Friday, June 27, 2008

Looking at Online Stock Trading

While trading online stocks you always must consider the risks involved with trading stocks. If your a beginner you will need to get a feel for using the internet and trading your stocks. You need to learn to walk before you can run, the simplest way I learned to trade stocks was to read about it and do some simulated stock games found around the internet.

Never use money you are not willing to risk, when you finally feel comfortable with online trading you will have to keep this in mind. You must realize the value of waiting it out, if a stock is going down should you pull yourself out of it? Not necessarily, sometimes you will need to wait out the storm to reach a calm safe zone. Play around with stocks a bit, learn if it's for you or not. If you are the type of person who cannot risk money to make money, maybe you might have better luck investing your money somewhere that is safer.

There is much money to be made online trading stocks, millionaires and billionaires have been made and struck down in a single breath from the stock market. Even when you feel everything is going well it could all of a sudden backfire and you could be left out in the cold. I personally invest in many different stocks, I am the kind of person who doesn't put all the eggs in one basket. I have learned from experience that doing this will leave a cold feeling in your heart towards trading stocks. So I went out and learned, sure I lost a few dollars here and there but I have been coming out of it for sometime now. I waited out the storms and stood my ground. I now make a pretty penny with online trading, but I had to find a comfortable spot to trade in.

If your new, like I once was your going to find many ups and downs. This is your learning period. Take in as much as you can while your in this learning mode. Don't go crazy and think your going to make millions if you only invest in this "one stock" forget the hype and play it safe until you find a comfortable place to hang your hat.

What Stock Should I Buy

Often, one of the first questions an investor asks is "What stock should I buy?" This question can involve a great deal of time and analysis. In many cases, the average investor will want to find out what the company does; review its financial statements; see if it pays a dividend, as well as how long that dividend has been paid and whether or not it will continue to be paid; discover whether the company's earnings are rising or falling; analyze its products; and so on. In other words, the investor does a great deal of fundamental research to find out if that stock is the one to purchase.

This analysis answers the question of what to buy. However, it says nothing of when to buy. The best stocks have periods when they perform worse than the market, just as the weakest stocks have times when they perform better than the market. If no one is going to buy the so-called best stocks, then they are not going to rise. On the other hand, if a large number of investors buy a fundamentally weak stock, then it is headed higher.

At DWA we use point and figure charts to determine when to buy stocks. By charting stocks with this method, we see the movement that determines whether supply or demand is in control of the stock. If it is supply, then the probability is high for that stock to decline. The odds favor a rise in the price if demand is winning the battle. You will also want to keep in mind that there are no dis-interested investors. Back in the 1920s, there was no Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate companies and when and what they reported. Rumors were rampant, and it was not surprising to see wealthy and knowledgeable investors pool their money to trade. These pools gave them a huge advantage over the individual investors.

Today the Internet creates stock movement. There are chat rooms everywhere and practically anyone can offer ideas. Remember that the person who is wildly promoting or recommending a particular stock more than likely already owns it. You will also want to keep in mind that the investor who is badmouthing a stock has probably just sold that stock or has sold it short, hoping to buy it back at a lower price.

In this environment, you need something that will help you sort through the morass of opinions out there to determine whether demand or supply is in control. We recommend using technical analysis, preferably the point and figure methodology. Let the fundamental analyst help determine what you buy. But let the technical analyst determine when you buy that particular stock. When the market is topping, typically the news stories are all good, and that is not when you want to buy.

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