Tag: Money

All money related articles are found here. Educative, informative and written clearly.

  • How to Survive the Market Downturn?

    How to Survive the Market Downturn?

    How to Survive the Market Downturn?
    The global uncertainty due to the coronavirus outbreak forces investors to a smart allocation. Avoid companies with high debt, stay focused on the sustainability of earnings.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    How to survive the market downturn? We heard so many investors asking this. Boosting the concerns were profit warnings from the companies in Europe, the US, and all over the world. Everyone is talking that a key earnings target would take longer to meet. The reason is the coronavirus outbreak adds uncertainty in the main markets. Many well-known large companies plunged and had to mute growth for this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We are sure you are following what’s going one with that and also, we hope you are following WHO’s advice to protect yourselves.

    Our concern is how to survive the market downturn, what investors have to do now when the markets are down.

    Financial pandemic

    Asia Pacific markets dropped today (February, 28) due to fears about the coronavirus. These fears continue to urge a global sell-off.
    Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped more than 3% in today’s morning trading. South Korea’s Kospi and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200  fell more than 2% each.
    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.7%, while the Shanghai Composite fell 3.4%.
    Also, we have a historic plunge in the markets in the US. Three major US indexes slipped into correction territory on Thursday. The S&P 500 had the worst day since 2011. The Dow sank 1,191 points, which is a drop of 4.4%. This was the worst one-day point drop in its history.
    Coronavirus appears as a ‘financial pandemic’.  The global oil benchmarks, US crude, and Brent crude fell Thursday lower by 3.4% and 2.3%.
    Even China search giant Baidu warned that revenue could fall as much as 13% in the first quarter and its core business could fall by 18% compared to the same time last year.

    How to survive the market downturn?

    So, the coronavirus has continued to spread, the stock market has started to feel the uncertainty. No one knows how this situation could affect companies over the world. Or investors. This epidemic like any other came suddenly and caused a shock to the global economy. As always, this situation lead (and it did) to great changes in the stock markets. Investors’ fears became a truth. And also, this led to panic selling.

    What a great mistake!

    Why do we think it is a great mistake? Okay, we all want our wealth to grow, not to vanish. These stock market ups and downs are hard to look at for all of us. That’s why it is so easy to be caught in emotions.

    Investors are frightened and worried and that can lead to panic. And panic can lead to quick and imprudent sellings. We want to help you to avoid this mistake that may cost you very much.

    Let’s take a look at an example that may help you to learn how to keep your hands off your investments. Especially now with a major market slide. Let’s say you entered this year with $100.000 in your investments. But it is the end of February and the stock market is dropping (You have the last data above) and let’s say, you already lost $10.000. Can you afford to lose an extra $10.000 if the market continues to fall? So, how to survive the market downturn? If you want to survive this storm your first thought might be to sell off, for example, mutual funds and move into the money market. That’s a mistake, that’s wrong. Don’t do that! The stock market can rebound. Yes, it will take a few months till then, at least two, but when it does that you’ll be able to recover your losses and gain more. So, don’t keep your money on the sidelines. Investors that did such a thing extremely regretted it.

    Try to separate your emotions from the investment decisions. One day, very soon, whatever looks like a disaster now, can be just a twinkle in your investing history. 

    How to survive the market downturn by keeping fears under control?

    Do you know a saying on Wall Street? It is something like: The Dow climbs a wall of worry. What does this saying want to tell us? Dow Jones will continue to rise despite economic downturns, pandemics, natural disasters, or any other catastrophes. That’s why we have to keep our emotions under control, our fears in check. This market correction just looks like a massive disaster but it is just one short period in the market’s cycle. 

    Well, how to tell you this? When some economic slowdown appears it is so normal for the stock market to go negative. For long-term investors that means nothing. They bought their shares at a low price when the market was down. So, consider if there is a buying opportunity. Always keep in mind the old maxim “buy low and sell high”.

    Reexamine your portfolio and your investment strategy instead of panic. Choose to be strategic with actions.

    What are the benefits of a declining stock market?

    The market is down, so what? Will it be a market correction? No one knows. What do we have to do? To stick to our investment plan and goals. Don’t damage your portfolio. 

    Investors turn into stocks when the market approaches new highs. When the market drops they are running away. So, what are they doing? Buying high, selling low? The consequence is that they have poor returns. Can you see the problem? It doesn’t have to be like that. Some investors know how to benefit from the market drop, how to survive the market downturn.

    Ways to survive the market downturn

    Firstly, they know how to recognize the problem, meaning they understand the essence of investing. With that knowledge, it is more possible to avoid unfavorable investment performance. So, learn! 

