Market Cliches
When I first was drawn to trading I was a little intimidated by parts of the new language (e.g. diagonalized calendar spread or strangles or going naked) and I was a little amused by some of the cliches. . . . more . . .

Trading Is About You
What strategies you select when trading the markets is entirely up to you. In my view, you should choose strategies that fit your needs, your risk tolerance, and your personality. . . . more . . .

Thoughts About Seminars
In the article last weekend, I wrote about education with some emphasis on coaching. I promised to write a little about seminars this week, so here goes. First, let me say that I am a fan of seminars. . . . more . . .

Planning Your Trading Education
I am absolutely convinced that one of the most important factors in achieving success in trading is to have a trading business plan. I am so convinced that I devoted a complete chapter in my book, "Trade Your Way to Wealth," to the creation and content of a personalized trading plan for traders and investors. . . . more . . .

Finding a Stock
Perhaps the question I am asked most often is how do I find what stock to trade. Quite honestly, I don't think that is the most important question a successful trader can ask, but it is clearly one that is on the minds of many retail traders. . . . more . . .

Some Random Thoughts About Brokers and Trading Knowledge
Whenever I have written about brokers in the past, it seems to have stirred a storm of emails relating either horror stories or positive experiences with brokers. Like anything else, there are good and bad and the key for us, as traders, is to figure out which is which. . . . more . . .

Setting the Record Straight
There is no question in my mind that people who are serious about their trading need to have accurate information. Without it, it is even harder, if not impossible, to succeed in an already difficult business. . . . more . . .

Loss Aversion vs Risk Aversion
As almost every trader knows, cutting losses is a critically important component of successful trading. The key, of course, is to know how and when to cut those losses. Unfortunately, all too often, emotions play a significant role in when we cut our losses. . . . more . . .

Home Runs and Singles
Spring training has arrived for baseball players and that led me to consider some of the analogies of trading to baseball. Over the years, I have observed quite a number of traders who perceive themselves as sluggers who are always looking for the home run in their trading. . . . more . . .

Passion for Trading
I am convinced that one of the elements of successful trading is passion for the activity. I just got back from speaking at Traders Expo in New York and realize that whenever I attend an event like that I come back really pumped up about trading all over again. . . . more . . .

Things That Are Important to Traders - Part II - Picking a Stock
In the article last weekend, I talked about understanding how even a trade that loses can be a good trade. That was intended to reinforce the concept that cutting losses can be critically important to successful trading. This weekend, I want to discuss stock picking a little. . . . more . . .

Things That Are Important to Traders - Part I - Can a Good Trade Result in a Loss?
My guess is that most traders would say that making money is the most important thing to them in their trading. Naturally, that is the ultimate goal of all traders and investors, but there certainly are many other things that are extremely important yet may be overlooked in the quest for the ultimate goal. . . . more . . .

Targets and Exits
I sometimes get emails from subscribers who want to know whether I set targets on positions I enter and, if so, how I establish the target. If the question means do I set a target that once hit will result in my exiting the position, the answer is no. . . . more . . .

Profits with No Risk, Low Risk, and Measured Risk Strategies
So far, January has been devastating to a lot of investors. So many think that they can only make money when the market is going up. Unfortunately, a high percentage of retail traders have no exit strategy and are wed to the concept that the only way to successful investing is buy and hold.
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Dividend Capture
A subscriber recently wrote and suggested I include some additional information on dividends, particularly as they may affect stock price. Before reaching that point, a little review may be helpful. Generally, there are four relatively important dates that relate to dividends. . . . more . . .

Thoughts On Technical Trading
I consider myself to be primarily a technical trader. By that I mean I make my trading entry and exit decisions based on what I see on price and volume charts and with the use of some favorite indicators. I do not mean to suggest that I completely ignore fundamentals because I don't. . . . more . . .

2007 Review
First, thank you all for subscribing to the Newsletter. I hope each of you and your families have a wonderful 2008. Now that 2007 has passed into history, it is time for me to review my performance in my subscription service trades. . . . more . . .

