Learn Forex Trading - 4 Key Points for Success Part 1

If you want to learn Forex trading, and join the elite 5% of traders who make money, then you need to consider the following 4 key points. If you ignore these 4 key points, then youll lose money - and never achieve currency trading success.

Anyone can learn Forex trading - but most traders simply get the wrong Forex education and then lose their money.

Here are the 4 key points:

1. Youre On Your Own

There are many e-books and currency trading systems sold online, each of which promise you success in return for spending a few hundred dollars. However, these books and systems wont help you win in Forex trading.

If you think about it, if these vendors were so good at currency trading, they wouldnt need your money theyd be too busy making money trading. They wouldnt have the time, or inclination to sell you their winning strategies!

If you want to learn Forex trading, youre on your own - and you need to devise your own Forex trading strategy, in order to achieve success. This is a lot easier than many traders think and is covered in part 2 of this article series.

Theres another advantage to building your own Forex trading strategy which is:

Youll understand the strategy, and it will suit your trading personality. This will lead to confidence in your method - which is essential, if you are to follow it through the inevitable losing periods.

Its a fact that if you dont understand and have confidence in your system, then you wont have the discipline to follow it. Without the discipline to follow a trading system, then you dont have a system in the first place.

2. Use Technical Analysis

When you start to learn Forex trading you need a methodology - and the best place to start is with Forex charts - and a system based on technical analysis.

Technical analysis works because human nature is constant - and chart patterns repeat themselves. This means we can trade the patterns for profit.

Many traders like to trade using news - but this is a critical error! Why? Quite simply, news is stories - and you cant trade news for profit. The stories are interesting and convincing - and in most cases dead wrong.

The main thing to remember is that the Forex markets are a discounting mechanism - and news is instantly discounted in the price. This means that you are trading old information. The market moves on future perception - not what has just happened!

By simply looking at your Forex charts, and following price, you see the reality of prices now, and act on them - thats what makes technical analysis so powerful.

3. Keep it Simple

Any currency trading system based on technical analysis should be kept simple. Simple systems work much better than complicated methods. Why? Because theyre more robust they have fewer elements to break, in the brutal world of trading.

You should use trend lines, and just a few confirming indicators, to give you an indication of price momentum - and thats it.

In currency trading, you get your reward for being right, and the success of your trading signals - not the effort you put in.

4. Patience and Discipline

Youve probably heard that discipline is a key factor in successful currency trading - and it is, but dont forget that you also need patience. You need patience to wait for the right opportunities to present themselves. You also need patience to trade through the losing periods. Finally, you need patience to make the huge gains.

Many Forex traders lack patience and discipline, and trade too often. They cant follow a big trend they get excited when they make a decent profit. In their excitement, they cant resist taking their profit too soon - or move their stop to quickly. This leads to marginal profits - when they could have made a much bigger profit.

If you want to make money in Forex trading, then you need patience and discipline. Without patience and discipline, youre certain to lose your money.

Finally

The 4 points above are critical to your currency trading success especially when youre starting to learn Forex trading.

So far, youve learned that you need to devise your own system - to gain confidence and discipline. Then, by basing your system on simple technical analysis, you have the basis of your Forex trading strategy.

Part 2 of this article continues your Forex education with the need for money management, the best trading methods, and how to trade the odds in order to achieve success in Forex trading.

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Key Timing Builds Trader Confidence

Without a doubt, trading is 90% psychological and 10% technique. Without the proper mindset and attitude, the best trading technique does not stand a chance against a mind that is uncertain, afraid or greedy. The wrong attitude, the lack of real confidence, will assert its influence on any given trade and distort reality, resulting in making bad decisions and costly mistakes.

There can be several reasons that affect how a trader sees each trade or the market overall, or how the trader sees oneself. Without a careful self-examination along with professional direction, all the reasons may never be clear.

This article will address only one aspect of trading psychology, and that is 'trader confidence' as it relates to trading techniques.

Looking at this issue from the other direction, a trader can have very little in the way of psychological baggage and is best suited to trading, only to be hampered by trading techniques that do not instill confidence in trading decisions. Traders that lack confidence in their trading decisions are just as likely to make poor trading decisions that can result in poor results.

For nearly 20 years, my work has been mostly about market TIMING. Early in my trading career, I found myself putting on trades and then immediately starting to feel that perhaps I waited too long, or maybe I was in too early. Needless to say, this did not help in trying to manage the trade. The "not knowing" had detrimentally affected my decision making process and resulted in many painful outcomes.