    If we sell out of fear when the market is down, we are actually generating minimal returns. At least, we should think about this before executing a trade on such occasions. The next step is to change our mentality, the way we think. For example, we all like when the price of electricity goes down, right? But we are not excited when the stock price is going down. Here is the catch! 

    How can money go further?

    It can be achieved if we buy more shares since the prices are lower. We can buy more shares even if the amount of money we planned for that stays the same. So, our money will go extra. Further, we can reinvest dividends. That can be a notable portion of our returns. We found some studies that show the dividends added 5 percentage points of the entire 7.9% returns of stocks. These studies cover the period from 1802 to 2002. So, if we want better returns we need to reinvest dividends.

    One of the benefits of a declining market is a chance to sell high and buy low but through rebalancing. This means we have to sell winning assets, the assets that increased in value, and provide money to buy assets at a lower price but with a good future perspective.

    Typically, bonds are better players in everyone’s portfolios, so sell them and go into stock funds. Analysts revealed that this only step in rebalancing can increase risk-adjusted returns, even up by 21%.

    Is the dropping market a good experience?

    A dropping market provides us priceless experience. Don’t underestimate this. That new knowledge will give us a valuable answer on how to survive the market downturn in the future. At least, we’ll be able to understand how we manage our emotions. That can be the core of our future investment goals. If we feel uncertainty about every small change in stock price, we should go into a safer investment. Maybe stocks are not for us. But if we enter the fight and end up with more winners, only the sky’s the limit. 

    We don’t like to guess if this will be a market correction or not. No one can do that, whoever tells that can predict the next stock market move, lies. We don’t know.  All we know is that the best way is to stay in your investment plan. This is smart trading!

  • Passive Investing is a Good Choice

    Passive Investing is a Good Choice

     

    Why Passive Investing is a Good Choice?
    Passive investing is the way to force your money to work for you.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    Passive investing has become a significant part of the market. Finally! The low-cost index funds or exchange-traded funds are popular. However, there are still a lot of investors who are trying to achieve an excellent return through active investing. The question is why they are doing that when passive investing provides a better alternative.

    What is passive investing?

    It is investing your assets in funds that mimic a market. The main task of fund managers is to purchase the security in the precise proportion of a particular index to copy it. It is a passive investment. Sometimes you will hear the term  “indexed investing.” It is the same.

    Let’s consider a bit more the act of active and passive investing strategies. Three years ago, the S&P500 had a total return of 9.54%. What did every passive investor make? Precisely 9.54%.  On the other hand, an active investor gained 12,5%, but the other made just a 1,9%, or some made losses of -27%.

    How is that possible?

    The passive portion returned 9.54% and the total market returned 9.54%.  But returns before the cost is not what should be counted. You should count what you actually earn. And what is that? The returns after cost and after-tax.

    So, where is the catch?

    Passive management is cheaper than active. Active management is more costly. If you know that the cost of managing an index fund is between 0,15% and 0,50% rely on the market replicates, you will find that an active investing will have a minimum of 1% higher costs than passive investing.

    That 1% is 100 basis points and may not sound a lot.

    But let’s consider the following situation.

    Let’s say you put your money in the bank account instead of buying stocks because you don’t want to pay that 1% of costs. You are short immediately 5-6%. Your wealth is worthless. Actually, if you invest that amount in stocks there is a chance to gain more. With putting money in the bank account you will lose 15-16% of your net profit from potential investments in the stock market. In only one year. Over time this difference could considerably decrease your wealth. It will surely lower your standard when retirement. 

    The costs of active investing are not only fees. The activity by nature adds more costs. The active trades create capital gains more often than passive investing. So, why wouldn’t you avoid them entirely? It is simple math. If you want active investing you would pay more. Just take into account the taxes and costs. 

    So, we have to say, index funds and passive investing can be a better option than actively managed funds. 

    Passive investing in index funds has changed the investment world.

    In 1975, Jack Bogle, the father of passive investing, introduced the index fund. His radical idea showed the financial sector regularly cheated the individual investor with the unknown and opposed fees.

    This doesn’t mean that everyone should be indexed. Of course not. Active managers’ choices hold prices closer to values. That allows indexing to operate. Index investing means to leverage their trade without paying the costs. The majority of investors decide to index part of their money, some do it with all of them. But the others want to explore the less-priced securities.

    Let’s consult the statistic, in 2017, the percentage of securities owned by passive fund portfolios was about 5% of the total in the global market. The biggest part it took in the US where it was 15 %.

