing in the Stock Market – A Great Way to Make Money
Posted by admin in Preferred Stock on December 29th, 2009
If you want to make money, investing in the stock market is a very great way to achieve it. Try the penny stocks system. Most people think that this method is very risky, but if you know what to do, you will definitely get a great money return.
When you invest below 2 dollars, that is considered as penny stocks. For beginners, investing in newer companies is better than investing in established and bigger ones. Shares of some bigger companies are less expensive because of the problems they have. Instead of putting your money here, invest it in companies that are growing. This gives you more chance of making more money.
Here are some points to remember in finding the best companies where you can have your penny stocks. First, study and evaluate the industry where the company belongs. Ask yourself, is this industry rising and growing? Can the new company emerge from the competition or the competition too tight for the company to grow? By this, you will know if the industry can make the company successful.
Next, you have to have an overview and background about their management, the people and management style. It is also important to know the products they offer to customers. Are their products possessed edge or just the same over other companies in the industry. Do they have strategies so people will turn to them? It is very important to look for a company that produces exclusive products or those that will really be patronized by people.
Know their financial status. It is natural for new companies to have a zero profit at first, especially in the times when they are just making their name in the industry. What is important is to see improvements over a time, a few months after or a year. Having an uptrend is a very good sign. Always gather news about the company. You can have information over the internet or newspaper and use those for analysis.
Investing in the stock market requires wise planning and decision. You can invest under common or preferred stocks. But for some with big amount of money, they will definitely choose to be on top list, such as to invest as creditors or bond holders. Either way, by right background study and analysis over companies and industries, you will make big money when you invest in the right company.
Investing always comes with risk so before putting your money in stocks, be sure to know the risks you may embrace. There are some tricks in the stock market. Sometimes, the share goes up even the trend goes down, or the other way around. So it is very important to always be updated on the latest news about the stock market and stock exchange. You can pull out your money when the stock is up and invest it to other companies. Or you just let it there until the stock goes higher. Proper timing is important and you should learn how to do it by reading books on stocks or just by reading stories of the successful investors, how they made it and their tips.
In Value Stock Investing, Quality is Job One
Posted by admin in Common Stock on December 18th, 2009
How much financial bloodshed is necessary before we realize that there is no safe and easy shortcut to investment success? When do we learn that most of our mistakes involve greed, fear, or unrealistic expectations about what we own? Eventually, successful investors begin to allocate assets in a goal directed manner by adopting a realistic Investment Strategy… an ongoing security selection and monitoring process that is guided by realistic expectations, selection rules, and management guidelines. If you are thinking of trying a strategy for a year to see if it works, you’re due for another smack up alongside the head! Viable Investment Strategies transcend cycles, not years, and viable Equity Investment Strategies consider three disciplined activities, the first of which is Selection. Most familiar strategies ignore one of the others.
How should an investor determine what stocks to buy, and when to buy them? Will Rogers summed it up: “Only buy stocks that go up. If they aren’t going to go up, don’t buy them.” Many have misread this tongue-in-cheek observation and joined the “Buy (anything) High” club. I’ve found that the “Buy Value Stocks Low (er)” approach works better. A Google search produces a variety of criteria that help to identify Value Stocks, the standards being low Price to Book Value, low P/E ratios, and other “fundamentals”. But you would be surprised how the definitions can vary, and how few include the word “Quality”. In the late 90’s, it was rumored that a well-known Value Fund Manager was asked why he wasn’t buying dot-coms, IPOs, etc. When he said that they didn’t qualify as Value Stocks, he was told to change his definition… or else.
How do we create a confidence building Stock Selection Universe? Simply operating on blind faith with one of the common definitions may be too simplistic, particularly since many of the numbers originate from the subject companies. Also, some of the figures may be difficult to obtain quickly, and it is essential not to get bogged down in endless research. Here are five filters you can use to come up with a selection universe of higher quality companies, and you can obtain all of the data inexpensively from the same source:
An S & P Rating of B+ or Better. Standard & Poor’s is a major financial data provider to the investment community, and its “Earnings and Dividend Rankings for Common Stocks” combine many fundamental and qualitative factors into a letter ranking that speaks only to the financial viability of the rated companies. Potential market performance (a guessing game anyway) is not a consideration. B+ and above ratings are considered Investment Grade. Anything rated lower adds an element of unnecessary speculation to your portfolio. A staff of thousands does your research for you.
A History of Profitability. Although it should seem obvious, buying stock in a company that has a history of profitable operations is less risky than acquiring shares in an unproven, or start-up entity. Profitable operations adapt more readily to changes in markets, economies, and business growth opportunities. They are more likely to produce profit opportunities for you quickly.
