Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Stock Trading - How To Pick Stocks For Stock Trading

By: Larry Schade

I have found that the best stocks for stock trading and day trading are the stocks that make up the S&P 500. The reason for this is that the large Mutual Funds and large Institutional Buyers concentrate on these stocks in their never ending quest to beat the S&P 500. These stocks generally have strong relative strength and absolute performance to the S&P 500 Index. Of these stocks, I like to concentrate on those that are in the Nasdaq 100 Composite Index. It is the Nasdaq stocks that I like to trade the most because of their volatility of the stocks in the Nasdaq 100, I concentrate on those stocks that I that I like to refer to as "trading where the action is" stocks. These are stocks that show tremendous volume in the number of shares being traded during the day, at least 15 million shares and preferably 20 million shares and more. My real preference is share volume of 30 million plus per day.

In addition, the stocks must have a large daily stock trading range, which is the difference between the high price and low price of that stock for the previous trading day, and a lot of volatility. I look for a trading range of at least $2.00 per share, but I really prefer those that are more volatile and have a daily travelling range of $3.00 to $6.00 and more.

The reason for this is that I trade both sides of the market, both the long side and the short side on an intra-day basis. I have no interest in whether the stock closed in positive, or negative territory the previous day, just as long as the volume and price action are there.

All I want is the price action, high volume and the volatility. If I have these three ingredients, I know that the major players are very active in that stock and they are either increasing, or decreasing their weighting in that stock. Adding to and contributing to the price and volume action are what I call the "accelerators", which are the momentum players, the program traders and the hedge funds who are trying to jump in ahead of the mutual funds and front run the stock, either up, or down. This is when the action really heats up and you will see "climatic volume" where each stock trade is occurring in less than a second. I have seen this many times every day. It happens all of the time.

[Read full article]

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Beginner Stock Market Investing-How To Make A Fortune With Your Investments

By: Josh Neumann

So what is the best beginner stock market investing strategy for investing your money? In order to really make money from the market, you need to do several things. First of all, you need to decide which investing strategy you want to adhere to.

There are basically two schools of thought in stock market investing today. The first is technical analysis; the second is value investing. Technical analysis involves studying the stock charts of a company, identifying patterns, and making investment decisions accordingly.

For instance, you might look at a company and see that it's stock price been going up for the last two weeks. Instead of looking at how profitable the company really is, and whether or not there is any substance behind the rising stock prices, you simply buy because you want to ride it out until it peaks.

The hard part is to determine when a stock price has peaked out, and the best time to sell. Many investors do make some good money with this method. However, the potential gains are slim compared to the risk of losing.

It is very difficult to determine when a stock will go up or down, especially short term. Also, if you do manage to swing a profit, the money you spend from all the transactions very often can eat the entire profit you've made.

[Read full article]

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

What Is A Good Stock Investor Newsletter

By: Mark Crisp

Things to look for and Things to stay away from:

Newsletter always go forth with the same concept in mind, giving people the information that they need to make advised opinions with the knowledge they are given. News articles need to reach audiences of all ages while keeping with the topic.

In a recent study where people were surveyed about what makes a newsletter good, the majority said that it is the quality of information in the newsletter. It is imperative that the content be fresh and it is vital to keep the information in sync with the main concept of the newsletter.

What makes a stock investors newsletter good?

For starts you would want to make sure that the content is right for all levels of investors. For new investors you would want to have articles geared towards how and where you should invest as well as tips on finding the best stocks and strategies for investing.

To cover intermediate investors you will want to have detailed information on market projections and the activity of the stocks.

The experienced or advanced investors would like to see such things as a RSS feed or even a ticker that updated hourly. You could also make available articles that cover things like market temperament and trading strategies.

With all of the above combined, you should keep the goal the same which would be driving visual and element elegance. You need to make the news letter appealing both visually and intellectually to investors. With all of the above things accomplished you can be sure that the subscribers that you have, will keep coming back for more. That is the best way to make your newsletter the best it can be.

[Read full article]

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Stock Market Advice From Chicken Little

By: Gary Wollin

One day, while Chicken Little was walking in the woods, an acorn fell and hit him on his head.

"Goodness gracious me!" said Chicken Little, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling. I must go warn everyone."

We see this all the time. The stock market goes straight up for eight or nine months, and if there are 2 or 3 down days in a row, there is hand-wringing and the moaning all over the place.

Who are these people that panic at the first sign of a downturn or with the slightest bit of profit taking?

The first group are people who get in the near the top and are now worried that their small losses will turn into big losses. Also, people who haven't invested in the stock market are in this same box. For many, many years they were wrong to not have invested, but now that the market has declined very slightly for a few days they would like the point out how smart they are and how dumb everyone else is.

Short sellers are the next group. Short selling is selling a security that the seller does not own but is committed to repurchasing eventually. It is used to take advantage of an expected decline in the security's price.

The press comes next. You have heard this before: "bad news sells newspapers."

[Read full article]

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Master Trader

By: Reynaldo Soriano Jr.

I have always compared trading to martial arts because they are psychologically the same. Like martial arts, there are different levels of trading.

At the entry level, a trader is similar to a martial arts white belt, and has just started searching for the right trading system. The belief of beginners is that after they go to a seminar or read a trading book for the first time, they will soon make lots of money. They are convinced that trading will make them millionaires in a short period of time. Most of them would also like to leave their jobs as soon as possible.

The second level of traders is the blue belt level. This type of trader is learning that trading can be easy or tough. When challenged, they will either persist and keep going to more seminars, looking for the "holy grail," or they will give up and play the victim, saying that trading is "risky." I call this the break-out stage. They either remain or leave.

The third level of traders is the black belt level. These traders start to realize that psychology plays a big role in trading. They also start to learn more about themselves. They begin to perfect their trading skills systematically and psychologically.

The fourth level of traders is the master level--the highest level of trading. When they trade, they are at one with the market physically, psychologically, and spiritually. They feel the market and they have no fear. They control their emotions when challenged and they take full responsibility of their own actions. In ancient Japanese, this is called Mushin.