Certainty
The trouble with certainty in trading is that there isn't any. An unanticipated piece of news can change the direction of a stock in a flash and what looked like a sure thing wasn't. Markets can turn on sudden political turmoil. The Fed Chairman can make a statement and stocks turn on a dime. That is why even the greatest traders suffer losses at times. There is no certainty in trading. . . . more . . .

Traders Run the Gamut
One fact has been brought home time and again from the readers' responses to Newsletter articles. There are lots of ways to achieve positive results in trading. . . . more . . .

Understanding Risk Can Improve Your Trading
After last weekend's article about day trading and the perils about which the NASD warns prospective day traders, I received some contributions to the blog from a couple of apparently successful day traders. Their contributions demonstrate that some traders can and do make money day trading. Does that mean we should ignore the NASD's warnings? . . . more . . .

Some Day Trading Issues
Last week a subscriber wrote and mentioned that he was getting in and out of trades more quickly than he had in the past and had even entered and exited the same position in the same day. That action resulted in a warning from his broker about day trading. . . . more . . .

Thinking About Taxes
Last weekend, a subscriber wrote and suggested I address record keeping for tax preparation purposes. Clearly, taxes are an important part of any trader's life so I'll offer some comments concerning approaches to record keeping and tax preparation. . . . more . . .

What About Paper Trading
I frequently do get very helpful suggestions in emails and one I received was from a subscriber in the stock brokerage industry who, among his many insightful comments, suggested that he never understood why paper trading was so frequently recommended because it is definitely different when real money is traded. . . . more . . .

Lots of Ways to Skin a Cat
Almost every week I receive emails about the content of the Newsletter article and most of the time they are pretty friendly even when they don't agree with everything I have to say. Every once in a while, I receive a "Nastygram" as I did last week following the article about options. Here is what the dear fellow (whose name I have withheld) had to say . . . more . . .

Think About Options
I have to say I sometimes get tired of hearing people say how dangerous option trading is. Of course trading options can be risky, but what about buying a stock? If you pay $50 a share for a stock, what is the risk?
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Trading Education
Last weekend I attended two days of trading seminars at the OptionsXpress EXPO in Chicago. The event was simply excellent. Seminars were offered for all levels of traders from the pure neophyte to the seasoned futures trader. It caused me to pause and reflect how important basic education and continuing education are to the successful trader. . . . more . . .

Where to Place Stops
Last weekend I suggested that it was probably better to use stops than not for most retail traders. While these orders may yield imperfect results at times, I remain convinced that their use is generally much preferred to the alternative of exits by emotion. That does not mean, however, that I believe that setting stops is easy. It isn't. . . . more . . .

Stop Loss Orders or Not
A little over a year ago, I wrote an article entitled "Stop Loss and Stop Limit Orders." In that piece, I defined the orders and explained a little about how they each work. As a review, a stop loss order (to sell) is an order to the broker to sell a specified position in the event a stock price (or even an option price) hits a certain level. . . . more . . .

Keeping It Simple
Last weekend, I wrote about elements I believe help lead to effective successful trading. Shortly after the article had been sent out, I received an extremely interesting email from a subscriber. . . . more . . .

Trading Necessities
This week I was interviewed by TraderInterviews.com concerning some of my thoughts and approaches to trading. If you are interested, you can hear the whole interview . . . more . . .

Technical Trading
Technical trading, generally speaking, means trading where entries and exits are based on charts or graphs of price movement over time. The principles can be applied to many areas such as stocks, futures, indices, foreign exchange or whatever has a price that fluctuates over time. . . . more . . .

Diversification and Money Management
How many times have we heard the advice that we need to diversify our investments? What does that really mean? . . . more . . .

Know the Subject
In the Article last weekend, I wrote a little about "knowing thyself" in the trading arena. In my estimation, it is critically important to know what you really want and expect from your trading. The answer is much more complex than simply making money. . . . more . . .

