Online Trading - The Stock Market is Booming But Be Warned

Written by John Atkinson


This article was printed in Alan Hull’s weekly newsletter ‘ActVest’ for Active Investors in March 2005 (available from www.alanhull.com) and is reprinted here with Alan’s permission.

I hadrepparttar pleasure of being invited on a friend’s yacht to sail in a race on Sydney Harbour yesterday. On board, as one of our motley crew, I met a top ranking corporate executive from one of Australia’s largest banks, who we’ll call ‘Phil’ here forrepparttar 138801 purpose of this article. Afterrepparttar 138802 race ended and after being told of my trading experience, he told me he has a large stock portfolio, many of which are speculative resources stocks. He said that he’s excited by allrepparttar 138803 money he’s making and wondering how long this has been going on?

As would be expected, ‘Phil’ also asked me for some “hot tips” for more stocks to buy. He was surprised with my reply when I told him Daryl Guppy’s standard response of “Tips are for waiters” and that I thought he was askingrepparttar 138804 wrong questions. (Daryl Guppy is a well known Stock Trader and International bestselling author - see www.guppytraders.com)

Rather, I explained he should be asking: * How much longer will this last? * When it finishes how will I know & what will I do? * How do I find out about Technical Analysis and Money & Risk Management? * What’s a Trading Plan and how do I put one together and follow it? * How and when do I add torepparttar 138805 stocks I already own? * How should I structure my portfolio regarding individual stock risk, sector risk and total portfolio risk? * What’s my exit strategy for each stock I own? * What’s my exit strategy for my whole portfolio? * How do I keep accurate records and monitor my performance? * What am I going to do to learn more about myself and my own psychological weaknesses (many of which I may not even realise I have) that can make allrepparttar 138806 difference as to whether I win or lose long term?

‘Phil’ was genuinely surprised that I had takenrepparttar 138807 wind out of his sails – luckily it was after our sailing race together, but hopefully before he loses his own financial race.

In January at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb193459.htm I issued a worldwide press release to caution unprepared novice investors and traders ofrepparttar 138808 potential pitfalls ahead inrepparttar 138809 market. My wife Angela and I lost our waterfront home on Sydney Harbour inrepparttar 138810 'Tech wreck' of 2000, so we speak from hard personal experience.

As complete novices inrepparttar 138811 market in 1999, we doubled on paper a large stock portfolio in only six months.

Then in less than a year we suffered catastrophic losses inrepparttar 138812 tech stock crash of 2000 and beyond: * We were set back more than 15 years financially and emotionally * We were forced to sell our waterfront home –repparttar 138813 very same house we had set as a goal soon after arriving in Australia as new and penniless immigrants in 1979. We began renting what I called a ‘dog box’ - asrepparttar 138814 housing market then rocketed. * Angela was working as a retail assistant

I have a First Class Honors Degree in Civil Engineering that didn’t help. In fact I have since come to understand that it actually helped to work against me. With our experience of riding some ofrepparttar 138815 largest waves (up and down) inrepparttar 138816 market and having lost hundreds of thousands of dollars inrepparttar 138817 process, we know more than most stock traders inrepparttar 138818 world ofrepparttar 138819 pitfalls that await unsuspecting novice traders and investors. We have since greatly appreciated being exposed torepparttar 138820 successful methods taught by expert traders Alan Hull, Daryl Guppy, Jim Berg, Dr Van Tharp and others to trade profitably and with better risk control.

The forum for serious investors www.stockmeetingplace.com isrepparttar 138821 only chatroom where you will find Daryl Guppy. We recently receivedrepparttar 138822 following response from a fellow Australian trader Nathan Unger on that site (see below): “...thank you for sharing. Your comments on this subject are very insightful, and rightfully so considering your near trading death experience, per se. Failure is always such a difficult moniker to be branded with, for it involves us having to acknowledge that we were wrong. Of course, acknowledging our mistakes means that we must swallow our pride – an admittedly difficult feat for many traders. Grappling with our own motives amidstrepparttar 138823 psychological matrix that isrepparttar 138824 stock market is, to sayrepparttar 138825 least, a bewildering struggle. In an almost paradoxical fashionrepparttar 138826 stock market can create whelps out of us through both our losses as well as our victories. We are unnerved when we lose and must somehow musterrepparttar 138827 courage to tentatively re-enterrepparttar 138828 markets. Yet, potentially even more dangerous arerepparttar 138829 unbridled successes that often distort a trader’s perception about their ability to regulate further success – successes that work to chiderepparttar 138830 future admission of failure. Who would have thought that winning could actually become a setup for losing – a conundrum ofrepparttar 138831 worst kind? I know of no other occupation that hasrepparttar 138832 ability to masquerade as both friend and foe and then make you think that you can tellrepparttar 138833 difference. Your experience is, I believe, a treasure worth perhaps more thanrepparttar 138834 sum of your losses. It reminds me of howrepparttar 138835 most seaworthy vessels have typically been known to berepparttar 138836 ones that have weatheredrepparttar 138837 most devastating storms. Yours is a stellar effort, my friend. I will most certainly be purchasing your book.

Small Businesses and the Benefits of Offering Benefits

Written by Anna Dorbyk


Small businesses comprise over 97% of employers in Canada andrepparttar United States. Despiterepparttar 138784 significant number of small businesses, these smaller companies tend to offer fewer health-oriented programs than larger corporations. Research indicates that today’s employees are more likely to accept a position in a company that offers an attractive benefits package. The necessity for small business health insurance is becoming a more pressing matter for employers.

The evidence garnered from employee satisfaction surveys given in over 1000 large and small businesses in Canada clearly supportsrepparttar 138785 importance of health benefits. In addition to being a determining factor inrepparttar 138786 decision to join a company, many employees stated that being offered health benefits directly impacted their performance at work. Employees indicated that having health coverage gave them an increased sense of wellness, knowing that they were protected inrepparttar 138787 event of illness or emergency. As a result, employees felt that they were less likely to miss work due to stress (a decrease in absenteeism). The survey results also indicated that employees were more loyal to their company when they felt that they were adequately provided for.

Small business health insurance is easily implemented. It is prudent ofrepparttar 138788 employers to carefully assessrepparttar 138789 needs of their employees before opting for a benefits plan. The plans may be offered as optional in order to appeal to only those who require health insurance. For interested employees, flexible benefits that are tailored to their individual needs may also be offered.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use