    When it comes to investing, you can choose between active and passive investing.

    Picking the right is crucial to your investing profit. If you make a mistake, you can end up with money loss. With the right one, you are the winner and you can make a big success in the stock market.

    How to find the right passive investing opportunity?

    Passive management requires buying investments that track an underlying index or making asset allocation and holding to it for the long term.

    One form of passive investing is the mutual fund investment because the mutual fund’s purpose is to return what the S&P 500 returns every year. The advantages of passive investing are numerous.

    Passive funds don’t require you to make trades and adjust holdings daily. The management fees are much cheaper, which is a benefit in the long run. You will always get the same percentage as the market returns. Good or bad, but the same.

    Passive investing is easy. You just have to pick some investments and that’s all. There is no need to monitor the market every second and make changes or to try to catch price swings. But passive investing is not for investors who want to beat the market. Yes, you can do it from time to time, but all the time. So, probably, if you are not a professional you will make big losses.

    Passive investing is more than set up your portfolio and don’t touch it anymore. You have to monitor your portfolio and make corrections as the market moves. You have to rebalance.

    Say the stocks increase in price, bonds are falling. If you have a 60% stock and 40% bond in your portfolio, this price movement requires an adjustment to 70% stock and30% bond in the portfolio. In case you never make these changes in your portfolio you will take on too much or too little risk. You will not achieve your targets. So, some monitoring has to be done. In the first place, you have to think about your money. The money is not just a piece of paper. Having money means that you are free and safe.

    You have to force your money to work for you. Passive investing is for sure a good way.

     

  • How to research and choose stock?

    How to research and choose stock?

    How to research and choose stock?
    Here you’ll find a full explanation on how to research stock.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    This is the main question: how to research stock? Investors have a name for all types of research, one of them is fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis involves looking at numbers and other measures in a company’s financials as well as assessing the less tangible aspects of a business.

    This approach can help you decide whether a stock deserves a spot in your portfolio. Pick a company you’re interested in. Read current and past annual reports and letters to shareholders. Collect the numbers and financial ratios and compare the company’s performance history to the industry and its rivals. Then work through the list of qualitative questions.

    How to perform a technical analysis

    Technical analysis is a way to understand market psychology or what are investors’ feelings about a company, which are manifested in the stock prices. Also, technical analysts are mostly short-term holders, concerned about the timing of their buys and sells. If you can identify a pattern, you could have a chance to predict when stock prices will fall and drop.

    This is useful in how to research stock because it can inform you about when to buy or sell certain stocks.

    The technical analysis makes use of moving averages to track security prices. Moving averages measure the average price of the security over a given period of time. This helps traders to easily identify trends

    Use patterns as a tool on how to research stock:

    Patterns include known price boundaries in the market price of a stock. The high boundary is known as the “resistance.”

    The low boundary is called “support.”

    Recognizing these levels provide a trader to know when to buy (at resistance) and when to sell (at support). And there are some specific patterns that are also noticeable in stock charts.

    The most usual is  “head and shoulders.”

    This shows a top price then drops, followed by a higher peak then drops. And eventually follows a peak alike in height to the first. This pattern indicates that an upward price trend will end.

    There are also inverse head and shoulders patterns, which mark the end to a downward price trend.

    What is the difference between a trader and an investor?

    An investor search for a company with a competitive advantage in the marketplace that will provide sales and earnings growth over a long period. A trader tries to find companies with a price trend that can be utilized in the short-term.

    Traders typically use technical analysis to identify price trends. Investors typically use fundamental analysis, because they are focused on the long term. The decision, will you be a trader or investor, will determine you how to research stock.

    What orders do traders use?

    Orders are what traders use to describe the trades that they want their brokers to make for them. There are a lot of different types of orders.The simplest type of order is a market order, which buys or sells a set number of shares of a security at the prevalent market price. A limit order buys or sells a security when its price reaches a decision point. For instance, placing a buy limit order on security will order the broker to only purchase the security if the price fell to a some defined level.

    This allows a trader to specify the maximum amount willing to pay, a limit order guarantees the price the trader will pay or be paid, but not that the trade will happen.

    Stop order tell the broker to buy or sell a security if the price rises above or falls below a certain point. But, the price that the stop order will be filled at is not guaranteed because it is the current market price.

    What is short selling?

    Short selling is when a trader sells shares of a security that they do not yet own or have borrowed.

    It is typically done with the hope that the market price of the security will fall. As a result, the trader can buy the shares at a lower price than sold them for in the short sale. Short selling is useful to exit a trade in profit or to hedge against risk. But it is very risky.