A History of Regular Dividend Payments. The payment of regular dividends, and periodic increases in rate paid, are sure signs of economic viability. Companies will go to great lengths, and endure great hardships, before electing either to cut or to omit a dividend. There is no need to focus on the size of the dividend itself; Equities should not be purchased as income producers. A further benefit of using dividend payment as one of your selection criteria is the clear indication of financial stress that a cut communicates.
A Reasonable Price Range. You will find that most Investment Grade stocks are priced above $10 per share and that only a few trade at levels above $100. If you have a seven-figure portfolio, price may not matter from a diversification standpoint, but in smaller portfolios, a round lot of a $50 stock may be too much to risk in one position. An unusually high price may be caused by an unusually high degree of sector or company specific speculation while an inordinately low price may be a good warning signal. With no real structural size limitations, I feel comfortable with a range between $10 and $90 per share… but I would avoid most issues even at that level.
A NYSE Listed Security. I’m not sure that the listing requirements for the NYSE are still more restrictive than elsewhere, but it is helpful to be able to focus on just one set of statistics. Most of the information you need regularly is reported by Exchange (Market Stats, Issue Breadth, and New Highs vs. New Lows).
Your Selection Universe will become the backbone of your Equity Investment Program, so there is no room for creative adjustments to the rules and guidelines you’ve established… no matter how strongly you feel about recent news or rumor. Now you can focus on operating procedures that will help you diversify properly by position size, industry, etc., and on guidelines that will help you identify which stocks should be watched closely for purchase when the price is right. Keeping in mind that you want to sell the Equity Position at a target profit ASAP, you’ll want to establish appropriate buying (and selling) rules. For example, I never consider buying a stock until it has fallen at least 20% from its highest level of the past 52 weeks, so I include those that are close or at this price level on a “Daily Watch List”. Then, I select those that I would be willing to add to equity portfolios if they fall a bit more during the trading day. My actual “Buy List” changes every day in both symbol and limit price.
You will need to apply consistent and disciplined judgment to your final selection process, but you can be confidant that you are choosing from a select group of higher quality, well-established companies, with a proven track record of profitability and owner awareness. Additionally, as these companies gyrate above and below your purchase price (as they absolutely will), you can be more confident that it is merely the nature of the stock market and not an imminent financial disaster… and that should help you sleep nights.
By the way, never say no to a profit when the upward movement equals 10%, and you’ll be able to do it again, and again, and again.
2 Types of Stock You Need to Know Before Investing
Posted by admin in Preferred Stock on December 13th, 2009
There are two types of stock that you should be familiar with before you enter the investing world. These two include: common stock and preferred stock. Both have their pros and cons which will be fully explained in this article.
Common stock is the “normal” or “basic” stock you can invest in that is directly influenced by the profits of losses of a company. This is the stock that the average investor would buy. If I go on my computer and buy 100 shares of Microsoft, I will be buying common stock. This is also the stock that is given out to employees and such. This stock, much like all other investments, involves high risk but is also on opportunity to make a large profit. These have no fixed dividends to them so their dividends are handed out after all the dividends of the preferred stocks are handed out.
Preferred stock is an ownership of a company claiming more assets and earnings than common stock. The fixed dividends of this stock are paid out before the dividends of the other. Each structure of a preferred stock is specific to the company. Although this stock may appear to have more potential, there are downsides to it. They do have priority over common stock but they must give up their voting rights as well. Preferred also has less potential to appreciate. Now that you know different types of stock, you can look into which one would be the best for you to invest in.
Common Stock Investing Mistakes
Posted by admin in Common Stock on December 1st, 2009
As we go into 2008, let us recap some of the common mistakes we all make and strive to avoid making them in 2008.
1. Trading too often. This largely depends on the size of your asset base. If you only have $10,000 to invest, making about 50 trades a year at $10 a trade is $500, or 5% of your asset base! That is just about one trade a week, but it takes up 5% of your money. So even if you make 12% returns (beating the historical returns of the market), you will only make 7%, well below the historical returns of the market. If you have a large asset base, you can afford to trade more often. But for most people, try to keep commissions low.
2. Selling scared. Sometimes, it is time to face the music and sell a stock that has been a loser. However, you should not sell just because you are scared. You should sell if you think it makes rational, logical sense to close a position. Many times, people sell stocks because the market had a bad day and they’re afraid it will go lower or the stock itself had a bad day. This later turns out to be a bad decision when the stock shoots back up.