[Read full article]

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

How You Can Make Ten Times Your Salary- With Day Trading

By: Joseph Plazo

Day trading - no, it's not something that Bill Murray wished he had in Groundhog Day. It's a style of trading on the foreign currency exchange market in which a trader completes all his trades within a single day. In other words, he may make a few dozen - or more - trades in a day with the objective of buying and selling quickly and making a profit from the fluctuations in a currency exchange rate over the course of the day.

Sound complicated? Depending on the method or system that you use to pick your trades it can be. The idea behind day trading is that currency exchange rates are subject to fluctuations over the course of the day - they go up and down depending on who's buying, who's selling and what rumors are floating around. In fact, day trading in the foreign currency market is probably the single segment of any type of stocks, currency or futures trading market most affected by rumors and real-time, real-world happenings. A savvy trader who is quick on his feet can roll up the profits by paying attention to what the current news is doing to the currency exchange rates.

The currency market, commonly referred to as the forex (short for Foreign Exchange), is the most liquid market in the world. The latest statistics say that daily trading on forex is in excess of $1.3 trillion U.S. dollars. That makes forex the world's largest, most efficient market. A major part of the reason for the liquidity and volume of trade is the practice of day trading. The difference between day trading and other types of trading is in how long you hold your stocks (or in this case, your currency). In day trading, you hold nothing beyond the close of the day's market. Think of it as a game in which the object is to keep trading cards back and forth, increasing the value of your cards - but have no cards in your hand at the end of the day.

[Read full article]

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Beware Of High Cost Seminars

By: Ian Jackson

Over the last four years, I must have attended five or six seminars, paying upwards of 800 US dollars each time. The seminars covered such topics as Fibonacci, Writing Covered Calls, Moving Averages and other well known applications of statistical methods to trading; what are commonly known as technical trading or charting techniques.

Once home, I would excitedly go over the material in the free attendee info pack. Invariably, I would find most of the information contained within the format of these seminars to be mere recycled material. The same, if not better, information is in fact available online, occasionally for free, but if not, at a much reduced cost.

You might point to the notion that if anything of value is desired, one has to pay for it. Granted, that for anything worthwhile and of substance, there will be a price tag attached; this should be even more valid for trading systems and information, after all one is expected to make some money using the information.

But, and make that a BIG BUT! There is so much more useful and appropriate information available online, for so much less than the costs of seminars: these run into the hundreds of pounds or dollars! These seminars charge you a small fortune, but the value that they return to you is a big letdown.

At all the seminars I attended, I even had to sign confidentiality agreements. Why? These people say they have something new and secret; yet they run hundreds of seminars exactly like the one they are giving, and they tell all the attendees of their seminars to keep quiet about what they are saying. Do they really expect that to happen?

[Read full article]

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Gann - His Trading Method's Made Millions Learn Them For a Profit Edge

By: Sacha Tarkovsky

W D Gann is one of the most famous traders of all time and his unique methods helped him make a fortune of around $50.00 million and best of all he wrote and recorded the way he did it, so anyone can have access to his trading strategy and aplly it for profit.

Trading is one of the ways that small traders can start with small stakes and build real wealth quickly.

The good news is everything about trading can be specifically learned and Gann outlined all his methods in writing for traders to profit from and enjoy today.

His methods are applicable to any financial market from forex to stocks to bonds so you can choose where to apply them, depending on the risk you wish to take.

Let's look at why you should study Gann and his methods of making money.

1. He Had a Track Record

Many e-book sellers or traders sell information but it's worthless they don't trade it themselves and simply make up a track record.

Gann made money and his track record and invited newspapers and journalists to track his trades such was his confidence in how to make money.

2. Gann and the Law of the Market Movement

Gann pointed out quite rightly, that market prices depended on humans and that their psychology was constant - Because human nature was constant this nature would show up in repetitive price patterns that could be traded for profit

Gann was a technical trader and like all charts believed that what happened in the past would happen again and the key to making profits was to look for recurring price patterns to put the odds in his favor

[Read full article]

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Statistics Can Be Our Friend

By: Ricky Schmidt

Dear Fellow-Investor.

Every day the media is full of all kind of statistics and whether they are useful or not is up to each individual. When used properly, statistics can help investors make more informed decisions.

The reasons why statistics are important are as follows:

Economic statistics keep track of the economy. They explain whether the economy is in an expansion, a recession, a sideways or cyclical motion.

By monitoring the status of the economy, statistics provide governments with information on what sort of policies can be used to fix whatever problems the economy may be having.However, as we all know, there s no guarantee that the state will sctually fix any problem.

Statistics provide investors with information that can be useful to make market related investment decisions, i.e. when to buy or sell shares or other securities.

Some of the most commonly reported statistics are:

Stock Market Indices:

World-wide investors look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average as an indicator of stock market trends since this index is considered the largest and most important one. No wonder! About 60% of all financial activities in the world either take place in the United States or go via the USA.

The Dow is an index of the stock prices of the 30 largest US corporations based on their market capitalization and other factors that got them a place in the Dow. There are also Dow indices for transportation and utility companies.

On the surface, the above indices tell us whether stock prices are rising, falling or remaining unchanged.

Beneath the surface, they suggest what is happening to business profitability and the overall health of the economy. Other not less important stock market indices include the German Dax, the UK FT-100, Japans Nikkei, Hong Kong s Hang Seng and the French Cac-40.

[Read full article]

Friday, June 22, 2007

Introduction To Day Trading

By: Ian Jackson

History of online day trading

The birth of day trading was made possible when the computerized, over-the-counter NASD became available in 1971. Day trading was pretty much the domain of stock brokers and remained that way until the late 1990s, when the increasing popularity of the internet, motivated the international stock markets to move online.

The consequence of this move was that day trading brokers became optional because anybody with Web access could execute their own trades, provided that they had an account with a registered online brokerage. The uptake was enormous, because by 1999, at least 25% of all trades made were done as online trading by individual investors. Day trading online grew in popularity as these investors started gaining online trading maturity. This growth found further impetus with the Dot Com Bubble as many traders could buy and sell the same share on the same day with three digit returns.

What is day trading?

The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations defines day trading as "Placing multiple buy and sell orders for securities and holding positions for a very short period of time, usually minutes or a few hours, but rarely longer than a day. Day traders seek profits in small increments from momentary fluctuations in stock prices after paying commissions."