Preparing Your Plan
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with a friend and go over his investment plan. He had just taken a bath on some spreads during the whipsawing market conditions and was a little gunshy. . . . more . . .

Fundamentally Speaking
I often get queries about my approach to fundamentals in choosing a stock. First, let me say that if there is one fundamental that is head and shoulders above the others, I believe it to be earnings. . . . more . . .

Who Is Making Your Decisions?
I need to preface the next few remarks by saying that I really do like kids. What I have noticed, however, is that in recent years there seems to be a movement to defer to the judgment of children. . . . more . . .

How Much Should I Be Making?
In my conversations with retail traders, I find that they have very high expectations for their returns. I suspect that the expectations are often unrealistic and can lead to some poor decision making. . . . more . . .

Buy and Hold
It is a simple truth that we never know what the markets are going to do on any given day or for that matter over any given week. About the time we think we know, some event occurs that results in a change of direction.
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A Word About Losses
Last weekend, I wrote about the importance of having a plan and in the article, emphasized the importance of money management and exit strategy. I just can't say it strongly enough -- money management is absolutely critical to successful trading. No matter what anyone may say, some losses are inevitable. . . . more . . .

Have a Plan
I recently received an e-mail from a subscriber who set out his plan for money management. In general, he made each trade 10% of his capital and found that about 60% of his capital was in trades at any given time. I applaud the subscriber. Not particularly because of the brilliance of his plan, but because he took the time, made the effort, and understood the need to have a money management plan. Could he have chosen a different money management plan? . . . more . . .

Control
It probably won't come as any astounding revelation, but it can be important to recognize that we have no control over the market or any particular stock. . . . more . . .

Some Advanced Orders
Over the last couple of weeks, I have discussed vacations and some orders that a trader might consider placing when he is not going to be looking at the markets. Not all brokers will offer some of the orders I discuss in these articles, but most of the better internet brokers do permit their use.
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Auto-pilot Trading with Protective Puts or Trailing Stops
Last weekend, I wrote a little about what I consider to be the importance of vacations. In this article, I'll look at some things we can do about our trading when we do take a vacation. There are a few choices. . . . more . . .

Vacations in Trading
As we approach the 4th of July weekend, the subject of vacations comes to mind. The period from the 4th of July to Labor Day is often very interesting in the markets. Many of the big players are enjoying life in the Hamptons or, perhaps, the south of France during that time. Often the third quarter shows weakness and may see increasing volatilities as well. . . . more . . .

I Wish I Could
On Monday, June 11th, I bought stock in Aluminum Corp China (ACH) at $34.23 a share and by around noon on Friday that week, it had jumped $7.88 a share. That move represented a 23% increase in just four days. Of course, I was moving my stop up behind the move in an effort to protect profit yet stay in the play as long as the stock was climbing. Obviously, this trade made me very happy and it reminded me of an email I had received from a subscriber several months ago. . . . more . . .

What Strategies to Use
As anyone who has been following my articles for some time knows, I am an advocate of trading education. We work hard to earn our money and we also need to work hard to learn how to make our money work for us. If we spend the time it takes to learn how to have our money make money for us, we may create a much better quality of life for ourselves and our families. Few are willing to take the time, but for those who do, the rewards can be fantastic.
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What I Think Doesn't Matter
When it comes to the market or to a specific trade, what I think does not matter. It probably doesn't matter what you think either. Just because you or I or an analyst or a network broadcaster thinks the market or a stock is going to go up doesn't make it so. . . . more . . .

Whether to Trade Options
A couple of weeks ago, I suggested some questions to ask yourself to get a better feel for your own trading strengths and weaknesses. Among the questions were whether you traded options and, if so, why and if not, why not. Relatively few investors trade options. If you are among that majority, why don't you trade options? . . . more . . .

A Hot Tip
While on a commercial flight a week or so ago, I met a man who told an incredible story. He had asked me about myself and I told him I was a trader and that my book on stock and options trading was going to be in the stores in December or January. He replied that he was quite fortunate and had made a lot of money in real estate and penny stocks. . . . more . . .