    This should only be done by experienced traders who understand the market thoroughly.

    What matters is developing greater self-confidence and knowing the limitations of what you can really learn and find out.

    Also, there is a combination of stop and limit orders called a stop-limit order. When the price of the security passes a certain level, this order specifies that the order becomes a limit order rather than a market order as it does in a regular stop order.

     

  • Successful Forex traders – What are the characteristics of them?

    Successful Forex traders – What are the characteristics of them?

    2 min read

    successful Forex traders

    As we know almost 95% of Forex traders fails. But 5% have success.

    So what is it that puts these traders in the top 5 percent?

    Typical reasons such as experience, discipline, and fortitude?

    We’ve all heard about that. But what is it that really makes them spot?

    In this article, I’m going to analyze lesser-known characteristics that successful Forex traders have in common.

    When I say successful Forex traders I mean consistently profitable.

    Let me be crystal clear.

    So many people talk about whether anyone can consistently profit from trading Forex.

    I know because I made big research for finding proof on the internet. I found articles, testimonials, videos… And what I found is that is the truth.

    Anyone can make consistent profit trading Forex and don’t ever let anyone tell you something different.

    And what did I find?

    What’s the secret to success?

    I have to say, the only secret is that there is no secret.

    But there is a piece of advice that will fully determine whether or not you are profitable. It’s a kind of habit.

    Every single successful Forex trader has it in common, and it’s not something you can negotiate.

    Successful traders never give up!

    I know because I found the stories.

    The ones about how some man tried for 3 years to make this Forex thing work, but with poor result. And he thought he just wasn’t for it. He failed because he didn’t recognize that his breakthrough moment was waiting for him just around the corner.

    That is the problem.

    There are so many traders who were fighting for years and suddenly took a break just before they made progress.

    I know, they were exhausted by a large number of failures. But if they had a couple of trades more, they would have succeeded.

    Never give up! This applies to all important things in life, but it’s never been truer than it is when it comes to becoming a successful Forex trader.

    They don’t “lose”

    Ok, every Forex trader has losses. That’s true.

    But, there is some difference between how the novice trader loses and how the successful Forex trader loses. What makes this difference? 

    In one word –  mindset.

    Most novices in the Forex market view a loss as a bad thing.

    Oh, no! It’s only one step on your way to winning.

    The successful trader doesn’t view it as bad or wrong. It’s not a penalty because the Forex market isn’t able to do such things.

    Forex market doesn’t know where you entered the market or where your stop loss was.

    So, where you find a possibility to be punished? Nowhere, it is completely impossible.

    Yes, I know! Making money is much more enjoyable than losing money.

    If your trade doesn’t go your way doesn’t mean you should take it personally or emotionally. Stop to think like this and prevent this hole to be deeper! The successful Forex trader has the mindset that a loss is simply feedback.
    successful Forex traders
    Losses are useful, they are very good teachers, they can be a powerful way to learn. Even a trade that ends up as a loss can be the right decision. How is that possible? If you’ve defined your edge, and the setup met all of your criteria to enter the market, then you did all you can do. The rest is up to the market. But some days the market just doesn’t play along. It isn’t your fault.

    Instead of giving up, you should ask yourself “would I take this same setup again next week if it presented itself?”

    If your answer is YES you are on the right path. But every time your answer is NO, you need to take a step back, figure out where something went wrong and correct it for the next trade.

    Each loss is an investment in your trading education. This is a constructive way of spending your own money. It is an investment with the best Forex trainer in the world – the market.

    They use price action

    Actually, they are using some form of price action as part of their trading strategy.  Because price action plays a major role in any strategy.

    It can develop and make stronger any trading strategy by providing areas to watch for potential entries as well as profit targets.

    A successful Forex trader has defined edge.

    Why the edge is so important?

    An edge is everything about the way you trade. An edge can help you to put the odds in your favor.

    Edge is a combination of the time frame you trade, your risk to reward ratio, the key levels you’ve identified, the price action strategies you use, etc.

    It is also important for your pre and post-trade routine. How do you handle losses or what do you do when you win? All of this, make up your trading edge.

    You don’t have to master all of these factors that make up your edge at once or to start putting the odds in your favor.

    It is better to master one set of factors and then leisurely expand to others to further clarify your edge.

    What are the characteristics of successful traders? 3

    This should be the favorite way to learn. Become a master of two or three factors. You’ll find much less stressful than trying to become good at twenty factors. When you’ve mastered three or four things, expand the others to put together the odds in your favor.

