Tag: investment strategies

  • Self-directed Investing – Advantages and Disadvantages

    Self-directed Investing – Advantages and Disadvantages

    (Updated Oct. 21)

    Self-directed Investing - Advantages and Disadvantages
    You’ll pay lower fees if you choose some online broker but you have to do everything yourself

    Self-directed investing also known as do-it-yourself investing is when you as an investor build and manage your own investment portfolios. That means you manage your investment strategy on your own. You are the one who decides which investments you want to buy or sell, and when. Self-directed investor ordinarily uses some online trading platform to make the trade. These investors prefer to forego the advice of an investment adviser since they are do-it-yourself types of investors. If you are a DIY type, here some things you have to take into consideration. Also, you’ll need to follow some principles. 

    Famous investor, Warren Buffet said: “Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ.” 

    This is particularly true if you know that self-directed investing is very simple. To be honest it isn’t the easiest one but also, it isn’t a terrifying type of investing. 

    Anyone who has done simple but serious research with due diligence can count to outperform the stock market. By self-directed investing, you could do that over a long period if you know how to create an investment portfolio capable of beating the market.

    Advantages of self-directed investing

    First of all, you’ll pay lower fees if you choose some online broker. That will allow you to trade with lower commissions and fees. This comes from the fact that in self-directed investing you don’t need any advice or advisor since you choose to be a DIY type of investor. Further, you can make your own research, and, based on it, you’ll make an investment decision. You’ll have control over your investment. As we said above, self-directed investors use online trading platforms, from websites or apps. That is a very convenient strategy because the provider will often offer you researching tools, stock quotes, interactive charts, and other important trading data. For example, you’ll have an opportunity to look at how your investment is performing in real-time. 

    Disadvantages of self-directed investing

    But there are some disadvantages also. The first one is that you have to do everything yourself. In self-directed investing the whole process is done by yourself. Research, picking the stock you want to buy or sell, you have to monitor your portfolio in person, to decide when to buy or sell. To aid this process, self-directed investors diversify investments. It is a good strategy that allows them to follow investments especially when the markets are volatile. 

    The additional drawback of self-directed investing is the possibility of overtrading. Online trading offers you to trade easy and quick, but it is a double-edged sword. If you’re not disciplined enough you may take too much risk and it will cost you additional fees. Additional fees could and will reduce your returns. Also, you can make some unexpected mistakes due to the fact that trading platforms operate so quickly. You’ll need to understand the platform you’re trading with, in detail. This is necessary to avoid buying and selling stocks at prices you didn’t want, particularly when the prices are changing fast and markets are extremely volatile.

    How to become a successful DIY investor?

    Set the orders

    There are some tricks of the trade very helpful in self-directed investing. Keep in mind you can set more than one type of order. When you want to enter your stock order it is a smart decision to set the limit orders. Meaning, you’ll have to establish the minimum stock price at which you want to sell and the maximum stock price at which you’re willing to pay when buying a stock. Also, set a market order. That will provide you to get the best price no matter if you want to sell or buy the stock, but the best price possible at the moment the market receives your order. For example, if you trade while the market is closed, you’ll receive the market price on the first following trading day. However, you have to be careful with market orders. That price could be lower, at least it can vary, from the closing price on the prior trading day. Nevertheless, market orders are the fastest way to execute your order while limit orders will provide you more control over your stock’s price.

    Cyber awareness

    Self-directed investing is commonly done through trading platforms as we mentioned. Hence, look at these trades as any other online transaction. You must have cyber awareness since safety is the main thing to think about in investing. Never place your trade by using some public wi-fi, keep your sensitive data, such as banking data, secure. Here are some tips on how to have safe clicking.

    Having a strong password is MUST, never use the same one for different sites. You know what an address bar is, right? Keep attention if it hasn’t a lock symbol. Well, it’s better to avoid such websites. Find a trading platform provider that will never ask to disclose your personal information or credentials in an email. The trusty provider will allow you to send inquiries through a secure message from your account’s homepage for self-directed investing.

