From the book 'The Stockopoly Plan' by the author Charles M. O'Melia There are several factors an investor in the stock market should consider: 1. All stock purchases should be commission-free. 2. All stocks purchased should be from a company that has a history of raising their dividends every year. 3. The company should not only have a history of raising their dividend every year, but should also show price appreciation in the market place, on a year to year basis. 4. All dividends from the companies should be rolled-over into more shares of the company, until retirement....

To read farther

A stock market index is a statistical measure of changes in the securities markets. An index represents a portfolio of securities traded on the market that is considered to be reasonably representative of the market as a whole. Each index has its own method of calculation. It is generally expressed as a change from its base value. For a better understanding of the stock market, an index should be read not at its absolute numerical value but at the percentage change in its numerical value. One cannot invest in an index directly....

To read farther

Do you have a nest egg? You know, a place you are stashing away money for the future - retirement, down payment on a house, the kids education. That kind of thing. How're you doing? If you have been putting it in the stock market you have been watching it get smaller instead of bigger. Your nest egg is becoming an omelet instead of hatching into a wonderful creature. There are places for your money, but for the next few years you will be better off in a simple savings account or money market fund....

To read farther

What are you thinking when it comes to your no load mutual fund selections? Are you saving pennies and sacrificing dollars? Are you spending your time looking at expense ratios, analyzing Morningstar ratings and searching for funds with low fees and no 12b1 charges? If you are like most people, you know these things in and out. You've spent hours evaluating them, and your chosen mutual funds cost little to purchase and maintain. But they still don't perform to your hopes and expectations. So, why is this happening?...

To read farther

Robert Rodriguez likes to buy stocks at their lows. When there are not enough stocks hitting new lows, he closes his fund and piles up cash. This is what he has been doing lately. His moves deserve attention for good reasons, his $1.7 billion FPA Capital Fund has averaged an annual total return of more than 17% over the last 20 years, net of sales charge, handily beating all the benchmarks by wide margins. As Robert Rodriguez finds slim pickings in the stock market, his goal has changed to capital preservation....

To read farther

The problem is that if you don't know what stocks to look for and how to approach them while limiting your risk, you won't even get close to making some profits. You don't necessarily have to trade momentum hot stocks all the time. But you can learn how to take advantage of them when you encounter the best opportunities while at the same time limiting your risk. If you want to learn how to trade and pick stocks with momentum in a simple yet effective way every week, just log on to HotInPlayStocks....

To read farther

"Buy and hold" is one of the most heralded investment strategies promoted today. "Buy and hold" is also one of the few investment methods where you are guaranteed to lose money 2 out of every 5 years...so why do it? Before expanding on the questionable value of "buy and hold", it's probably best to take a deeper look into who's spending their millions of dollars of marketing money convincing you that "buy and hold" is the best idea and why. "Buy and Hold" Promoters Mutual funds have a strong vested interest in having you buy into the "buy and hold" mentality since their entire business model depends upon the average investor keeping their money parked....

To read farther

If you don't know what a Roth IRA is then stop everything, print this article and read it carefully as this will certainly be the most valuable information you read this year. This next retirement account is to your net worth what light bulb was to electricity. Let me tell you about this wonderful financial invention called a Roth IRA! The main difference between the Roth and traditional IRA is that with the Roth you pay taxes first and then make the contribution. This is absolutely fantastic if you make a lot of money in the stock market because you NEVER have to pay even a dime on the capital gains!...

To read farther

Two weeks ago I wrote about what the Securities and Exchange Commission was doing to regulate the mutual fund industry to help the small investor, the "poor folks". It really added up to zero. Now the SEC is going to make new regulations for hedge funds to protect the rich folks. And it is more window dressing. In fact, it looks downright stupid. When I say rich folks it is because in order to qualify to invest in a hedge fund you must have assets of one million dollars and income of $200,000 per year for a single person and $300,000 for a couple....

To read farther

It's about time someone spoke the truth concerning outsourcing. The politicians sure won't. They prefer to do finger-pointing saying it is "his fault". It is those greedy manufacturers who want to make bigger profits by having cheap labor in Asia perform your task for less money. Did anyone ever tell you that if it wasn't for outsourcing you might not havea job? Did anyone ever tell you that the underwear, shoes, jewelry and hundreds of other items you own would cost much more if it wasn't for outsourcing?...

To read farther

Very few people, even professionals, have heard of the Dalbar Study that originated in 1995. Its purpose is to determine the profitability of trading for the small investor of mutual funds. Their results are even worse than I thought. The BuyNHolders will love the results as it "proves" that buying and holding is better than trying to switch to so-called "hot" funds. My readers know I think that mindless buy and hold is a guaranteed loser - and I can prove it. During the greatest bull market of all time from 1984 to December 2002 the study came up with an annualized return of 2....

To read farther