    Successful Forex trader never tries too hard.

    Because the successful forex traders know, trying hard is a sign that something isn’t right. Trying to force a trading strategy to work will only lead to destructive behavior, such as emotional trading.

    I remember the story of my friend when he first started trading Forex. He was spending countless hours studying setups. He spent hours and days and weeks doing so, ending up taking a completely different trade setup only to watch the original setup move in the intended direction without him.  

    He was trying too hard to make it work. As soon as he stopped over-analyzing trade setups and trying to make them work, his profit curve started to rise.

    Now he is spending 20 minutes per day looking at his charts. 

    They think in terms of money risked.

    You’ve never met a successful Forex trader who didn’t know how much money they were risking on any given trade.

    Surprising, the small number of traders don’t think about how much money is at risk before opening a trade. This is because they’re using an arbitrary percentage to calculate risk, such as one or two percent of their trading account balance.

    The trader’s only interested in how much money is at risk – they could care less about the percentage. They always define their risk in terms of money.

    They may use a percentage as an entrance of how much they’re allowed to risk, but when it comes to fully accept the risk before putting on the trade, they think only about money.

    And successful Forex traders know when to walk away.

    Walking away can be especially difficult after a trade. Our emotions are running wild and often take the best of us. Taking a break after a win will allow your emotions to settle. After the win, you may feel excited and proud of yourself.

    Yeah, you have every right to be. But pride and excitement are inadmissible in the Forex market.

    After a loss, you can go straight to the trap if try to go through the charts again looking for a new setup. Remember, your loss in some trade is just feedback. Take it as a signal to look at what you could have done differently. Successful Forex traders never do that.

    The key to becoming successful isn’t about eliminating emotions after a loss, it’s about channeling them in a way that will make you a better trader.

    And let’s go to the top of this article.

    The only way you can fail at becoming a successful Forex trader\ is if you give up. The next time you lose a trade just remember that not giving up is the #1 key to becoming a successful Forex trader.

    And you know what?

    Becoming a successful Forex trader is a marathon, not a sprint. So, keep it in your mind!

    Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

  • Investment Opportunities – How To Identify

    Investment Opportunities – How To Identify

    How To Identify Investment Opportunities
    It isn’t easy to find investment opportunities and anyone can fall into many traps while seeking that. Here is how to avoid them.

    By Guy Avtalyon

    Someone would say: We all know the basic words to successful investing: Buy low and sell high. But it isn’t so easy to find good investment opportunities.

    What else or different you can tell us?

    First of all, I have to tell you that investors need to have rules.

    Otherwise, the common saying can be difficult to perform, especially when many of your friends and colleagues are doing the opposite. If you don’t have a solid structure and order you are predestined to fail.

    Investing or trading is like a robotic work, without emotion and always strong adherent to your rules.

    You can find more and more investment opportunities opening themselves up to the investors. But not all of them are good investment opportunities. In fact, so many opportunities have drawbacks. First, you can be confused and may not pick the right one. Second, you might want to pick too many. That is dangerous per se. You can end up running like a headless fly, monitoring too many stocks, with investing more than it is reasonable. Hence, you may neglect something very important for your investment goals and financial security. The consequence easily could be your empty bank account or you’ll end up in debts.
    The following are things to look for when finding an investment opportunity.  If some investment opportunity has most of these things or all of them, you are looking at one that is likely to bring you wealth.

    For example, if you don’t see yourself owning stock in a company you are looking for in the next ten years, then you should stay away from investing in that company. Most of the money made in business investments come from owning stock in the company. Investors are leaving it alone until the value rises and reinvesting your dividends versus rapidly buying and selling your stock in a business. That is the so-called long-term viability.

    You have to measure the risk involved in a market investment against the potential reward. A good ratio is one to three. After that, you should set up a maximum acceptable loss.

    What is the first rule of investing?

    BUY LOW!

    Determine the baseline value for an investment or trade, and wait to buy it until the price is below what is reasonable. When the stock market declines and other investors panicked and start short selling, that is the best time to look for buying opportunities. Ideally, you want to purchase an asset after the price falls significantly, with the expectation that it will rise again in the future and produce a good return.

    All rules of investing

    The second rule of all investment is to SELL HIGH!

     

    After the price rises dramatically it is time to consider selling an asset. This is often a time of stock market growth when many people are impatient to buy into a rising market. When some investment shows significant gains, this is the ideal time to cash out and lock in your return. You could gather the income into a secure investment or look for a new underperforming asset and try to repeat your success.

    How to find investment opportunities?