    Choose your stocks without emotions

    If you want to put your money into companies and investments you “love” keep in mind it is so easy getting caught up in the hype of the cool investments that could generate great returns. Yes, we know that some of you did exactly that. It’s so easy to make a mistake if you put your money into companies that are currently popular and favored.  Avoid investing in such “frenzy” companies. Hot stocks are so seductive but they could last as long as a shooting star, for a few seconds before disappearing! Think twice if it is a good choice for you.

    Recognize your goals in investing

    Goals are an extremely important part of investing. You have to analyze them and come back to them from time to time and see if you stick to them. We all are going through different stages during our lives. Some major life changes might influence our investing goals. Since we are talking about self-directed investing you’re a lonely rider. There is no advisor to tell you what to do. So, it’s very important to reconsider investing goals from time to time. Your investment portfolio has to be aligned with your goals no matter what kind of investment horizon you have, short- term or long-term. Also, examine your risk tolerance, again and again. As times go by it might be changed so adjust your investment portfolio according to new risk tolerance. Maybe you should be less in stock, more in bonds, or vice versa. That’s up to you. Maybe you would like one of the lazy portfolios now, who knows?

    What investment vehicle is best for self-directed investing?

    First of all, there is no such thing as “the best investment vehicle” for self-directed investing. That depends on you as an investor and your goals. You can choose stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, whatever you like, and trade in the markets.

    But, selecting the right investment must be made carefully. Ask yourself what is your goal with this particular investment. Further, how it will influence your other investments in the portfolio. Be careful, you are managing your investments on your own. But relax, in online investing, you have many tools available. At your disposal are many advanced tools that may help you to select the best investment for your goals. 

    Does it matter in which sector you invest?

    This is a more serious question and you’ll need more work and researching. Some sectors may be more sensitive to specific economic circumstances or have poor performances, but others can be fantastic over certain periods. Guess! In online investing, self-directed investing, you have tools that will help you to decide which sector to choose. It is the same as picking the stock. That’s the beauty of online investing. Actually, you’re not alone but all decisions you make are done on your own.

    Use margin account smart  

    Every single investor or trader will request a margin account at some point to enhance chances to increase returns. If your investment is leveraged you’re able to buy more shares. Leverage is the process of borrowing money from a broker, against the investments in your account. When the market is going in your direction you’ll generate larger returns. Remember, you’ll have to pay back the money borrowed, plus interest but the rest is your profit if any. Yes, that’s the problem. If your investment pays not, you still have the obligation to pay back the borrowed money with interest. Hence, using leverage or margin accounts could increase returns, but also could enlarge the losses.

    Bottom line

    The success of self-directed investing heavily depends on your strategy. Your strategy is your best friend in investing. A friend that will give you a hand and lead you to reach your investing goals. You can choose among many strategies or create your own if you find that one strategy may not work for you. Investing is individual, so you have to trust your strategy. It must help you reach your investing goals. Which other purposes does it have? 

    You’ll decide if self-directed investing is suitable for you. No one else. And you’ll do it based on your risk tolerance and investing goals. We are here to point some other essential principles that can help keep you on track. Nothing else.

  • Concentrated Stock Positions Are Risky

    Concentrated Stock Positions Are Risky

    Concentrated Stock Positions Are Risky
    The worst-case scenario of holding a concentrated stock position is that the chosen company can bankrupt and the stock value drops to zero.

    Concentrated stock positions occur when you as an investor own shares of one stock in a big percentage of your portfolio. So your capital is concentrated in a single position. How big is that percentage? It depends on the size of your portfolio and the volatility of the stock. But concentrated stock positions commonly occur when that stock represents 10% or more of your overall portfolio. 

    The modern theory says that it can be any position size that may hurt your investment plan. So, we won’t be wrong if we say that concentrated stock positions are any portion in one single stock in your portfolio that have a major influence on your overall portfolio no matter if it is 5% or 55%. Generally, it is a position size that can destroy your financial goals.

