One last point - no single method in technical analysis is sufficient for real-world investing. For example, even if you master Elliott Wave Theory or Gann techniques, by itself it would bring more heartache and disappointment. Often, you will need knowledge from other disciplines and sources to improve your overall investing skills.

Some tips for successful investing in stock markets.

1.Investing is a business. The rules of running a profitable business are same as investing in stock markets. 2.Learn to spot your own mistakes fast. When a mistake is made, exit your position and live to fight any day. The faster you realize your own mistake and faster you react will reduce your losses, hence increasing your chances of winning in long run. A useful method is using a 10% stop loss exit strategy. If you are long, and your stock price goes down by 10%, exit. If this same stock reverses and starts to surge, take this as your mistake of not identifying a more accurate (lower) entry point. 3.Understand yourself inside out. What makes you happy, sad, excited, depressed, ecstatic - whole spectrum of human emotions are merely states of mind. This is easier said than done but you have to keep improving your own control mechanisms. 4.Learn methods of successful fund managers – diversification, emotional detachment and having realistic expectations. Investing is a marathon not a sprint. 5.Money management skills. Whether amount is $10,000 or $10 billion, same rules apply. There are plenty of sources of information on this subject from internet. 6.Learn technical analysis. The main thrust of this article is to avoid making mistakes that will cost you dearly. How you prepare yourself for bear markets, sideways markets and market crashes are vital to your success.

There are no secrets in investing – no magic formula, no discovery of some useful ancient secrets. Just knowledge, hard work, common sense and discipline will serve you well in years ahead. This verse from a 2500-years-old text is a useful reminder:

“Those who know do not speak, Those who speak do not know.” - Tao Te Ching, 56th verse

Stan Seecrets’ Postulate: “There are two types of people in world – those who know what they don’t know and those who don’t know what they don’t know.”

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In your business plan, section following your accounting reports should be your MD&A. Your Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) is your explanation of why investor's money will quickly lead to cash flow or increased cash flow and profits. It should show how potential investment would result in increased retained earnings, a stronger balance sheet and greater corporate assets. Your goal is to specifically tie potential investment to your two accounting reports.

Two examples may make my point about MD&A. Let's say you have five production lines making widgets. You have a 20% backlog of widget orders. A production line costs $200,000. It is easy to explain in MD&A, citing your reports, that putting in a sixth production line will allow you to meet your existing demand for widgets. Or, lets say that your company is a startup REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust). Your business plan is to buy failed vacation apartment buildings along Cancun coast and covert them into retirement condos. Your reports will show negative cashflow from present apartment operation. Let's say that your plan is to convert first apartment complex into twenty beachfront condos and ten upgraded vacation apartments. Your MD&A shows that using $200,000 of potential investor's money, you will convert four of apartments. You will sell them for a given amount of money, while continuing to operate vacation apartment complex. You'll use profit from sale to buy next failing vacation apartment complex and so on. By reducing your available vacation apartments by 13%, you should increase occupancy on remaining apartments by same 13% and thus improve your P&L Statement. You will acquire another building complex and increase your corporate assets.

Sadly, credible numbers are not necessarily real numbers. As well publicized corporate failures like Enron and World.Com prove, numbers are often created. Auditors are human and subject to temptation. There are serious gaps in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Relying on unaudited financial statements is risky, if investor fails to do some due diligence about fund seekers honesty and competence. However, accounting reports are a far better source of business plan numbers than illusion of cashflow projections.