With day trading it is common to focus on short-term trading, where a trade could last for anything between a couple of seconds to a couple of hours. In day trading online, the number of trades made may vary from between just a few to a couple of hundred per day. It is also common to finish the day with a closed overnight position. This means that everything you bought gets sold, before market close.

[Read full article]

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Swing Trading Weinstein's Theory of Relativity to Profits

By: Larry Swing

When Stan Weinstein was first featured in the famous book, "Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders", by Jack Schwager, he stood out as a trader with the highest win/loss ratio. He finally revealed his method in his only book, "Secrets For Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets," for the long-term investors. This informative book covers many aspects of trading, including rules of do's and don'ts as well as a single methodology in finding the right stocks with setups to enter and exit.

This book is mainly for investor and speculator (or trader as he termed it). Investor is a person who holds a position at least 3 months while a speculator trades 2-3 times a month. This is basically not for day traders but is at least the swing and positions traders.

His method requires a few simple indicators and tools to make the method work, including: 1. 30-week moving average indicator 2. Relative strength ranking indicator 3. Volume indicator 4. Trendline drawing tool

Here are the rules he laid in finding the right stocks:

1. Identify what stage the market is in. What stage it is the market in? In the chart below, Weinstein categorizes the stages of the market, uptrend, consolidation, and downtrend, consolidation and repeat again. Stage 1 and 3 is consolidation phases while stage 2 and 4 are trending phases.

2. Search the sector with strength. Compare the sector to the overall indexes such as Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500. See image below.

The first task is the search the best sector that is outperforming the indexes (for long while underperforming the indexes for shorts). Comparing this using the charts and compare to find where the strength lies. If the index is weak or getting weaker (by either moving sideways or downwards) while the sector is getting stronger (trending upwards). The image above shows the divergence in strength between sector and index.

[Read full article]

Sunday, June 17, 2007

The Internet Makes Stock Trading Easier

By: Mark Crisp

The stock market can be extremely intimidating and it's complexity scares off many people from even getting into the stock market. Do not be intimidated and let your fears prevent you from participating in the stock market and getting your share of the pie.

Today, thanks to the internet, it is so much easier to learn about the stock market, get into the stock market, and profit from the stock market. On that point is a lot of data, guides, and software available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You do not accept to be a financial wiz or accept special qualifications to get a stock market trader. Actually all you need to do is educate yourself. Find a actually good guide and learn all you can. On that point are great tools out on that point to take advantage of.

The stock market has been around for a long time. In the late 1700's, what is known as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was created which today facilitates billions of dollars worth of trades each business day. How many years accept passed where people had no internet to read e-books and articles and use software to help them out? Fortunately, today you accept access to great tools and resources that the old time stock traders could not accept even imagined.

You can get your hands on educational e-books written by experts, lots of articles, and use special software that takes the difficulty and complexity out of trading stocks and instead attains it easy. As long as you accept an email address, you can get updated stock tips, hot stock picks, and more stock data in a stock trading newsletter. These tools would be to die for 50 years ago.

[Read full article]

Friday, June 15, 2007

How To Succeed In Online Financial Trading Using Freebies

By: Hywel Merrett

Did you know that many of the tools and resources that we consider essential for online trading success are actually available for free - if you know where to look?

Online trading is taking the financial markets by storm as private investors are now able to quickly, easily and cheaply trade Forex, Commodities, Stocks and many other instruments. But what s brought about this enormous increase in online trading?

Basically, the tools and information which were previously only available to the big boys like stockbrokers, banks and institutional investors - are now available to you. These days, we don't have to rely on our broker for recommendations. With only a computer and internet connection, we can now find our own trades independently and without fear of bias.

People just like you and I can now trade with a level of sophistication that was unheard of, even in the 90 s! This has effectively levelled the playing field and allowed home based traders to make highly informed investment decisions on their own.

Data feeds, software based trading systems, real-time quotes and interactive charts are all now available online at reasonable cost and yet, not so long ago, many of these resources cost thousands and thousands of Dollars. The point I m making however, is that with a little investigation it s now possible to find many of these invaluable tools absolutely free.

Andrew Fleming, author of Free Online Trading Tools has made it a personal quest to discover what s available out there just for the taking (legally, of course). He was amazed. Some sites he discovered will come of no surprise to you Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg and Reuters etc. are the obvious ones and are all very comprehensive sources. But he also uncovered a wealth of sites that are a little more off the beaten track , but also incredibly useful to online traders.

[Read full article]

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Clear Your Mind And Increase Your Profits

By: Stephen Cauldry

Everyday life has a way of revealing a better understanding of your most puzzling problems. Early on in my stock trading career, I struggled with producing consistent profits. So much that, I decided to get away for a while and put my mind at ease. I went to New York City. I needed a break from the mental frustration of experiencing so many losses. All of this will make more sense soon enough, so just bear with me.

New York is incredible. There are people everywhere you look. I grew up in an urban area but it was nothing quite like this. All five of your senses immediately come alive. As I walked, more like zigzagged, down the street I could here the faint sounds of music playing in the distance. I absolutely love music, especially live shows performances. I was curious so I followed my ear. The closer I got to the source of the music, the more I noticed how many other people were moving in the same direction. It was if we were all being funneled down the sidewalk. A smaller number of people were headed in the opposite direction.

The sound and clarity of the music increased with every step I took, as was the size of the crowd moving with me. Eventually, I arrived at the source of the melodic commotion. A live band was performing and hundreds had gathered to watch the show. I couldn't see a thing! I remember saying, I should have gotten here earlier. The light bulb in my head shattered into a thousand pieces! Stock trading manna had fallen from the sky. It all made perfect sense now.

[Read full article]

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Investor vs. Trader

By: Qwoter

How do you see the world?

Do you consider yourself an investor or a trader?

Most people think of themselves as investors. However, if you knew that big winners in the markets call themselves traders, wouldn't you want to know why?

Simply put, they don't invest, they trade.

Investors put their money, or capital, into a market, like stocks or real estate, under the assumption that the value of the entity they invest in will increase over time (see What is Investing?). As the value increases, so does the person's "investment." Investors typically do not have a plan for when their investment value decreases. They hold on to their investment, hoping that the value will reverse itself and go back up.