    But nothing is so bad as it looks at first glance. Many people created their wealth by holding a single stock. So many families built a fortune in this way. The value of that stock grew heavily over time and the members of such a family inherit these concentrated stock positions, a large one that consists of just one stock.

    Don’t matter how the concentrated stock positions are earned, they always represent an unbalanced allocation of investments. Since the holder of such a portfolio needs to reduce risk, it is essential to understand it and maintain it properly. There are several strategies very suitable for handling concentrated stock positions.

    Strategies for handling concentrated stock positions 

    Have you ever heard a saying: “Concentrated wealth makes people wealthy, but diversified wealth keeps them wealthy.” It’s kind of credo among investors. Concentrated stock positions are challenging for managing. They have great risk potential included. So for that to be done, the investor needs a proper strategy.

    One of the most common strategies is selling the part of these concentrated stock positions or the whole holding on it. To be honest, that is the simplest way to reduce the concentration on the stock. 

    But there are some that may occur, for example, the capital gains tax is connected with selling. In order to decrease the tax, you don’t need to sell the whole position. Sell it in the parts. For instance, you can define an amount and sell one by one quarterly. Of course, you can choose a different time frame but the goal will stay the same, to reduce the concentrated stock position since you would like to reduce the exposure also. Depending on the position’s value it may take a few years unless the whole process is done. Some experts claim that 3 to 5 years is the optimal time frame for that.

    So you have two choices with this strategy: to sell the stock immediately or in portions over time.

    Hedge the position – a strategy for handling concentrated stock positions

    Those are actually two strategies but we’ll put them in one because they are connected. This is a bit of a complicated strategy but an effective one. Everyone wants to protect the owned stock against drops. You can do it by using options. So, think about the buying of put options as a kind of insurance against the potential losses in your stock. When you buy a protective put option, you’ll have the right to sell your stock, the whole or part of it, at a predetermined price. Don’t be worried if the stock price increases above the predetermined price. Your option will expire worthlessly and you’ll still hold your stock.

    This strategy is quite good if you need short-term protection, so think twice are you willing to use it because over the long run this strategy may cost you a lot.

    Also, you may sell covered call options. The strike price should be above the current market price. That will give you an extra income but the smallest protection against total loss if the stock price decreases significantly. Moreover, you’ll not benefit from price appreciation if you use covered call options as a strategy to handle concentrated stock positions. 

    Maybe you can use covered call options as a part of a well-organized selling process based on the market movements. Meanwhile, you get paid the premium.

    Diversifying

    It doesn’t mean you’ll make some small adjustments to your portfolios. Your main goal is to reduce the volatility that a concentrated position generates. And you cannot do that randomly, this diversification has to be exact.

    As we said, you can sell this large position at once but there are some problems that may arise. The most important is that you can reduce the value of your overall portfolio by doing so. For example, if you sell the whole position at once that could cause the stock price to drop in value. 

    Sometimes such a decision can be emotionally difficult. So, a staged sale can be a way to avoid emotional reactions when selling a large position. You can do this if you determine the number of shares of the stock you want to sell by a particular date.

    For example, you want to sell 21,000 shares of the stock over the next 21 months. And you decide to sell shares every quarter. There will be seven sales during this period, right? At the end of each quarter, you are selling 3,000 shares. This will not disturb you a lot, you have a schedule, your emotions will be under control, you don’t even have to think about the market fluctuation.

    Use the exchange fund 

    This method is useful when you find other investors in the same situation with concentrated stock positions and who want to diversify as you do. What investors have to do? What are their options? They can join their shares into a partnership where each investor gets a proportional share of that exchange fund. Since the stocks are not the same, each shareholder will have a portfolio of different stocks. That will provide diversification. The additional advantage of this method is that it provides the deferral of taxes. 