Deciding to Buy a Stock
Last weekend I took a look at some relative risks between a few simple strategies. The most common strategy for the retail trader simply is a stock purchase with the belief that it will go up in price. . . . more . . .

Evaluating Risk
Last weekend, I posed a number of questions for your review. The first question asked that you rate a number of strategies from least risky to riskiest and the second asked whether there is any zero risk trade. These questions were designed so that you could perform your own test of risk awareness. . . . more . . .

Your Trading Knowledge
Now that so many readers have their blood boiling over the last few articles on the subject of money, I am going to change gears and treat the subject of trading knowledge. From the many emails I receive, I know that readers include every category from beginner to professional trader. . . . more . . .

Love of Money, the Next Chapter
The last two weeks I wrote articles on money and it has amazed me the nerves they touched. In response to last weekend's article, I received the following email. . . . more . . .

Love of Money
In the opening paragraph of last weekend's Newsletter, I wrote: "This article looks at the specific subject of money which may be the root of all evil, but..." I received a miniature firestorm of emails that corrected my statement to say it isn't money that is the root of all evil, rather it is the love of money that is the root of all evil. . . . more . . .

Controlling Your Money
Last weekend I wrote about some of the difficulties encountered when a trader begins the transition from paper trading to trading with real money. This article looks at the specific subject of money which may be the root of all evil, but is certainly the element that introduces the dangers of emotion when we leave the relative safety of paper trading and put our cash at risk.
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Transition from Paper to Real Money Trading
I received a letter to the editor this week that highlights one of the paramount hurdles a trader must cross before becoming successful. Here is the letter.
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Realistic Expectancies
Every once in a while, I receive a communication that reveals what I consider to be an unrealistic expectancy and I know that many novice and retail traders do not have realistic expectancies. . . . more . . .

Reasons to Trade
I have been re-reading Dr. Alexander Elder's "Come Into My Trading Room" (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002). It, like his other books, is excellent and informative and is written from the perspective of a psychiatrist/trader who has been successful in the markets. I have mentioned Dr. Elder and his books before because they give a different slant from many of the trading works on the market. . . . more . . .

More on Brokers
I received more emails after last weekend's article on brokers than in response to any other article I have written in the last couple of years. Most of the emails related true horror stories. One reader wrote: "Bling monkies do better jobs than any broker I know." Generally, the emails related specific problems, and some offered suggestions. . . . more . . .

Broker Problems and Solutions
I received an interesting email from a subscriber in response to last week's article in which I outlined a mistake one of my brokers had made and how they immediately fixed the problem. The subscriber (I'll call him Fred) did not have such a satisfying result. . . . more . . .

Everyone Makes Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes, but I certainly hate it when I am the object of the mistake. This past week, I had placed a stop on my expensive shares of Google (GOOG) with a one triggers other (OTO) order to buy to close my covered calls on the stock in the event the stop was hit and the shares of GOOG sold. . . . more . . .

Cutting Losses
Following my article on "Stops and Whipsaws" last weekend, I received an interesting email from a subscriber. The reader outlined a situation where 100 shares of a stock are purchased at $10 a share and a $10 commission paid. . . . more . . .

Stops and Whipsaws
During the last week, I received an email from a long time subscriber asking whether I could write about stop loss orders and whipsaws. Evidently, he was placing stops regularly and getting stopped out only to see the position reverse position after he was out and take off. . . . more . . .

Records and Notes
While keeping records and making notes of your trades can be a real pain, it is both necessary in many cases and helpful in almost every situation. When we file our tax returns, for example, trades must be listed on a D-1 schedule. . . . more . . .

Exiting Too Late
After many years of trading for my living, and even though I know better, and even though it bugs me, I sometimes still exit positions too late. It is really hard to be a successful trader without cutting losses. The old adage states: "the first loss is the best loss." . . . more . . .