Investors typically succeed in bull markets and lose in bear markets. This is because investors anticipate bear, or down, markets with fear and trepidation and therefore are unable to plan how to respond when they're losing. They chose to "hang tight," so they continue to lose. They have some idea that a different approach to losing involves more complicated trading transactions like "selling short," of which they know little and don't care to learn. If the mainstream press continually positions investing as "good" or "safe" and trading as "bad or "risky," people are reluctant to align themselves with traders or even seek to understand what trading, as opposed to investing, is all about. Learn how to invest properly with our Investor's Checklist.

[Read full article]

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Different Types Of Stock That You Should Know

By: Makabongwe Maseko

I bet you can t tell me the detailed meaning of stocks. Well if that s the case, I have compelled this good stock information list with brief descriptions for you.

Stock Classes

Although common stock usually entitles you to one vote for every share that you own, this is not always the case. Some companies have different classes of common stock that vary based on how many votes are attached to them. So, for example, one share of Class A stock in a certain company might give you 10 votes per share, while one share of Class B stock in the same company might only give you one vote per share. And sometimes it is the case that a certain class of common stock will have no voting rights attached to it at all.

So why would some companies choose to do this? Because it s an easy way for the primary owners of the company (e.g. the founders) to retain a great deal of control over the business. The company will typically issue the class of shares with the fewest number of votes attached to it to the public, while reserving the class with the largest number of votes for the owners. Of course, this isn t always the best arrangement for the common shareholder, so if voting rights are important to you, you should probably think carefully before buying stock that is split into different classes.

Large Cap, Mid Cap and Small Cap

Stocks can be classified according to the market capitalization of the company. The market capitalization of a company represents the total lilangeni value of the company s outstanding shares. This is equal to the current market price of its stock multiplied by the number of shares of stock that it has outstanding. That number gives you the market value of the company, which is one measure of the company s size. Roughly speaking, there are three basic categories of market capitalization: large cap, mid cap, and small cap. The definitions for each of these might vary somewhat depending on whom you re talking to, but usually they are as follows:
Large cap: market cap highest valued
Mid cap: market cap mid range value
Small cap: market cap lowest value
In general, the larger the cap size, the more established the company and the more stable the price of its stock. Small cap and mid cap companies usually have a higher potential for future growth than large cap companies, but their stock tends to fluctuate more in price.

[Read full article]

Monday, June 11, 2007

The Basics Of Stock Trading

By : Tony Spann

The most important aspect of stock trading is to develop a stock trading strategy that suits your needs, expectations and personality type. You need to look at your comfort level for risk, are you looking to make short-term investments and stay on top of the market?

Even your age affects the strategy you should use for trading stocks. Let's look at some of the most common stock trading strategies in use today


Day Trading

The day trader is someone who buys and sells intraday (during the day) and they tend to trade with frequency throughout the day. The advantages to this stock trading method are that you have no overnight hold exposures; you can take advantages of both longs and shorts during the quick swings in either direction that may occur during the day. You can focus on a higher percentage of winning trades by taking quicker profits (although smaller) and reducing your risk.

Like all things in life this stock trading method is not without its downsides too. This stock trading strategy requires a lot of work, time and effort on your part. You must pay consistent if not constant attention to the market during trading hours. Your transaction costs can run high with this trading strategy since you are trading stocks frequently.

[Read full article]

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Seven Tips For Successful Trading

By: The Traders Haven

It s a fact. If you trade, you will lose money. Even the best traders aren t able to predict the market 100% of the time. The objective is to be right more times than wrong. The ability to to do this often takes time and experience. Practice doesn t make you perfect here but it can make you profitable. Below are a few tips that may leas the way to profitable trading.

1. Protect your principal. A good rule of thumb is to never bet more than 10% of your principal on one trade. And never bet everything on one single trade. By moderating your risks, you ll live to trade another day.


2. Know why you are placing the trade. Have you looked at all of the market conditions and indicators to assure they are optimal? Don t trade just to trade. A good trader knows when to jump in and when to just stand by the sidelines.

3. Never hold a losing trade overnight. Stocks can gap up or down when the market opens. Holding a losing trade overnight exposes you to a large amount of risk.


4. Get your money and get out. Greedy traders often take big losses rather than big profits. When you have a reasonable profit, take it.

[Read full article]

Saturday, June 9, 2007

5 or 15 Minute Charts

By: Larry Potter

We got an interesting question from reader the other day and her question was " when you put out a consider buy at "X" price, does it matter what the 5 or 15 minute charts are doing at that time? " Good question.

If you watch the market in live time, you'll see that just about every move is pegged to some form of moving average or technical level. Maybe it's the 9 day EMA, maybe it's the 50 day SMA. Maybe it's the 15 minute candle stick chart, maybe it's pivots, or even fibbinacci levels. So, what does one do if we like the "XYZ" company at say $50 and it's approaching $50 on the daily chart, but it's getting overextended on the very short term indicators? What if we buy it at $50.03 just as the 15 minute chart shows it's time for a pull back?

We've often struggled with this very question, but have to take into account that more than 70% of our readers can't sit in front of a computer and trade all day, they are working folks. So, telling them to be wary of the 5 minute bar charts isn't going to help them much. What we found to be more realistic, is to put out a resistance area, and if the stock gets above it, take the shot, but give it some wiggle room to fade back, catch it's breath and move up again.
[Read full article]

Friday, June 8, 2007

Online Stock Trading - Small Time Traders Versus Institutional Traders

By: Joel Teo

Online stock trading has taken a life of its own today. The local bourses worldwide are now booming with large amounts of trades being placed in markets like Shanghai and Shenzhen with local officials noting a large rise in the number of share trading accounts being opened.

This article will list three strategies that large trading desks use and explain how the small investor can benefit from these same strategies.

Trading Strategy

Small time investors tend to rack up large losses in the stock market mostly due to a lack of a good online stock trading strategy. The essence of a good trading strategy is two fold. Firstly, always acquire a stock when it is undervalued so that your downside is protected. Secondly, fix an upper and lower selling limit mentally when you acquire the stock so that you sell on reflex and take your emotion out of the trading equation. But always ensure that the instrument or stock that you are trading enjoys good trading liquidity or such trading strategy would not work.