    The golden rule is to LEARN FROM YOUR LOSSES! Yes!

    In trying to buy low and sell high, you are forced to make some mistakes. If it is easy to buy low and sell high, everyone would do it. Try not to lose sleep over it or give up investing altogether when you lose money on some investment. Maybe you just have to take a break for a while and later capture market returns with an index fund. Or you will learn to more carefully research investment before putting more than you can luxuriously afford to lose on the line. Your fears can’t be the limiting factor that mutes your potential. Let that storm be the fuel that moves you to success.

    Where to find investment opportunities?

    Use your fear to produce better outcomes!

    You should have a list of the investments you have made in the past. Think about what you could do to produce better outcomes in the future. You can get colossal insight from physically writing down outcomes you would like to avoid. That can prevent you from making emotional investment decisions. If you have a financial planner or adviser or someone else who will look over your investment ideas, that adds gravely deeper layers of reliability and responsibility.

    You have to have a plan to avoid later regrets!

    Of course, that large loss can cause you to regret because of bad investment decision. There’s also the regret that comes from watching other investments got wings. When you have a good plan of inventorying and you analyze your investment options often, that can help avoid a negative result. Writing it down makes it easier to stick to a plan.

    Ultimately, investing is about finding the lifestyle that you want to live. So, you can’t do that if never find good Investment opportunities.

    Choosing wisely may produce enough wealth to allow you to retire sooner or walk away from an annoying job. All you need is to use logic and stick to a financial plan to successfully build wealth.

  • Avoid Bad Investment Moves – Strategies that work

    Avoid Bad Investment Moves – Strategies that work

    2 min read

    Strategies to Avoid Bad Investment Moves

    It is possible to avoid many bad investments.

    If you know what “catches” to look out for and which clarifying questions to ask.

    Most bad investment scenarios can be avoided by following simple rules.

    First of all, you have to avoid emotional and personal investing mistakes, wisely avoid.

    Many investors, even the well learned, can confirm they made a rushed and impulsive decision and didn’t avoid a bad investment.

    Also, many have made decisions while high on emotions so as to score instant satisfaction.

    The danger of making bad investment choices cannot be overemphasized. You can use an extensive set of control strategies that people use to limit bad decisions.

    What are some of the bad investment choices you can make?

    * Failures of rationality – This represents the lack of possibility to see the bigger picture. The investor considers decisions in isolation and doesn’t include their impact on an entire portfolio.

    The consequence is that you can invest too much in a single asset class, industry, Or geographic market. Yes, because you know a lot about it and are comfortable with such decisions. 

    * Using a short-term decision horizon – when an investor is ignoring the appropriate goal of long-term wealth accumulation.

    The favor is short-term returns. 

    But you are here to stay. Right?

    The consequence is that losses are more likely in the short run. Much more than over longer time periods.

    People are twice as sensitive to losses as to gains. This behavioral phenomenon is known as “myopic loss aversion”. And their inclination to take short-term risks is too low.  So they often make the wrong investment decisions.
    Strategies to Avoid Bad Investment Moves 3
    * Buying high and selling low – means doing what’s comfortable amidst either bullish or bearish market conditions. The consequence is that when you are buying while markets are high or selling when markets are low is a risky strategy that fails to take advantage of market opportunities. A buy-and-hold strategy turns out to be superior.

    * Trading too frequently – this is the result of multiple emotional and personality-driven characteristic. That produces an irrational tendency toward action.

    The consequence is that investment costs are higher.  As the frequency of making the other types of poor decisions is increased.

    Strategies to Avoid Bad Investment Moves 4
    The experts recommend these seven self-control strategies. They can help counter your tendencies to make bad decisions and avoid a bad investment. The use of these strategies was not limited to investments and often included other behaviors and other important lifestyle decisions.

    Here are the seven strategies and their application to financial decisions:

    1. Limiting options – Purchase illiquid investments to avoid the urge to sell investments when the market is falling.
    3. Avoidance – Avoid information about how the market or portfolio is performing to stick to a long-term investment strategy.
    4. Rules – Use the rules to help make better financial decisions, such as only spending out of income and never out of capital.
    5. Deadlines – Set your own financial deadlines aiming to save a certain amount of money by the end of the year.
    6. Cooling off – Wait a few days after making a big financial decision, before executing it.
    7. Delegation – Delegate your financial decisions with others, allow your investment advisor to manage your portfolio.
    8. Other people – Use the help of other people to reach their financial goals. Make some appointment with your financial advisor to make and execute a financial plan. Certainly, you don’t want all your money in just one kind of investment. So you can safely choose a single advisor or firm to handle a range of investments.

