Investing In The Financial Sector

There’s no doubt about it, the stock market can be a fantastic way to make money. Historical analysis shows that the rate of return on money invested in the stock market is, on average, better than that of money invested in government bonds, certificates of deposit, and most other investment options. However, it can also be a fantastic way to lose money if you are not careful, so that’s why it is absolutely vital that you know what you are doing before you go out and drop down some money for what is, in fact, nothing more than a few bits of information stored in a computer somewhere on Wall Street.

The stock market can be broken down into sectors based on the types of stocks for sale, such as blue chip stocks, industrial stocks, technology stocks, or financial stocks. The financial sector is a popular area for investment, but as with all stock market investments, and indeed all of life, it is important to know what your are buying before you buy it. What that means for you is that you need to research the companies that you are interested in.

All companies in the United States are required to send financial information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which posts this information on its web site. By looking through the financial filings of companies, you find out a lot about them. Some things to look at are: how much the company owes, how much it makes per year, and how much it has paid out to investors in the past in the form of dividends. You can find out more about what to look for in these financial filings by going to your local library and checking out any book on the stock market.

There’s more to the stock market than just this, however. One thing that is hammered into the heads of all business school graduates is this: diversify, diversify, diversify. Think about it: if all of your money is tied up in one company, and that company goes belly-up, you have no hope. But if you have spread out your investments over many different companies, then you will take only a small loss. Something else to watch out for is becoming too attached to your stocks. We all have our favorite companies, but if your pet stock is showing losses quarter after quarter, it may be time to bail. It’s better to take a small loss now than to wait until that favorite company is selling for pennies per share.

There is much more to playing the stock market than just this, of course, but if you follow these few simple tricks, you’ll be well on your way to success.

Tags: blue chip stocks, certificates of deposit, dividends, dow, financial information, financial sector, financial stocks, industrial stocks, investment options, Investments, investor, sectors, securities and exchange, securities and exchange commission, stock, Stock Market, stock market investments, stocks, technology stocks, wall street

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Contest: Win “12 Steps To A Worry Free Retirement”

We’re having our very first (but not our last) contest here at Beating The Stock Market!

The contest starts right NOW and ends on Sunday, September 30 at 12:00 noon EST.

First, the prize….one winner will receive a copy of Kiplinger’s: 12 Steps To A Worry Free Retirement.

Actual customer review:
“This book lays out what you need to know about planning your retirement using easy to understand text and charts.”

Here’s how to enter:
All you need to do to enter is post about the contest and link to this post. Leave the link to where you posted about it in a comment here so we can keep track of the entries.

Good luck!

Tags: beating the stock market, kiplinger, Stock Market

Posted in Getting Started In The Stock Market, Investing Books, Investments | 3 Comments »

Stock Market Game

I’ve said it many times, and I stand by it; Stock Trading Is Not A Game. It doesn’t matter if you’re a trader or an investor, you must do your homework by researching every stock you plan to invest in or trade But what if you could play a game and practice investing without risk? You could have fun “playing”, while learning and understanding the stock market even more.
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I stumbled upon a free website where you can trade stocks on a virtual Wall Street. UpDown.com is a free fantasy investing site. People join UpDown to practice investing and can earn money for winning contests. Start with a $1,000,000 cash reserve and start trading stocks immediately after registering and creating a profile. With up-to-date news information along with an active forum for members to share ideas and investment strategies.
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The UpDown is a community for people interested in investing in the stock market. If you’re new to the stock market or have a few year under your belt, this site will give you the chance to try different strategies without any actual loss of money.
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UpDown.com provides a platform where investors can view, share, and rate high-quality stock analysis and investment ideas. They then filter, aggregate, rank, and present the community’s investment recommendations for the benefit of all UpDown members looking for valuable investment advice.
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Click the banner below, or the one in our sidebar to join. I just joined myself and it looks like a good place for me to test out new strategies that I normally wouldn’t, with my own money.

Tags: free fantasy, free website, investing in the stock market, investment advice, investment ideas, investment recommendations, investment strategies, stock analysis, Stock Market, stock market game, Stock trading, trading stocks, understanding the stock market, updown, virtual wall street

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Second Quarter Earnings Report Season

It’s that time of year again that comes every three months. That’s right, it’s time for earnings reports. Alcoa (NYSE:AA) is the first company to come out with their results for the second quarter for 2009 (actually it’s just that they are the biggest company to report). Alcoa will release their report after the closing bell on Wednesday July 8th.
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After last week’s debauchery, who really know what to expect. I not expecting anything good from any one company, so I will be watching the companies that I favor to buy on the dips. I’ve again back out of a lot of the positions I had in the past couple of weeks, so I’m in a good position to pick up some of the companies I was in at a lower price. Unfortunately, I’m not all that comfortable with the way the government and the Federal Reserve are handling things right now, that I just might sit out for the next month or so.
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Of course with me doing that, I just may miss out on some great moves, but when in doubt, sit it out.
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On Thursday the DOW lost 223 points. It started off bad in the morning and was pretty much steady all day until the end when the rest of it fell out. The whole week was trading on light volume, which makes it hard to really see which way the markets could have gone. It’s not easy to get a feel for the markets during a holiday week.
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I will wait until tuesday to get a feel for the market tread, but the way the markets have been lately, it’s doesn’t stay one way or the other for long. Take your time and do your research carefully, like you should do all the time.

Tags: Earnings report, Economy, Federal Reserve, Government spending, NYSE, Stock Market, Stock market for beginners, Stock trading

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Bear Market Rally

What a week this has been for some great gains. Just more to add to the already increasing portfolio since the DOW hit the 6500 range. On March 9th the DOW was at 6547.05. In less than three weeks the market now sits at 7924.56 going into Friday morning trading. I don’t know about you, but if you haven’t taken your profits and locking in those gains, you are just being greedy.
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Everything points to this movement to be nothing but a bear market rally. In the last three weeks the Dow increased 18% while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ jumped 20% during the same period.
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We are not out of the woods yet. The economy is still in disarray and current Administration doesn’t have all the answers. Whatever the reason for the stock market performance, it’s not going to last or even to be able to sustain these levels. Just because Jim Cramer has stop screaming “the sky is falling”, because he says the “Great Depression II” is off the table. Remember that after the initial crash in 1929 to the actual “bottom” in the stock market, there were quite a few bear market rallies.
Yes, the prices of stocks fell over the long three years, but in between those years there were times when the market experienced a nice 10% to 20% gains in relatively short periods of time, only to drop back down to it’s bottom or even lower levels.
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I’m quite happy with the 22% gains I’ve made this month. I started scaling back my position and taking profits on Monday. The prices of the stocks have continued to climb after I sold many of the shares. I’m not going to get greedy and think about if I didn’t sell any of the shares I would have had more profits than just 22%.
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No one can ever predict a “bottom in the market or in any one stock, the same goes for trying to do the same at the “top”. The whole idea to never buying all your shares at once is to lower your dollar cost average. The idea of scaling out of a position is to secure your profits.
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Be ready for the pull back in the stock market as it’s exactly what I’m expecting to happen in the next three weeks. I’ll pick up the same shares I sold, but at a lower prices.