Large capital reserves and margin

Large banks have trading desks that have large capital pools to trade with and one winning trade could potentially bring in large profits to the bank but the converse is also true as Nick Leeson of Barrings Bank in Singapore has shown us. For the small time investor, leveraged instruments if managed well can help solve this issue of small capital. However with large leverage, you can lose big as well. Spend time tracking your trading successes and failures in a trading journal and once you start stacking multiple gains, you can then progress to making more money using these leveraged instruments.
[Read full article]

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Candlestick Charting - Learn How to Make Bigger Trading Profits!

The Japanese have used Candlestick charting for centuries.

Candlestick charting is more popular than ever today as it adds an extra dimension to trading to give any trader an edge.

If you are serious about making money, then you should consider candlestick-charting techniques.

History of Candlestick Charting

In the 1700's, Homma, a Japanese trader in rice, noticed how the price of rice was influenced by not only supply and demand, but also how the price was strongly influenced by the psychology of traders. He understood that when emotions came into play a vast difference between the value and the price of rice occurred.

This difference between the value and price of any commodity is as applicable to markets today as it was in rice centuries ago.

The re-emergence of Japanese candlestick charting in recent years owes much to the writing of Steve Nison, whose book, "Japanese charting techniques," is considered the definitive recent work on the subject.
[Read full article]

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Stock Picks: How to Trade and Be Happy

By: Doug Newberry

Trading can be stressful business. Some people even find that they simply burn out on trading stocks because they just don't feel happy while "juggling so many balls." This doesn't have to happen, though. You can prevent trader burnout by making sure that your trading style fits with your personality.

Of course, you may find that there is no trading style that works with your personality. After all, trading stock picks deals with a lot of uncontrollable variables and consequently it may be too much for you and your lifestyle. However, if you are stressed and are starting to feel the first flames of burnout you may want to simply change your trading style and to try and find one that works well for you.

You may not know that the trading style you're using isn't the best fit for you. Think about your trading habits. Do you stay up at night worrying about how your stock picks are doing? Do you run past failed trades in your mind over and over? Are you constantly worried that you'll have to exit a trade on short notice? Are you generally unhappy?

If you answered one or more of these questions with a 'yes,' then you may be using a trading style that doesn't fit your personality. After all, we all want to be able to make money, but we shouldn't have to suffer excessively to do so. [Read full article]

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

6 Tips For Trading Stocks Online

By: Barry Allen

Financial management strategy helps map on how to make money work for you. According to the experts it is important to inculcate the habit of saving and to invest the savings in money generating modules. As a safety measure most of the money must be put in secure savings and only a small portion of available funds must be invested in quick return investments like stocks and real estate.

With the growing popularity of the World Wide Web even trading in stocks has become an online function. Before venturing into online trading you must learn how to: create a detailed investment plan; carry out an in depth analysis on stock behavior and future movements; evaluate the risk involved in stock investing; and learn how to apply trading principles to investing successfully. Statistics reveal that almost 80% of investors in stock tend to loose rather than gain money.

Online stock trading expertise in the form of articles and tips can be read on the internet. According to experts, stock trading success is certain if you follow six simple rules or tips:

1. Trade stocks online armed with in depth knowledge. Decide what kind of trading you would prefer, day trading, short-term trading, and week trading or monthly trading.

2. Select a broker with care. Decide whether you are comfortable with high-speed direct access technology or discount brokers. Day trading is more expensive as far as fees and other costs are concerned. [Read full article]

Monday, June 4, 2007

The Role Of Brokers In Online Stock Trade

By: Samantha Kay

The online stock brokers play a significant role in online stock trade for those who want to invest but do not possess a good amount of amount to play. They are different from the traditional stock brokers in terms of investing and managing money.

Significant Role Of Online Stock Brokers

In the world of financial ups and downs, it has become a difficult task to know the best method of investing your money. Stock exchange has always acted as a platform between the stock traders and the companies in the form of buyers and sellers respectively. The invested money of the investors is always utilized by the company in further expansion of the business to increase profits.

In the traditional method of stock trade, the investors were assisted by the stock brokers in the process of buying and selling of stock and in building the financial portfolio of the investors. But since the discovery of internet, a new easy method of stock trade has come up which is known as online stock trade and it only requires the turning ON of your computer. The online stock brokers play a significant role in the market of finance by helping the online traders to hit their financial goals. [Read full article]

Friday, June 1, 2007

Stock Trading Software

By: Kevin Stith

Sometimes, unbiased information provided by good stock trading software can prove to be very unhelpful in making an intelligent stock related decision. Stock trading software offers a reliable comparison of stocks and suggests the stocks to be bought or sold. Stock trading software is an indispensable requirement for short-term investors.

A variety of stocks trading software are available, leaving the choice open to the trader. It depends on the investment needs of stock traders, for instance, whether traders want to track their portfolio or research for new stock opportunities. Stock trading software provides traders with a range of fundamental functions like real-time stock quotes, as a result forming a stock-trading software package.

Various basic features provided by a stock trading software consists of settling on the price direction by offering the opening price in market, and helping stock traders earn profits by providing signs that indicate a breakout. Additionally, stock trading software assists in finding out the average price of securities with the help of moving average monitoring and alerts such as trigger motion that helps traders to reach specific price targets. Besides the above features, stock-trading software also provides stock traders with pattern identification. [Read full article]

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Investing in the Stock Market

By: Sarah Freeland

Most people want to take steps early on to ensure that their personal finance status will be secure when they retire, however few really understand what it takes to create a stock market portfolio that will be able to meet their financial needs when they retire. To create the best portfolio possible it is important that you educate yourself on how the economy impacts stocks, how to research a stock, and how to buy a stock.

The first step in making the stock market work for you is to understand how the economy impacts the performance of a stock. One thing that usually impacts the stock market is the federal interest rate. When federal interest rates go up spending tends to go down. On the other hand, if the federal prime rates go down spending tends to go up. By identifying items that impact the health and performance of the stock market, like interest rates, and by knowing how they will impact stock performance, you will be better able to judge when it is a good idea to sell a stock, and when it is a good idea to buy a stock. [Read full article]

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

5 Tips To Make Money In Trading Stocks Online

By: Joe Lloyd

The discovery of internet has made the methods of doing businesses very easy and comfortable. It has also taken the market of stock to the heights as the large percentage of population has opted the method of trading stock online.