Commissions Do Play a Role
I am old enough to remember a time when the commission on a hundred shares of stock could be $150 or $200. In fact, only a couple of years ago, when teaching a seminar class, an older student in the front row was livid and essentially accused me of lying when I casually mentioned that my commission for a thousand share trade was $9.95. . . . more . . .

Patience
When I was a kid, my mother used to tease me saying: "Patience is a virtue possess it if you can; often found in women, but never found in men." Perhaps that is the reason why women often make better traders than men. Impatience can definitely be the enemy when trading the market.
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Some Thoughts on Stops
Since we never know the ultimate results of the trade until it is closed and since we want to cut losses rationally, it is important to have an exit in place. One way to attempt to remove the emotion from trading and establish an exit in the event a play goes against us is to place a stop loss order. . . . more . . .

Trading Isn't Playing Football
When I think of my youth and the many pieces of advice I heard related to playing different sports, I often think how inappropriate they are to trading. "It ain't over until the fat lady sings." First of all, the fat lady usually sings at the beginning of the game and almost never at the end. . . . more . . .

My Trading Year in Review
As I end my trading for 2006 and look forward to 2007, I thought it might be appropriate to review how I did in each of the subscription services I edit.
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Increasing Option Knowledge
I have written several articles about option trading in the past. In June, for example, I wrote an article about trading call options. Recently, I have had inquiries about some option positions so I would like to elaborate a bit in order to help subscribers better understand the consequences of being in certain option positions. . . . more . . .

Holy Grail
Online Investment Services, LP publishes a number of services including Option Trader, $10 and Under Trader, and Trend Trader which I edit. Whenever an alert is sent out notifying subscribers of some trade I have made or that I am considering, it is accompanied by a disclaimer.
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Learning To Make Money
One of the serious ironies I find is that we live in a society where there is an emphasis on making money yet our public school system does little to teach us anything other than how to be employees. I don't mean to suggest that there is anything wrong with being employed, but I do believe that having a job, alone, is not a particularly good way to achieve wealth. . . . more . . .

It's OK to Pay Taxes
We are now entering what is traditionally a time to sell to take tax losses. I make no pretense of being a tax adviser and urge anyone who has done a lot of trading to contact their personal tax advisor before year end to get the best advice possible. . . . more . . .

Santa Claus Rally?
I hope that everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday. Now we look forward to the time of the 'Santa Claus rally'. One has to wonder whether there will be such a rally this year since the markets have been in pretty high gear since July for the S&P 500 and the Dow and since August for the NASDAQ. . . . more . . .

Learn Before You Trade Real Money
When I first prepared to give seminars, one of the things I learned about adult education was that we adults think we know more than we do. I believe that phenomenon carries over to our trading. I have been a full time trader for many years now and have devoted a great deal of time to my own trading education. . . . more . . .

Elections
This article will be a bit of a departure from the usual, but ignoring the election results this past week would be like ignoring a six hundred pound gorilla. The real question is what will happen down the road. . . . more . . .

Buying Long Term Options
Recently in the Option Trader I bought some Jan ’09 LEAPS calls and received a number of questions from subscribers about why I purchased calls with an expiration so far out. . . . more . . .

Knowing Your Broker
Many times, traders choose brokerages based solely on the commissions offered by the firm. They spend little time understanding requirements of the brokerages before signing on. I thought it might be helpful to review some of the brokerage requirements so that traders considering changing brokerages or opening new accounts may know some of the questions that are valuable to ask. . . . more . . .

Investment Clubs and Trading Groups
I must confess that I am not a huge fan of investment clubs and trading groups. I don’t mean to say that these organizations are without value, I only mean to say that in my experience they are not particularly successful.
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Take Care Around Earnings Time
We have again entered the season when earnings are announced. Traditionally the season begins when Alcoa (AA) announces its earnings. This time, Alcoa announced that its earnings were up approximately 86% for the same quarter a year ago. In spite of this apparently favorable information, Alcoa dropped like a stone. . . . more . . .

