The Best Time to Invest in Stocks

Put away your calculators and software programs if you want to get the feel for stock market timing. You'll never beat the other players if you follow the herd.

Above all else realize that all you need to do to win at the stock game is to stay one step ahead of the competition. You can do this only if you concentrate on understanding human nature and human emotions.

If you honestly believe that on a day to day basis that the stock market is rational, you haven't played the game long enough or been paying attention to the reality of the game. If you actually believe that someone can sell you a program that guarantees success in the stock market, it's time to change your thinking and refocus your train of thought.

The best time to invest in stocks is when there is "blood in the streets", and fear dominates investor behavior. The problem is that as an investor you are human as well, and are subject to the same emotions as everyone else.

What do investors do when overcome with fear? They capitulate ... they sell their stocks. This might have sounded academic before September of 2008, but if you were paying attention to the markets between September 2008 and March 2009, you saw investor fear in action.

So, how do you know when the best time to invest is?

If you are a serious stock investor, you were fearful in the above time period as well. I've been playing the game since 1973, and I felt it. Lucky for me, I had little invested in stocks in September 2008. In the months that followed I was waiting for the right time to start buying.

The best time to buy is when you are scared, but you are firmly convinced that the market (most investors) has truly overreacted to a bad situation. When folks are fleeing for the exits in panic ... selling indiscriminately ... it's time to step up to the plate and start to buy.

Don't go all or nothing. Keep some powder dry and invest in steps. You will probably never in your investing life fire one shot and hit the market bottom.

Think back to early 2009. Stocks had been falling for months on bad (horrific) news. Then, in mid-February, selling intensified and stocks started to fall like a rock. This was your invitation to start buying.

If you have always viewed the stock market from afar with nothing invested and nothing to lose, you've never felt the fear that overwhelms many investors in times of market stress.

Take it from someone who has been directly involved in three scary bear markets (1973-1974 ... 2000-2002 ... 2007-2009). Fear of losing your money is real and greatly influences investor behavior.

In times of great uncertainty think with your head and do not make investment decisions out of emotion. The best time to invest in stocks is when the heavy selling is at a climax. Shortly thereafter, all who were fearful enough to sell already have, and rational investors are starting to rush in to buy at bargain prices.

When buying and greed take control, prices go up and those who are still in the game make money. Then it becomes a matter of someday determining the best time to sell, because every market trend comes to an end. 

A retired financial planner, James Leitz has an MBA (finance) and 35 years of investing experience. For 20 years he advised individual investors, working directly with them helping them to reach their financial goals.

Jim is the author of a complete investor guide, Invest Informed, designed for average investors or would-be investors of all levels of financial background and experience. To learn more about investments and investing and his new financial guide go to http://www.investinformed.com

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Getting Started in The Stock Market - How Much Should You Invest & With Who?

Thinking about investing in the stock market? Not sure where to start? Here is a step by step guide to getting started in the stock market.

Step One: Evaluate Your Financial Situation

Before getting started in the stock market, it is important to determine whether or not you can really afford to invest in stocks. Start by looking at both your savings and your debts. If you have credit card debt or an auto loan, it would make no sense to invest in the stock market. The average annual stock market return is seven percent. If the interest rate you pay on a credit card or auto loan is any higher than that, you will be much better off paying down your debt versus investing in stocks.

Step Two: Decide What to Invest In

The next step involves deciding which stocks to invest in. You have two main options: straight out stocks or mutual funds. Stocks are shares of ownership in a company. A mutual fund is pooled money from a large group of investors that is invested in stocks, bonds, and other securities. Mutual funds are often the best choice for beginning investors because they are managed by someone else and are easy to invest in. Whatever investment option you choose, be sure to research your picks before you buy.

Step Three: Decide How Much to Invest

When you have chosen your investment vehicle, the final step is deciding how much to invest. A good rule of thumb is to not invest any more than you can reasonably afford to lose. No stock pick is guaranteed, which means it is just as easy to lose money as it is to make money. It is also important to think about diversification. Spreading around the money you can afford to invest is the safest way to get started in the stock market.

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How to Invest in Stocks Wisely

Investing is stocks are one of the largest ways that people look to make residual income when it comes to stockstackup.com" title="investments">investments. In fact, many people use stocks as a way to build on their retirement funds and trusts. It is important to know how to invest in stocks even if you are using an investing company or a brokerage to handle your trades.