Tools To Start Trading Stocks Online


The method of trading stock online has been proved as the most convenient and successful method of trading stock. It is also very easy for anyone to start trading stock online by just possessing 3 important tools which are:

1 - Computer: If the whole procedure of trading has to be done online, then it is obvious that the main foundation of this trade is the computer. If anyone wants to start with online stock trading then he should possess a fast computer with Windows XP as its operating system.

2 - Internet: It is the major component of online trading as it will connect you to the various companies of the stock market. It is always suggested to go for a high speed cabloe or broadband internet connection.

It is always recommended to have an internet back up even if you possess a good net connection as there are the chances for the net to get down. You should always possess an access to a telephone line if, in any case, your system gets disrupted and you want to exit the trade then by using telephone you can inform the broker regarding the same. [Read full article]

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Learn Stock Trading From Playing Poker

By: Zheng Fang

Picking good stocks is only the first step to become a consistently profitable trader. Those of you that track the performances of stock picks I post on http://www.cisiova.com/analysis.asp know that it is impossible to determine if a stock is good without a good exiting strategy. And for most traders, exit strategy is the hardest part. Many people say that to trade profitably you need to develop the right mentality. Unfortunately, such winning mentality can only be developed through experience. However, there is a short cut to get through the learning curve without throwing thousands of dollars in the process. This short cut is playing POKER.

Yes you heard me right. Apparently, playing poker has a lot of similarities with investing in stocks. First of all, they both deal with money, uncertainties, and a keen judgment of potential risk and reward. In this article I will explain the similarities and differences between stock trading and poker. But before proceeding, make sure you know the rules of Texas Holdem and fluent with the terminologies. [Read full article]

Monday, May 28, 2007

Trading Stocks Online - Top 5 Secrets To Making Money

By: Ethan Lux

Want to make money trading stocks online? If you follow these five simple tips, you'll be way ahead of the pack.

1) Listen to the charts

You may have found a great stock, and it could have the best fundamentals in the world, but here's the truth-- that's not enough! Even if a stock has a million fundamental reasons to go up, it's not going anywhere unless people are buying it. People don't always act rationally, so you can't assume that a stock will behave as it should. That's where technical analysis (chart reading) comes in. By learning to read charts, you can spot stocks that are poised to move up, or conversely, stocks hopelessly headed down. Reading stock charts will allow you to find stocks which actually will move up, not just stocks you think should move up.

2) Use stop losses

No one is ever right 100% of the time. That's just the nature of the game. Even the best stock pickers sometimes pick lemons, but that's not necessarily a problem. Picking losers, which is inevitable, is only a problem if you let them kill your account. You absolutely must set stop loss orders every time you make a trade, otherwise you may wake up and find your entire account decimated. Remember, to make money trading stocks online, you don't always have to pick winners-- your winners just have to be bigger than your losers. You accomplish this by always cutting your losers early, and then letting your winners run. .[Read full article]

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Online Stock Market Trading: How To Discover Wealth In 2007

By: Joel Teo


With the technological advancement and the advent of Internet, the scope for remarkable growth in the stock market has broadened. Online Stock Market Trading require only the execution of the orders. Hundreds of online brokers are available to handle stock transactions. Online Stock Market trading is the fastest and simplest method of buying and selling stocks.

First of all you must find an efficient online broker that provides services and information at reasonable rates. Choosing the best online broker pays in a long run as the incorrect choice can convert online stock market trading into a frightening trade. You must evaluate various stock trading forums by doing a painstaking research.


The online broker must have an easy to operate website. The website must be designed in an efficient manner with web pages that load promptly, since you may have focus on more than one chart while you are looking for the right price to purchase or sell the stocks. Another important factor is trading screen. It must be very systematic so that you can rigorously verify and cross check all stock options before finalizing trading.

Moreover you must not go for belated quotes. Even a delay of ten minutes online can influence your profit probability. You must make sure that you get the advantages of real time quotes. An online stock trading a good broker always takes into account your interests and executes steps that are profitable when stock moves up or down a point. Any pointless holdup in the transaction may serve you a loss. Online brokers are outfitted to offer rapid authentications on orders, thus keep you updated on your current account balance and other stock updates.[Read full article]

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Intelligent Stock Trading: The Best Way to Trade Stocks

By: Waldemar Puszkarz, Ph.D.

With the stock market reaching new all time highs, you are probably wondering if it is a good time to be in stocks. That is certainly a great question, the answer to which is surprisingly simple: there is almost always a good time to be in stocks if you know which ones to buy and when.

The "almost" qualifier has to do with those times when the general stock market is going through one of its bearish phases that happen every 8-10 years, although smaller corrections dependent upon global developments can happen at any time too. Those, however, should be used as an opportunity to buy. Some recent examples of such circumstances are the Russian financial debacle of 1998 or the Asian crisis of 1997.

Buying stocks when the economy is about to enter a recession period is one of the worst times to enter the stock market. It is advisable to wait 18-24 months after the recent peak in the stock indices to buy into stocks. .[Read full article]

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Rules For Market Timing Success

By: Frank Kollar

There are several critical factors needed to be a successful market timer.

Money does not accumulate in your account without some work on your part. In fact, market timing means pitting your emotional skills against those of the tens of thousands of other traders.

Most individuals who invest in the stock market lose money. Many are not aware of that. Most investors and traders follow the majority (the herd) which usually buys and sells at just the wrong times. They buy at tops, sell at bottoms, make emotional trading decisions based on news events.

The "herd" does this for a reason. At the time they make their decisions, they "think" they are right! Emotions are powerful persuaders.

This means, for "you" to be successful, you must be able to see past those urges to buy and sell, which will happen to you just as they happen to everyone else. If you can do this, you can succeed at market timing.

But do not despair. Successful timing is not hard. You just need to follow certain rules of trading. Here are some important (critical) rules for market timing success. [Read full article]

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

How To Use Online Stock Trading For Your Success

By: Mark Crisp

Many investors will tell you that trading in stocks might be the good old-fashioned way of investing, but it works. Regardless of the ups and downs, and there are many on the rollercoaster that is stocks; stocks are an exciting game that has a place for anyone. In the age of the information superhighway there is a whole world of varied stocks that you can build wealth with. You might only make enough money to use in your next investment but with online stocks the door is truly open.