    The straightforward approach to diversify the concentrated stock positions

    It is rebalancing with a completion fund. We describe it above. It is simply selling smaller parts of your position over time. You can use the money you got to buy some other asset and have a more diversified portfolio. That’s how a completion fund operates. But as a difference from exchange funds, you are in control of your stock.

    For example, you own $10 million worth stock, and you want to reduce the exposure to this stock. But you would rather sell part of your position because if you sell $10 million in one transaction the taxes you have to pay would be expensive. So, you prefer to sell  20% of the position every 6 months, and use that money to diversify into other assets. Over time you’ll have a fully diversified portfolio adjusted to your risk tolerance. 

    Bottom line

    Some wealth transfer strategies could benefit you. For example, family gifting strategies, and charity gifting strategies such as direct gifts, foundation, or trusts.

    The most important is to have peace of mind. Holding such a great but only one stock that generated money for many generations is a great responsibility. But that kind of portfolio is very volatile and risky. So you have to be smart and find the concentrated stock positions exit strategy suitable for your circumstances and goals. Your chosen strategy has to increase your overall wealth. 

    These strategies can reduce risks, reduce the tax of reducing the position. They are worth seeking. If you still are not sure which strategy to choose, find a professional financial advisor.

  • A Bottom fishing As An Investment Strategy

    A Bottom fishing As An Investment Strategy

    A Bottom-fishing As An Investment Strategy
    The most popular bottom fishing strategy is value investing but traders also use technical analysis to identify oversold stocks that may be winning bottom fishing possibilities.

    Bottom fishing as an investment strategy refers to the situation when investors are looking for securities whose prices have lately dropped. Also, that are assets considered undervalued. 

    Bottom fishing as an investment strategy means that investors are buying low-cost shares but they must have prospects of recovery. This strategy also refers to investing in stocks or other securities that dropped due to the overall market decline. But they are not randomly picked stocks, they have to be able to make a profit in the future. Well, it is general hope.

    Buy low, sell high

    We are sure you have had to hear about the old market saying “buy low, sell high” as the most pragmatic and most profitable strategy in the stock market. But, also, it isn’t as easy as many like to say. You have to take into consideration several things while implementing bottom fishing as an investing strategy. Firstly, you’ll be faced with some traders claiming that it is an insignificant strategy. The reason behind their opinion is if you are buying the stocks that are bottoming you do that near its lowest value.

    The point is that almost every stock is a losing one. Usually, some momentum traders and trend followers will support this opinion. Where are they finding confirmation for this? Well, traders tend to sell to breakeven after they have been keeping a losing stock for a short time. They want to cut losses and that’s why they are selling, to take their money back and buy some other stock. Traders are moving on.

    Overhead resistance will affect the way a stock trades but it is expected when using this strategy. Moreover, overhead resistance isn’t as inflexible as some investors believe. 

    Bottom fishing is an investment strategy that suggests finding bargains among low-priced stocks in the hope of making a profit later.

    What to think about while creating this strategy

    The most important thing is to know that you are not buying the stock just because it is low-cost. Lower than ever. The point is to recognize the stocks that have the best possibility for continued upsides.

    Keep in mind that buying at the absolute low isn’t always the best time to do so. Your strategy has to be to buy stocks that have a chance of continued movement. Stock price change may occur on the news or a technical advancement like a higher high. A new all-time low can cause a sharp bounce if traders assume the selling is overdone. But it is different from bottom fishing. Bottom fishing as an investment strategy has to take you to bigger returns.

    Not all low-cost stocks are good opportunities.

    Some are low with reason, simply they are bad players. For example, some stock might look good at first glance but you noticed one small problem. Don’t buy! When there is one problem it is more likely that stock has numerous hidden problems. There is no guarantee that low stock will not drop further.