Strategies
Choosing a strategy is one of the most important things you will do as part of your business plan. There are, of course, many strategies and they include buying a stock, selling a stock short, buying options, selling options, writing covered calls, creating various spreads, and numerous other strategies.
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Mistakes I've Seen
I've been amazed by what I've seen and heard since I began trading and giving trading seminars. Many students and other traders have been quite insightful and have made good, intelligent suggestions and have demonstrated great acumen in their trading. I want to talk about some of the others today. . . . more . . .

What Should I Study?
Last weekend I wrote about the importance, indeed, the necessity of education if one is going to be a successful trader. Now I'd like to touch upon some of the resources available to the person new to trading. . . . more . . .

How To Improve Your Trading
I gave a two-day basic seminar the last weekend in August and it was so well received that I thought it might be worth re-emphasizing the need for traders to expand their knowledge and pursue their trading education. Don't worry, this isn't a commercial for my seminars. . . . more . . .

A Use of the Call Option to Reduce Risk
On August 26, I wrote a little about stop loss orders and their use and shortcomings. This weekend, I want to discuss some uses of options to try to reduce risk. Brokers will tell you and the literature is full of statements that *options are risky*. Indeed, they can be. How about buying a stock -- is that risky? . . . more . . .

Stop Loss and Stop Limit Orders
In this article, I'll discuss the stop loss and stop limit orders as ways to attempt to limit losses. The "stop loss" or "sell stop" order is an instruction to the broker to sell the stock if it hits a certain price. . . . more . . .

I Think I Whined Too Much
Last week, I devoted a lot of space to a loss I incurred in a position that gapped down. No loss makes me happy, but that one was particularly annoying. Many of you wrote sympathetically and more than a couple offered trading suggestions. Thank you for the support. . . . more . . .

Lessons From A Loss
Those of you who have observed my trading over some period of time have probably seen that I have had a fairly high ratio of winning trades to losing trades, but I wonder how many of you notice that I try to emphasize that I DO HAVE LOSING TRADES. That's part of the business of being a trader.
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Entries Are Important, Exits Are Critical
I'm definitely old enough to remember when broker calls (cold or otherwise) touting a stock were a pretty frequent occurrence. The stock always would come with a story. It could go something like this: DEF Corporation has discovered a way to extract gold from gold tailings outside of old mines.
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Trading Strategies Review
I have written an Article for this Newsletter each weekend over the past many months. Now, I'd like to indulge in a little review. I wonder how many of my readers agree that trading is a business and that most successful businesses have a business plan. . . . more . . .

What's A Put and How Can It Help?
In recent weeks, I've devoted some space to basic information about calls. I've written a little about buying calls when a trader thinks a stock is going up and I've written about selling calls against stock the trader already owns (writing covered calls) and I've discussed risks of entering those types of trades. This week, I'm going to turn my attention to the definition of put contracts and one important use that can be made of puts from the put buyers' perspective. . . . more . . .

Risk Awareness
Following publication of my Article on calls and writing covered calls, I received a thoughtful and helpful letter from a subscriber. After thanking me for the article, the subscriber suggested that I may not have emphasized the risks associated with the covered call strategy strongly enough. He suggested that the inexperienced trader could "put the cart before the horse" and just look for calls with high premiums so he could then buy the stock and write the high priced calls. . . . more . . .

Learning To Trade
I've never met anyone who has read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki who didn't agree with the premise that in order to become rich it is necessary to have your assets working for them (unless they inherited wealth or won the lottery, etc.). Most of us work for a living and we, ourselves, are the only money producing asset. That is a very rare way to wealth yet it is what we are taught to do. I recommend Mr. Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" to you. Hopefully it will inspire you to learn to utilize assets in addition to your own time to produce wealth for you. . . . more . . .

A Bullish Strategy and a Bearish Strategy Using Calls
This strategy is bullish and is one of the more common uses of call options. It is known as writing covered calls. In stock lingo writing means selling. Covered means you own the underlying stock, and you already know what a call is from last weekend's article. . . . more . . .