Online stocks are a huge market. You can start online with cheaper penny type stocks and you can even purchase some of the high-end stocks for a couple of hundred dollars a share. Like most online shopping, most of the stocks that are for sale online are available in the real world market, but they cost more. Because of the lack of human contact and advice given, buying online stocks gives you the opportunity to get into the game without the high fees of your average broker. The online trader is also completely in control or his or her stocks.

Trading online does mean that you will have to be familiar with certain terminology. To do so we have compiled a list of some select of the most common available online stocks and their meanings. We suggest you take these means and do some more research. Let's look over what kind of stocks can be brought and purchased online and in the real life stock market. [Read full article]

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Day Trading Strategies

By: J. Foley
While day trading is neither illegal nor is it unethical, it can be highly risky. As a trader you will probably fall into two main categories, traders who like to trade the breakout and traders who like to join the trend once established. Most day traders have their favorite markets.

You don't need to know everything about day trading to succeed as a day trader. More important for the day-trader than others is to have the proper 'team' in place. Keep in mind a day-trader with a computer and access to the Internet already has access to a world of information.


Some day traders might buy and sell stocks in minutes, but might also hold some overnight or longer. During the day trading, a day trader will quickly buy a large number of stocks at a time and sell it once they see the stock gain within the day. Some of the more commonly day-traded financial instruments are stocks, stock options, currencies, and a host of futures contracts such as equity index futures, interest-rate futures, and commodity futures.

An investor needs to have a system that helps him to be prepared for all scenarios of a trade. Is Day Trading Right For You? Can day-trading be learned? [Read full article]

Monday, May 21, 2007

Why Learn To Trade Stocks?

By: Mark Crisp (Stress Free Trading)

Stock trading has numerous benefits as a viable part time occupation.

In contrast to a second job, there are no special qualifications to begin. The stock market doesn t care about your level of success, education, ethnic origin or any personal characteristics. Complex employers, office politics or difficult employees do not play a part in trading. Additionally you have the freedom to trade from any location. If you follow a few simple rules you can run your business on your own terms.


The most important factor is to be clear about why you want to trade stocks. What do you hope to gain financially from learning to trade?

Are you looking to:

1. Create an enhanced lifestyle with supplemental income?

2. Replace a full time income with a passive income stream?

3. Become independently wealthy by creating a financial base independent of other income sources?

What would being a successful trader mean you? Imagine yourself making successful trades and gaining financially. Think about what it would feel like to have extra money in your bank account and to achieve your targets. With a clear picture of what you want and how that would feel you will be able to remain focused and motivated.

Your first task. [Read full article]

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Online Stock Purchasing - Get The Facts

By: M. Jedediah

The Internet has made it possible for investors to be in a constant contact with the stock market in order to be updated with the volatile ups and downs of the stock industry.

Purchasing Of Stock Online


Trading stock online has made possible for everyone to enjoy the thrill of stock market from the comfort of your home. There are many renowned companies that offer alluring options to the investors to purchase stocks online. The most beneficial thing in trading online is that the online brokers do not ask for heavy commissions but it is generally in the case of traditional brokers. There are many companies that even proffer low or even zero commission on each and every trade made through them.

You should always opt for reputable and dignified online companies as they will always guide you appropriately in online stock trading. They always update you with the latest information and news in terms of stock prices, different types of stocks, and the tools that will help you in purchasing stock online. The only thing needed by these companies is an online account to start investing.

The main advantage of having an online account to trade stock online is that you can always update yourself by logging into it from any corner of the globe thus this will help you in having a constant contact to continue your online trade even if you are out of town. [Read full article]

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Trading News: Is It Worth It?

By: Larry Swing


Every morning just before the opening bell ring, every trader gets their buy or sell button ready to make that first pretty penny before someone else gets there. The day is especially important because good economic news had just been released so everyone is anticipating a big profit day. This is a typical scenario in a day where either corporate or economic news comes out. Volume rush higher and higher to catch up with the news development. But is it worth (read profitable) for traders?

There are many books, trading rooms and advisory services teaching traders on how to trade the news but the truth is the vast majority of people lose when they trade news, particularly against the market makers, specialists and other traders who have been around longer than they have. Is it because of faulty technique? Is it the fundamental news, analysts getting their numbers wrong? Or it's the traders themselves that are causing these losses?

One thing that has to be noted is that during the news announcements, there are lots of excitement, anticipation and anxiety. So this atmosphere creates an emotional factor to trading. For those cannot control themselves, they let their emotions take over. These can be harmful to their money without realizing what's really happening. Others come in without any hard concrete tactics or safety nets (i.e. stop losses). While there are other who come in with a gambling mentality for next adrenalin rush. [Read full article]

Friday, May 18, 2007

Stock Trading 101

By: Bobby Ryatt

Looking for Basic Resources

I do not consider myself to be an incompetent individual. However when it comes to the stock market and trading stocks I have always known that I am in way over my head swimming in a sea that I just don t belong. I have dabbled in stock trading from time to time, but I certainly never really got it right.


After a great deal of frustration I finally sat down at my trusty computer and hit the internet looking for information to bring me to the basics of stock trading. What I found rocked my world and completely opened my eyes. I landed on onlinetradingideas website and had instant access to all the stock trading information I could ever handle. The best part about the website was that it was written by unbiased authors and the informative stock articles were hand selected by the webmaster. Thus, I was not amidst a frenzy of advertising that meant nothing to me. I could focus immediately on learning the secrets to day trading.

Anyone who wants to understand the mysterious secrets behind day trading seriously need to go and check out the site. You don t have to pay to read, you simply click the article you want and get busy learning everything you can.

Simple Strategy for Day Trading

One of the first thing I ran across was a very informative article on coming up with your basic strategy for day trading. They took me way beyond the basic knowledge of buy low and sell high. I had no day trading strategy. I just figured you picked a stock you were familiar with and hoped it did well and sold it when you thought it really couldn t do much better. Turns out my lame strategy for day trading would have ended up costing me a lot of money.