    Further, for bottom fishing strategy, you will need more time to spend than it is the case with position trading, for example. You have to be patient with this strategy. You are buying a weak stock, and they became weak due to the lack of investors’ interest. Do you know when they will be interested again? Of course, you cannot know that nor anyone else can. When you want to use a bottom fishing as an investment strategy you must be patient and have a time frame of months, often years to see the stock is bouncing back

    If you aren’t psychologically ready to stay with these trades for a long time you shouldn’t start them at all.

    The bottom fishing strategy requires discipline

    If you want to practice bottom fishing as an investment strategy you will need discipline. It requires extra effort. It isn’t easy for some aggressive traders to hold a stock for months and without any action. We know some of them that made a great mistake by cutting such stock just because they were bored. If you notice you are sitting in stocks that are dropping lower on the small volume you still can exit the position. The losses might add up quickly, so you’ll need to set a strong stop loss to avoid it. Even if you hold a stock paid $1. It can produce big losses over time if you don’t have at least basic risk management. Stop-loss and exit points are very important in this strategy.

    The two main types of bottom fishing

    There is the overreaction and the value. For example, the news of some company’s problems may cause a lot of traders eager to enter for a sharp recovery. The stock suddenly had a sharp decline but they may think the market overreacted and the stock will bounce quickly. That could be faulty thinking but what if the long-term bottom fishers start to buy that stock too? The company’s problems are temporary and as times go by, could be forgotten. 

    The point is that the bottom fishing on the news or even earnings is a good opportunity to trade a bit of volatility. But you have to be an aggressive trader and able to play the big fluctuations. These short term trades can easily become investments if you don’t pay attention to it. Before you enter the position you must have a solid trading plan with defined entry point, stop-loss, and exit point. Optimize your strategy before you jump in. There is one tricky part with cheap stocks – they can become cheaper.

    The essence of bottom fishing as an investment strategy 

    Bottom fishing is when you try to find the bottom of a stock that has a higher price. Let’s say a stock was at $200 and now it is at $20. When you try to bottom the fish stock you’re actually trying to catch its bottom and buy it and provide it to go to the upside. In simple words, you want to get a good deal, to obtain the lowest possible price or bargain on the stock. But, if you want a good bottom fishing you must understand how it works. There are too many fresh traders starting bottom fishing but ending up with stock lower or never getting out from that low level. They are spending years stacking in bad investments. Also, their money becomes locked in such bad investments. 

    A real-life example

    Nowadays, we have a big selloff in the stock market. It is a great opportunity to buy some stocks that were very expensive since they are much lower now. A high priced stock has the drawback. Everyone would like to buy but have insufficient capital. That’s why the trading volume of such stock can be small. And suddenly due to some unfortunate event, the price is going down. Buying these stocks is a very good opportunity because they have the chance to go back up to the top. But it is hard to catch the bottom for these stocks. So many investors push up the price in the hope to get out at a higher price.

    Are they right or wrong? It is obvious they’ll have to sell these stocks when they start to come back up to reduce their losses. That is the main disadvantage of bottom fishing if you don’t do it accurately.

    Bottom line

    If you want a proper approach to the bottom fishing, you’ll have to watch for higher highs and higher lows. When you notice in the chart that a trend line is moving up off of a bounce you’ll see the real bottom. Well, you might not catch it at the lowest point, but you’ll catch it in a range of 5% or 10% which is a good deal for long-term investment. That can be a good strategy for investors willing to hold a stock for several years.

    For example, the stock price had a sharp decline and fell from $300 to $100 per share over three days. You could determine it was due to market conditions. So, you are buying 10 shares for $1.000. Next week, the price returned to $300 per share. What are you going to do? Sell, of course. You can sell the share of stock that you purchased for $1.000 at $3.000 (10 shares at $300 each) and make a profit of $2.000. Really not bad.

    Bottom fishing as an investment strategy is attractive for boosting portfolio value. Also, it is good for fast making profit while the volatility in the market is present. But, keep in mind, it can be risky because you can’t be 100% sure how the stock or market will go, how the price will run as a result of investors’ behavior, or how the particular company will survive the problems in the global economy.