    The stock market’s tendency to produce large gains and losses. So there is no shortage of faulty advice and irrational decisions. 

    As an investor, the best thing you can do to pad your portfolio for the long term is to implement a rational investment strategy. The one you are comfortable with and willing to stick to. 

    If you are looking to make a big win by betting with your money, try the casino.

    You should be proud of your investment decisions in the long run. In that way, your portfolio will reflect the solidity of your actions.

    You would this: Bargain Hunting – The Holy Grail of Investing

    Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)

  • Stock Market Is Going To Crash? Where Could You Put Your Money?

    Stock Market Is Going To Crash? Where Could You Put Your Money?

    Do you believe that the market will crash or you know? There is a big difference between what you believe and what you know.

    2 min read

    market crash

    Market crash or market not crash. If you truly believe the market is going to crash, there are a lot of sorts of places where you can put your money.

    You could buy gold or real estate or you could take an aggressive approach. And try to capitalize on stocks’  by loading up on investments designed to rise when the market falls or you could move it all into cash.
    But be honest.

    Do you really believe in such a scenario? Market, crash!

    There is a big difference between what you believe and what you know. Do you know that the market crash is close? When? Tomorrow? Next week?

    On the other hand, I can understand that someone can recognize market crash in this uproaring and uncertain times.

    We all remember, OK most of us, March 2009 and market crash.

    Everyone was extremely agitated about the falls in the stock market. And people were feared that the stock market might continue falling. Many people wanted to sell the holdings in his investment portfolio, move the proceeds to cash and sit out the market turbulence.

    And you know that emotions have an important influence on investor behavior and how do they make decisions.

    This can often lead to investors failing to capture the returns that are there for the taking. And as a result, suffering poor financial outcomes and according to some research, we are twice as sensitive to financial losses as we are to making gains.

    But is it so today?

    Is this the same situation? Will the market crash? Or it may not be. Think about it.

    The ones who like to predict disasters pointed to any numbers of reasons why they believe the market is headed to a crash.

    You have the choice to pick. From the growth-slowdown scare in China that sent stock prices down 12% in the summer of 2015; Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. Anything is supposed to be catalysts for a market rout. Obviously, some prediction of the market’s downfall is going to turn out to be right. But after the turnaround began in March 2009, it’s not as if investors knew the bear had run its course.

    While we believe we know where stocks are headed, we actually don’t.

    The same goes for market pros who may speculate and prognosticate (sometimes even provide valuable insights into what’s driving the market). 

    But they don’t really know what the financial markets are going to do in the near term. They don’t know will the market crash. 

    I don’t think it makes sense to shift your money around in an attempt to outguess the markets, whether that means going to cash to avoid a setback or moving to an investment you think will thrive while the market drop.
    That doesn’t mean you should sit back and do nothing.

    You can do the following things:

    The most important thing you want to confirm is your asset allocation or the percentage of your holdings that are invested in stocks.

    That will determine how your portfolio holds up if the market takes a major dive.

    Take this time to go over your holdings and tally up how much you have in stocks and how much in bonds and you’ll see how your portfolio is divided up between stocks, bonds, and cash.

    Second, figure out where your asset allocation should be.

    I’m sure you want a blend of stocks and bonds that will generate high enough returns so you can reach your financial goals but at the same time isn’t so risky that you’ll sell stocks in a panic during a major stock rout.

    Think back about how you handled past downturns or how you reacted when stocks began to dip and dive. You want to come as close as you can to a blend of stocks and bonds that you’ll be okay holding in a variety of market conditions. And then make all necessary adjustments.

    Then you feel you’ve got a portfolio that will provide sufficient gains during rising markets and enough protection during routes.

    You’ll be able to hang on until the eventual recovery, regardless of what’s going on in the market. The idea is to make sure your portfolio doesn’t become too aggressive during market upswings. Or too conservative when stocks take a hit.

    Making dramatic changes such as fleeing to cash or switching to different investments altogether, may be challenging at times when every news story or TV show you see seems to suggest that the market is on the edge of Armageddon.

    But you don’t want to let fear and emotions dictate your investing strategy and lead you to make impulsive decisions.

    Can I guarantee that this approach can provide you with the best results during the long – term? Of course not.
    This is just another  ”what would be if it were” scenario.

    Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)



  • The Dangers of Emotional Trading And How to Avoid That

    The Dangers of Emotional Trading And How to Avoid That

    2 min read


    Trading is less a business and more psychology from which your success or vice versa on Forex market depends. Even if you have decided to switch to systematic trading, this does not diminish completely the dangers of emotional trading and emotional pressure when you are deciding a trade.

