Stocks & Mutual Funds Articles

Just about everything you have been told about Social Security is an obfuscation. That is a big word for convoluted truth or lie. In a recently published obscure government document by the presidential Social Security commission there are two pages t...

Everything you invest in has risk so you want to do your research before you put your money on the line. For example, when McDonald's opens a new restaurant (please, don't call it a hamburger joint) they will investigate as many of the relevant facts...

Checked your 401K lately? Going back to about a year ago many of these retirement accounts have shrunk by 30%, some even more. What Happened? You have been putting money in for years and your employer may have been contributing to your plan also. It ...

Ever turn down a street, get half way and suddenly realize it is one way and you are going the wrong way? Is that the way you feel when you look at your stock brokerage statement? In either case don't panic. You can get out of that one way street by ...

On Monday, November 25, 2000 Investor's Business Daily listed on page B1 the Top 25 Growth Mutual Funds for the last 36 months along with their performance for the year 2000 to date. Only four showed a profit this year of 21% and the other three had ...

Mutual funds by definition are a mixed bag of stocks, bonds and a little cash. Their price per share is the NAV, Net Asset Value of the total amount of money in the mutual fund divided by the number of shares. They seek to be fully invested at all ti...

What does it take to be a stock trader? It takes a total mental commitment to the task. It becomes a complete way of life. You cannot be a part timer. You cannot work at a regular job and trade stocks successfully. When you decide to make your living...

We have two candidates for president that have really different ideas on how to make the economy grow. Bush believes in the entrepreneurial approach. People should be allowed to invest in themselves. He even wants to let people have some of the 15% t...

During the day I watch CNBC-TV, the stock market channel. Fortunately, I keep the sound muted or I would be hollering at the dumb "experts" being interviewed. The experts seem to know all about the market except they don't know how to protect their c...

For years I have been saying you must have a fund that is outperforming the S&P500 Index. Well, I've changed my mind. Now I think your fund should be outperforming the NASDAQ Composite Index. So far this year, March 30, the S&P is up 1.3% and the NAS...

It is wonderful to be alive in the information age. We know in a matter of seconds the change in the value of gold in Switzerland, the death of a world leader or the birth of a peasant in Israel. We are inundated with facts and figures and the emotio...

With an insecure job market, overworked employees, insufficient retirement savings and parents wanting the option to stay home with their kids, it is not surprising that many individuals are taking the leap into online business opportunities. The nee...

What does it mean to short a stock? This means that you borrow the stock from your broker to sell to a third party. The idea is to buy back the stock at a lower price, returning the shares to your broker while leaving the remaining cash in your accou...

After the publication of the first part of this two part series, I had a few questions asking if shorting stocks is legal and I will quickly reply with a big YES. Some people believe that shorting shares of American companies is not patriotic or does...

I know there are a lot of you out there who would like to "get even" with the stock market. Many are on the diet of "I hope, I hope". As a professional trader I can tell you that diet will make you very sick. If you play any game of chance like poker...

As the man said, "I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. What do you want to hear first?" It was replied, "Tell me the good news first". The good news is that they are going to make some changes in the mutual fund industry reporting to h...

You read and hear a lot about hedge funds. Unfortunately, most of what you hear is negative because it comes from the major media that has an interest in reporting negatives about them because the major media is supported by so-called standard mutual...

Every year I go to the Money Show in Orlando, Florida. Thousands attend. It is mostly an older crowd with the youngsters about 40 years of age. I have been saying for years that until you have lost enough money trying to make a fortune you will not b...

Right now there doesn't seem to be any "gold fever". Very few are out looking to strike it rich in this sector. Way back when at Sutter's Mill in California the discovery of gold was accidental. One of Sutter's employees picked up a shiny stone out o...

When the stock market is going up and all your stocks and mutual funds are making money you feel like a genius. It is too bad that some folks don't remember what happened in 2000. Of course, right now we are in one of those genius phases. Your broker...

Just about now everyone is confused as to which way the stock market is going to go - up or down. For the past 3 years it has been headed south, but the Wall Street experts have told us that the market never goes down 4 years in a row so this has to ...

It is finally catching up with them. The brokerage companies I mean. For years they have been feeding bad food to their flock and now the flock is rebelling. The customer has been low man on the totem pole for too long. That food has been the disinfo...

Caught in a whirlpool and being sucked under. No life vest or other device to save you. Gurgle, gurgle. Down you go. This last couple of weeks in the stock market kinda feels like that whirlpool when you look at your financial statements. Of course, ...

When most analysts, financial planners, fund specialists and investors try to decide whether to buy a particular stock they immediately go to the financial statements to determine the growth potential of the company. Numbers and more numbers. Then ma...

You have decided to buy some stock or mutual funds, but wonder which one to buy. You need more information so you call your broker for advice. A so-called "full service" broker will bury you with all kinds of reports, analysis sheets and other pretty...

In today's volatile and confusing stock markets everyone is searching for a guru who knows which way the market is going and when. Ask any economist and he will have an answer. Ask 2 economists and you will have 2 answers. Ask 3 economists - ad infin...

I'll bet with almost anyone that has stocks or mutual funds in his portfolio that he has losers, but he won't sell them because he "likes them" or some similar excuse. This is the philosophy of a loser. You cannot become emotionally involved with any...

Let's hope you did not have any of the Enron stock. Maybe you know someone who did and lost everything, but you certainly might know several people who owned stock that lost almost everything. They probably aren't talking about it. According to Inves...

To find the fair value of a common stock, we need to determine the net profit generated by a firm. Dissecting income statement will give us the steps required to find net profit. One of the critical component of income statement is gross profit. What...

The first thing you have to decide when you are going to buy a stock is "what price are you comfy with buying it at?" In other words, let's say you like the idea of buying XYZ and with XYZ trading at 50, you think it has 5 or 6 points of profit in i...