A Little About Call Options
While many of our readers only trade stocks, I thought it might be helpful to write a bit about options, specifically call options. I often use call options in my Option Trader trades and my own portfolios, so I thought it might add some clarity if I provide some explanations of certain basic options strategies. . . . more . . .

What To Do When The Markets Are Falling
The Dow Industrials fell more than 877 points between May 10th and the close on June 12th; the Nasdaq dropped 279.61 from April 19th to the June 12th close; the SP-500 fell 90.13 from the high on May 5th to the June 12th close. As I write this piece on June 13, 2006, the markets are still in bear mode. What is a trader or investor to do? . . . more . . .

Price and Volume - Bullish or Bearish?
What I'd like to explore here is the value of price and volume (in chart form) in determining continuation of a trend and potential reversals. . . . more . . .

Trends and Reversals
Obviously, many factors enter into successful trading. Among those factors that lead to success are things like having and following a plan, good money management, learning to cut losses and let profits run, knowledge of strategies, and patience. . . . more . . .

More About Disciplined Trading
We often hear that the markets trade on fear and greed and that is doubtlessly true. Rumor has it that amateurs often buy near the top and sell near the bottom. Why would that be? . . . more . . .

What To Do When The Market Goes Down
Dive! Dive! Dive! As I write this on Friday morning, the markets have been falling through the week. The Dow industrials, Nasdaq and SP-500 have each fallen down through the uptrend and the 50 day moving average.
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Trading the News
This week, the Fed, again, raised interest rates and, of course, that was big news for the markets. As I write this, the markets are trying to decide what to do with that news. . . . more . . .

What Kind of Investor Are You?
Were you taught to be a "buy and hold" trader? Exactly what does that mean? In the classes I give, I always ask: "Buy and hold until when? Death?" That can work very well for your heirs, but how about for you? . . . more . . .

Business Plans for Traders and Investors
I teach seminars on stock and option trading and in the basic class, I always begin with the necessity of having a business plan. Trading and investing are businesses. We need to treat them that way. . . . more . . .

Trading Do's and Don'ts
Anyone could become a better trader just by becoming or remaining aware of some simple but important "do's" and "don'ts." Markets trade on emotion so if we can learn how to play emotion or group psychology without being ruled by our own emotions, we increase our chances to become better traders. . . . more . . .

A Focus on Earnings
I really enjoy trading stocks that are $10 and under. Often they provide the chance to enjoy high percentage gains and, of course, at worst, the risk is limited to what I paid for the stock. . . . more . . .

Trading $10 and Under Stocks
I really enjoy trading stocks that are $10 and under. Often they provide the chance to enjoy high percentage gains and, of course, at worst, the risk is limited to what I paid for the stock. . . . more . . .

Using Subscription Trading Services
In my experiences trading for a living, as editor of stock and option subscription services, and in classes where I teach budding traders, I have seen many approaches to trading and to the uses of subscription services.
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Money Management and Reward to Risk
Unless you're a pure gambler, "betting it all on black" or putting all your trading money into one position definitely isn't the way to go. Money management can be critical to long term success in stock and option trading and investing. "Diversify." "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
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Trend Trading
"The trend is your friend." Certainly that is one of the many stock market adages. Generally, I think a saying becomes an adage through repetition over time. Those sayings don't seem likely to be repeated unless there is some truth to them. Trend trading as we try to practice it is a form of momentum trading. . . . more . . .

Option Buying Principles
In my last article, I spoke about the limited risk (limited to the initial investment) and high leverage attained when buying options. Those can be fantastic plusses for the option trader. Astounding returns sometimes can be achieved but that possibility also can lead to some serious trading mistakes. . . . more . . .

Option Trading
Option trading is often considered to be very risky and it certainly can be. However, one of the nice things about many option trades is that the risk is limited and is often much less than the risk of stock ownership. . . . more . . .