    Often, Forex traders have the belief that only a complete absence of emotions can help during trading. Still, fear, uncertainty, greed, hope, faith, regret, and happiness inevitably follow the process of trade and may cause the dangers of emotional trading.

    Combating emotions at the moment when your feelings overwhelm, means ignoring the sixth sense, intuition, and finally insight. And what happens? You have brain fog!

    Why? It is known that emotions also transmit the flow of information to us. We are guided by this information, we behave under their influence. But this is given to us to control our emotions and to replace one’s feelings with others.

    There are many ways to control emotions and avoid the dangers of emotional trading:

    First, it is possible to change your emotions by concentrating on another object. As a rule, this method is very effective. The thing that attracts our attention becomes real for us. You can consider the suffering of losses, or vice versa, examine the possibility of making a profit.

    Second, by changing your views and beliefs you can change your emotions. Every belief we gain over our lives is, in a way, a filter for us, which is affecting the knowledge of all information. All points of view accumulated throughout life have an impact on the interpretations we receive in our mind.

    Finally, the third way to change your emotions is by modifying physiology. Change in breathing, mimics, body position, color and speed of our voice, all this has a direct impact on the emotional part of not only Forex traders, but any person.

    Concentrate attention to avoid the dangers of emotional trading

    The concentration of attention is one of the most important components of our emotional state. The fact that you are focused on the Forex trading process becomes not only the subject of reality but also the acceptance of the facts. All activities influence the interpretation of events and therefore affect our emotions. All this guides our behavior, and decisions get an emotional connotation. In this case, it is necessary to define the priorities: what are you waiting for? Do you think about the possibility of losing? Or expect a profit?

    Those who see only losses are likely to hesitate to invest in the market for too long and may even miss the transaction. But once they decide to enter the market, they quickly earn profits. Trading is an attempt to balance the contradictions. The trader should focus on profit and loss and try to balance them. The trader should focus on the likelihood of his/her methods and information provided by the market because they are the only ones that are correct and reliable.

    Physiology and the dangers of emotional trading

    It has been proven that our body manages our emotions and that emotions influence our thoughts. The easiest and most effective way to change your emotional state is to change your physiology – speed, and depth of breathing, voice or even your pose.

    Pay attention to your attitude, how you sit, breathe, and whether the muscles of your face, shoulder, or whole-body tense. If you feel sick, you should sit more comfortable. Fully simple physiological manipulation can be an effective way of controlling your feelings.

    Control your emotions, this will definitely make you a more successful trader!

    Understanding Fear

    When a trader gets bad news about a certain stock or the general market, it’s normal for the trader to get apprehensive. But at the same time, you must be clever, you must avoid the dangers of emotional trading.
    The dangers of emotional trading
    You need to understand what fear is: a natural reaction to what they perceive as a threat. In the case of traders, to their profit or money-making potential. Quantifying the fear might help. But you as a trader should consider pondering what you are afraid of, and why you are afraid of it.

    Yeah, I know! This is not easy, and you need practice, but it’s necessary for the health of an investor’s portfolio.

    Greed Is Worst Enemy

    “Pigs get slaughtered.” is an old saying on Wall Street.

    This means that greedy investors are hanging on to winning positions too long, trying to get every last tick. Greed can be devastating to returns. A trader with greed always runs the risk of getting whipsawed or blown out of a position.

    Greed is often based on an instinct to try to do better, to try to get just a little more.

    The first instruction is: A trader should develop a trading plan based upon rational business decisions, not emotional caprice or potentially dangerous instincts. A good trader should have trading rules and plans.

    Why are trading rules and plans so important?

    Before traders feel the emotional or psychological crunch, they need to create trading rules. That will keep your heads in the right place. You should lay out guidelines based on your risk-reward tolerance for when you will enter a trade and exit it, whether through a profit target or stop loss. The emotion is not part of the equation. It would be also wise to consider setting limits on the amount you are willing to win or lose in a day. If the profit target is hit, you can take the money and run. But if losing trades hit a predetermined limit, you can roll your tent and go home, preventing further losses.

    Every single trader should be able to read a balance sheet or a chart. But there is a psychological component to trading that shouldn’t be overlooked. You have to know how fear and greed can impact trading. That’s why you should exercise discipline, and develop trading rules and plans. Never forget that part of trading.

    If you have any experience with this, let us know. Share it all.

    Risk Disclosure (read carefully!)