Knowing how to invest in stocks can keep you informed and help you to make wise investment choices. When looking into how to invest in stocks the first thing to do is look into the various things that are going to affect the market. There are some things that will affect the market on a wide spread basis and there are some that are going to affect only a particular portion of the market. Knowing this information is going to assist you in determining where to invest and how to invest your money on stocks of interest.

Once you have some of the stocks that you are interested in it may be a good idea to get the trends and patterns that are formed by the movement of that particular stock. This will tell you when to purchase the stock, when to sell the stock and how to predict when certain stocks may become more viable investment options.

These patterns and trends require some mathematical computation. As a result these are best done by entering data into an application designed specifically for marketing analysis. These applications are readily available and many stock investment software applications provide reporting functions that can help with these stock analysis.

Knowing how to invest in stocks is the best way to protect yourself as well as your investment. In order to minimize the financial risk at the same time you increase your potential gain it is best to be an active participate in your portfolio. Know what the market is that you are investing in, which stocks and what types of factors have a direct effect on that particular market as well as the market in general this will help to reduce the risk of losing your investment.

You do not need to be an expert in stock investing in order to be actively involved but you will probably need to invest some time in researching terms, trends, and how to spot things that will potentially bring about a greater return for you and your investment.

Whether you are investing as a way to earn extra money, as a job, or to save for retirement being able to actively participate or trade on your own is something to consider seriously. This helps minimize the risk whether you are investing on your own or you are investing through a brokerage firm. Stocks especially cheaper stocks can contain a greater amount of risk due to fluctuations that larger more stable companies. While this does present a less stable trading environment you can see a greater amount of potential and using a reporting of the patterns and trends of the stocks are part of knowing how to invest wisely on the market.

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How To Invest In Gold - Stock Market

The diversified portfolio has a small position in the gold market. For some investing in such market means holding its coins. Some speculators buy the contact futures on the commodity exchange. Future contracts are risky because you are betting that the price of the commodity will go higher in the future. The contract requires a relatively small up front payment, but there can be daily fluctuations that require you have funds to back the dips in the price of daily increases.

The reasons investors have been interested in this commodity is that the old reasoning was that if the stock market was down the commodity market was generally up. This reasoning has become a possibility, but not an axiom of the current marketplace. The weakness in the dollar generally brings a surge in the price. The current price is in the range of $670. Prices have fluctuated within a range of $664 and the current high of $672. Traders think this product could easily go as high as $1,000 an ounce.

Investing in such commodity stocks and precious metal index funds can be purchased through a stock broker. A stock broker specializing in this area is very important because the investment needs savvy investment advice. Most of the larger brokerage houses have individuals that are specialized in the area of commodities and precious metal stocks.

There are certain international commodity stocks that are noteworthy. A Canadian based international player in this type of commodity market is Agnico-Eagle Mines. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock ticker AEM. The stock is also sold on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. This company has more than thirty year history in the production of this kind of commodity Since the year 1970s AEM has produced over four million ounces. The company is international and has operations in Canada, United States, Mexico, Sweden and Finland.

Other noteworthy of such stocks include; Barrick Gold Corp, Goldcorp Inc., Kinross Gold Corp., and Newmont Mining. All of these commodity stocks are currently trading on the upside, but it is advisable for all investors to make sure these stocks fit your investment risk potential.

In recent years the price of this commodity has been as low as the $450 an ounce range. Since the late 1970s it has made huge profits for holders of this commodity. The key to owning it, is to know the various resistance points and to assess the global market for the use of such. It is used primarily in jewelry manufacturing and other types of manufacturing. Currently in India there is a small slow down in the use of this commodity for jewelry making. The same applies to a degree in China. Whether it is enough of a slow down to effect the price of this commodity is uncertain.

Investors who trade in such commodity should seek the advice of an analyst that can factor in all the various aspects that affect the price of this commodity. If you own it as a hedge against a weak dollar you should look for any strengthening in the dollar. The important thing to remember is to guide your investment in it to a level that you are comfortable. If you bought spot of this commodity at $600 an ounce, you might consider a rise to $720 a good profit. The rise to $1,000 an ounce may be bumpy and there is no telling when it will reach that level if it does as speculators have gambled.

There are numerous mining stocks of this product in the market and if you are interested in a small investment you can find these stocks in the $5 to $12 range. The smaller mining stocks of this product do carry a risk because a great deal of overhead goes into making a mining company profitable.

The range of risk and amount you decide to invest in this product is a personal choice. It is always advisable to seek the expert advice of a stock expert or commodity expert before leaping into this market. Another sage piece of advice I learned is to trust my sense of cashing out before the price drops significantly due to outside pressures.

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