3. Not keeping any cash on the side. I have to credit Jim Cramer with this tip. This was one of the biggest newbie mistakes he talked about on his Mad Money show. When you are fully invested and have no cash, you can not take advantage of the market when it has a bad day. You are also more prone to panic selling and making other fear-related decisions. He recommends keeping at least 10% of your portfolio in cash, which I think is a pretty good tip.
4. Buying fad stocks. Sometimes, popular cool stocks do well. Examples from 2007 would be Chipotle and Apple, both of which more than doubled (in full disclosure, I own shares of Chipotle currently). These companies are solid companies with excellent growth, so the gains are justified. Often times though, people buy shares in a stock just because other people are buying shares. The obvious example is the tech bubble, when people were paying exorbitant prices for companies that were not even close to turning a profit. The psychology behind people’s willingness to buy these stocks was largely because other people were buying them, so they figured people would continue to buy them. That is not a good reason to invest in a company (in fact, it is a horrible one for long-term investing). When investing for the long-term, always make sure the fundamentals are good.
5. Investing in too many stocks. This is another tip I am borrowing from Jim Cramer. Too many of us buy too many stocks and can not follow-up with the companies. We often barely know what we are investing in and have no game plan in regards to the stock. I know I make this mistake often. If we want to diversify, it is easy enough to just buy an index fund or ETF. If we end up investing in 50-100 individual stocks, we effectively become our own mutual fund, but without the resources to adequately monitor the companies we are invested in.
Avoid These Common Stock Investing Mistakes
Posted by admin in Common Stock on November 30th, 2009
People have been trading stocks for hundreds of years. It is one of the best ways to ensure a financially sound future for you and your loved ones. With a good broker and some knowledge you can go a long way toward success in stock trading. However, you do need to be wary of making some of the common mistakes that can cost you money. Let’s review some of these mistakes in order to help you avoid them.
Probably the single most crucial mistake is postponing the start of your investing until you have ‘extra’ money. This can cost you millions because the value of money invested compounds across time in such a way that the same amount invested in your twenties can bring you literally double the earnings by age 65 as the same amount invested a mere ten years later. If you can’t afford to start with $250 a month or even $100 a month try to set aside $25 or so for steady monthly investing. Time really is money when you are talking about stock investing.
Another common mistake is not researching stocks adequately before buying them. All stocks are not created equal by any means. Take the time to thoroughly look into the history of the company you are interested in, its current state, future plans as they are known. How is the present leadership doing? What are recent trends in the relevant industry sector? And watch yourself carefully for the tendency to make investment decisions based on emotion rather than good, hard facts.
Always take the time to look into your options carefully. The same applies to choosing a broker or financial advisor. Don’t grab the first one you meet without doing research, considering alternatives and investigating the person’s investing philosophy and experience. Do ask for recommendations from friends and acquaintances, even family, but be sure you consider how qualified the person doing the recommending is to evaluate a financial professional.
Keep in mind at all times that investing in the stock market is not playing a game. Don’t gamble with your funds or your future. Remember that you are trying to build a solid financial foundation not “get rich quick.” You will hear of people who appear to make large profits from day trading for instance. Day trading is rapid trading in and out of stocks as their value rises and falls in the course of minutes or even hours. It ignores underlying value and concentrates solely on quick profit from market moves.
Some day traders can sometimes make great profits but overall day trading is a losing game for most people. Avoid the temptation to follow a day trading style. Also avoid the tendency to become fascinated with trendy stocks that everyone is pushing but which carry a huge risk for investors. Don’t try to gain by gambling. Rather, steadily invest money over time into good solid companies that are known for giving results year in and year out. Resist the impulse to listen to those who want to give you a “great lead” on a stock they think is “set to explode.” Don’t try to shortcut the research and careful consideration that good investors need to do.
One more area to watch carefully is the diversification of your investments. Put money into a variety of companies and industries. This gives you protection against unexpected trouble with any one company. It also allows you to even out the ups and downs that afflict entire industry sectors from time to time. Research, diversified investments and balance are your best investing tools.
Stock Picks: Finding Investing Opportunities Including Penny Stocks
Posted by admin in Preferred Stock on November 22nd, 2009
In the stock market, there are stocks that can be sold at a very low price. This is what is called a penny stocks and this can be sold as low as 5 dollars per share. These stocks are traded over-the-counter in quotation services like the OTCBB and the Pink Sheet. Investors trade on this due to its very low price and possible fast growth in just several days. They can buy even millions of these. However when they trade, it is based on speculative conditions. Moreover, they can be at risk for such things as no sufficient financial information and limited liquidity. For this reason, there are only few traders for penny stocks.