After I set up my basic strategy and felt I had a firmer grasp on how the stock market really worked, I continued on with my education. I went on to learn about momentum trading. I figured just from the word I could figure out what that meant. Turns out I was about half right, and that momentum trading is a hot and fast way to find yourself in profit. It s definitely effective and there is quite a bit to learn about momentum trading. Luckily, the articles and resources were informative enough to really get me going with enough understanding and confidence put a little money where my mouth is. Day trading here I come. [Read full article]

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Forex Trading Systems Know What Curve Fitting Is Or Lose

By: Sacha Tarkovsky

When choosing a FOREX trading system or back testing your own, you need to be aware of the dangers of curve fitting.

While curve fitted FOREX trading systems can look good in theory, in practice they rarely work, lets look at why.


Trading In The Past For Profit

When you see most FOREX trading systems you will see a hypothetical track record. A hypothetical track record is exactly as it sounds - one that has been constructed in hindsight, knowing the closing prices.

You never see a hypothetical track record that makes losses!

However, when you try and trade the system for real you do and this is generally because the track record has been subject to curve fitting.

Curve Fitting

Curve fitting, simply involves tweaking the parameters or rules of the FOREX Trading system to make it profitable.

One trader I know once likened this to shooting at a barn door and then drawing bull s eyes around everyone afterwards!

Curve fitted systems normally collapse in the brutal world of trading.

There generally easy to spot: [Read full article]

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

How To Approach Day Trading

By: Mark Crisp

Day trading can be fruitful and very exciting. It is possible to make huge amounts of money and have all your dreams come true. There are, however, plenty of traps and pitfalls in day trading and it can be dangerous. The stakes are high and it is crucial to know the essentials before you attempt to make some cash in this way.

Day traders buy and sell stock through the day, rather than hold on to anything for a period of time. They have minutes and seconds to either get a great deal and make stacks of money or lose everything with one bad decision. They trust in the knowledge of their advisors and know that stocks fall and climb on a daily basis. Even when stocks are falling, day traders can make some profit because they do not hold on to stock for long. They are able to get out early if their stocks are falling.

If you are considering a career as a day trader, you need to learn about how the trading systems and financial trade systems work online. The more you learn and research, the better your knowledge and understanding will be and the more control will be yours. Day trading is largely about control and how much of it you have. Online courses might be a good idea or you could speak to friends or colleagues who have some knowledge. You should know the online trading and financial trade systems inside out before you start playing with a lot of money. There is no point risking everything before you have a good, solid understanding of how everything works. [Read full article]

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Forex Day Trading Will Lose Your Money Quickly

By: Sacha Tarkovsky

FOREX day trading is big business and there are plenty of FOREX day trading systems tip sheets and guru s who will promise you they can make you rich.

The problem is odds are you won t make money and ask anyone selling to you to show you a real time track record chances is are you won t get one!


FOREX day trading sounds good in theory but doesn t work in practice. Here s why.

Currency movements tend to reflect the underlying economic climate and interest rate outlook of the countries currency and they trade long term. Short term movements within a day are random and are the same as flipping a coin.

Even if you think you can day trade FOREX, consider one of the fundamental laws of trading:

Run your profits and cut your loses. [Read full article]

Who Is Involved In Online Stock Trading?

By: M. Xavier

Online stock trading is a fairly new trend sweeping the investing world. It might seem a bit new age to some, but the reality is this sensation has opened the doors for sound investing for a lot of people from all walks of life. So who is exactly taking advantage of online stock trading?

The answer to that question is a whole lot of people!


Since online stock trading makes it very easy for anyone to get involved in market investments, cutting costs and red tape, the trend is being used to its advantage by all sorts of people.

From big-time investors who want a little more control over their money in the markets to school-age children that want to learn about the market while investing their allowances, the online market has made it possible for virtually anyone with Internet access to get involved in buying and selling.

Typical investors in days gone by were typically businessmen and women or those with means by birth who could afford to buy in blocks and employ brokers to do the trading for them. Now, the online market has made it available to bypass big brokerage fees. This means that even the smallest of investors can get in early and earn big. With this in mind, some investors today include: [Read full article]

Monday, May 14, 2007

Day Trading An Outline

By: Praveen Ortec

Day trading is regarded as the most vigorous trading practice. It is the buying and selling of financial instruments within a day so that at the closing of the market the trader have no open positions. Day traders by virtue of their trading practice are free from overnight risks and also benefit from not paying any margin interest (normally margin interest applies to trades having open overnight positions). Day trading is a risky practice where traders trade financial instruments for very small price differences and require substantial concentration and mental strength.

Day trading can be scalping or momentum trading. Scalping is the practice of buying and selling of any type of financial instrument in large quantities with in seconds. Scalpers are generally institutional traders or mutual finds who trades for minute price differences. Their profit mainly depends on the quantity of the trades done each day. Momentum trading is the practice of trading according to the market trend. Momentum traders are the normal individual traders looking to profit by buying when the market goes down and selling when the market goes up. Some other popular day trading strategies include rebate trading, range trading and news playing, etc. [Read full article]

How To Make Money In The Stock Market

By: Onlinetrading

It's no secret that online stock trading is a very competitive field and the truth is that the stock market doesn't care if you are an experienced or a beginner trader.

The bottom line is, that the rules and the stock market opportunities are the same for every one, so either you are going to make money when you pick a stock and make the trade, or you are going to lose some of it in favor of the more seasoned ones.


As an online stock trader your homework is all about studying and testing different market strategies that can help you take advantage of stocks and at the same time protect your investments.

Just always keep in mind that a good strategy is simple and practical. Complicated stock systems will always make you slow in your decision making process or confuse you from the start. [Read full article]

Buy And Sell Stocks Online

By: Vijayseo

Buy and sell stocks online

All dreams can be realized, as long as you do not dream something that is humanly unachievable. But, dreams can be realized with proper planning and with the help of strong willpower. However, before you apply both these, have a look at an easier way to gain success, i.e. money. You need strategies here too; some prudent strategies that help you to reap profits on your invested money. It is to buy and sell stocks online.

Consider this, someone needs money to start a business and you lend it to him. But here instead of taking any interest from him, you ask him to give you some percent of the profit he makes with the business. When you are buying stocks you are actually doing this, you buy stock or shares from some company and give it some money to invest in the business. As the business starts earning profit with your money, you have some share in the total capital of the company. The company gives you some share of profit. [Read full article]