The stocks that are normally priced are the common stocks or preferred stocks. Usually investors spend considerable amount of money to buy shares of stock. Prices that are high are considered most in demand therefore investors get interested in buying the shares. Before they buy these shares, they need to know more about the company first. Unlike penny stocks whose information is limited, the stock picks for regular stocks are detailed to stockholders, lowering the risks that penny stocks has.
Finding Penny Stocks
Penny stocks are hard to find because these are is little dollar volume at times. Besides, there are only few traders who buy such stocks because of high risk. Nevertheless, there are still those who prefer to buy these because of its low price and potential rapid growth.
If you want to start investing in penny stocks, you can start looking into Featured Profiles. Here, you will see penny stock picks where you can start out. Since the nature of penny stocks has limited financial reports and you’ll have to invest at your own risk, you will only see the companies that sell penny stocks. Generally though, Featured Profiles is a reliable resource of anything related to stock trade. You can see stock picks for the week where they describe the company in relevant details. You will see information for your fundamental or quantitative analysis in their stock picks. The stock picks usually have stock updates about how it was like in the trade the day before. Moreover, you can also get stocks newsletter upon subscription. The alerts can serve as your guide in the stock analysis and market analysis. But it will be at your own evaluation based on the information presented by the site.
Overall, if you want to start out with stock investment, whether it is with penny stocks or regular stocks, you can start out with the information provided by Featured Profiles. Instead of you doing a lot of research about a possible company where you can invest, you can start out with the stock picks in the said site.
What Featured Profiles Provides
The stock picks at Featured Profiles can be your guide on where to start investing. From there you may want to avail of other services of the site such as stock updates, newsletters, daily stock notes and other stock information in real time. You don’t necessarily have to decide solely from the information provided and expect real profit. However, it can be a good resource where you can conduct you stock analysis and market analysis.
Understanding And Investing In Common Stock
Posted by admin in Common Stock on November 21st, 2009
At a great penny worth pause awhile; many are ruined by buying bargains. -POOR RICHARD
A corporation is an artificial entity, created by law, and endowed with certain rights and privileges, among which is the right to issue shares of ownership called “common stock.” The amount of stock authorized is stated in the corporate charter, and the amount to be issued and outstanding is determined by the board of directors. Such shares of stock represent ownership of the total assets and are originally issued to persons who contributed their services and/or funds as part owners.
However, these original owners may have found it desirable to sell all, or only part, of their holdings to others, who then, in turn, assume the status of owners, the transfer being easily effected on the books of the corporation. Such shares are termed common stock or capital stock, the former term being in most general use, and the total ownership is divided into a number of units called shares.
EARNINGS AND DIVIDENDS
Since the shareholder is a part owner in the business, he naturally has a strong interest in the ability of the company to earn money upon his invested capital; consequently, the earnings per share assume great importance. Some corporations issue quarterly or semiannual statements of the state of their business, so as to keep the stockholders informed; others do not, so that the shareholder may have to wait until the annual report is received, or look up the most recent reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission as printed in one of the several investment advisory services.
The prime reason for such keen interest in earnings is that the dividends per share, as declared by the board of directors, will depend upon the earnings; should earnings be very poor, there may be no dividend at all; should earnings be quite modest, the dividend may be small; should earnings be good, then dividends will be more generous.
We hasten to add, however, that the total earnings are not paid out as dividends, because the company must satisfy its current financial needs, and also because a certain amount of the earnings must be put back into the business in order that it may continue to grow. As a result, the “payout percentage,” as we may call it, varies greatly from one company to another.
In some cases the payout may be extremely generous, ranging from 50 to 70 per cent of earnings; in other cases it may be extremely conservative, being in the 20 to 40 per cent range, this latter being especially true when it seems necessary to conserve capital funds for which there may be an immediate and pressing use.
In the case of the so-called “growth” stocks, there may be no dividend at all, or at most it may be very small; such a business may require all earnings to be plowed back in order to continue to grow and to expand.
Perhaps the most common error into which many common-stock owners fall is relative to dividends. Should business conditions be good, then a given company may enjoy continued success, and its dividends may be steady and even increase; should general business conditions take a turn for the worse, it may happen that earnings will fall sharply and the dividend rate may be reduced or perhaps even suspended for a period of time.
It may be emphasized here that there are a few exceptions to the above statements, because certain essential industries (utilities are a good example) feel such fluctuations in business conditions far less than others; since they represent what might be called basic or “defensive” stock ownerships, their dividends may continue without interruption, although a change in rate is sometimes justified. There are numerous public utilities which have paid steady dividends for over half a century, which is a strong recommendation of them for the investor of modest means.
Stocks may be the very thing you should start to invest in.