With a deep study in market trend patterns, market cycles, and the development of mathematical/cyclic algorithms in forecasting future market tops and bottoms across several time frames, the issue of trading confidence became a thing in the past. There is a lot to be said about being 75-80% plus certain that the market is going to do what you expect it to do. It is good to know that you don't have to be 100% dead-on to build your confidence about your trading decisions.

The better the timing method, the lower the risk and higher the profit potential. An excellent timing method should allow the trader to determine before making the trade what the initial risk is likely to be. It should help determine when and where a trade should be initiated. And for many, it should provide ample trading opportunities.

Each trader, as part of their quest to reign in the psychological barriers that inhibit trading success, should learn to trade the markets with greater precision and come to be confident in the timing approach.

Key timing will undoubtedly include adjusting how a trader sees market trends, such as looking for opportunities to trade 'with the trend' as opposed to trying to sell the very top of a bull or buy the very bottom of a bear trend.

So in order to build trader confidence, learn effective market timing techniques that encourage trading 'with-the-trend' in order to keep risk low (helps control fear) and increase profit potential (no need to be greedy), along with good money-managing.

Of course if I left this article at this point without providing some information about Key Timing, it would leave many dissatisfied. So I will include my biased opinion about precision timing. Our trading membership (http://www.amazingaccuracy.com) specializes in precision market timing. Our trade setups are based on FDates, a proprietary mathematical/cyclical approach to calculate when to expect the market to make swing tops and bottoms in advance, coupled with a simple procedure to determine when and where to place our trades as well as know what our initial risk will be prior to putting on the trade. As mentioned earlier in this article, these are the things we need to build our confidence in the trading decisions we make.

Rick J. Ratchford has been trading since 1989 and since 1996 is an Analyst for ProfitMax Trading Inc., a membership for traders specializing in the advance forecasting of market tops and bottoms for Precision Timing the Futures, Commodity and Forex markets.

http://www.amazingaccuracy.com

"Know Today the Market Turns of Tomorrow!"

Tab Cards Took A Bum Rap In Florida Election And Still Are The Best Method For Voting

We had the following published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, during the recount of the tab cards votes in Florida:

.....Having a background in tab cards, I find it befuddling as to how this vote-counting mess can keep going on in Florida.

Tab cards are made of paper that is ever-changing depending on its surroundings. Tab cards - particularly perforated ones- were designed and made for machine processing. Their life span of accuracy is limited, especially considering how they've been handled so far in Florida. I guarantee that every manual recount will have a different result. ( If you took a deck of tab cards and slapped them on the side of a desk, you would have a different result, almost every time you did it. )

I can't believe, based on what I see on TV, that anyone can trust any outcome after the way these cards have been counted, stacked and rearranged. After all this manipulation, the cards are damaged goods. Even paper and stock card manufacturers would have a difficult time determining voter intent. Even if those who have handled the recount so far were replaced by impartial laymen in the court system, not much more objectitve reality will be reached as to who voted for whom.

Someone should call in experts if these legal maneuvers continue. In any other court situations, we always have the evidence tested for its validity. In Florida, it somehow was automatically assumed that the holes and chads will tell the story no matter where, when and how the tab cards were manipulated. Only God now knows the real count after the way the cards were manually handled.

( Written during the Florida recount in Dec. 2000.)

( It a sad commentary that this process was used to verify the election and even more sad that a data processing tool that was used for many years by major corporations by the millions during the most prosperous time in our history was foolishly rejected. Tab cards remain the best inexpensive method for voting but simple procedures must be followed. )

The tab punched card still remains the best way for voting. The card itself is a unit record. It is a physical hard record based on a manual punching of a card. For many years, companies ran their businesses with tab cards. However, all data was considered to be "raw data" until the data was verified in a separate pass. The tab card was called a unit record because the data on it was physically limited to the individual card. In any other electronic processing this is not case. Bits and bytes are only electronic pulses in a flow of a records. They can be a very long one based on arbitrary choices. Data or pulses can be changed at any time at will or by accident.

With the old tab card system, most of all data was verified. This should have been the case with the tab card voting machines. Tab cards were designed to be a machine run processes and not handled manually. Perforated cards that were hand punched were manually handled but after the fact, the rest of the operations were run by machines. In storage of any length of time, the cards were compressed because card stock is subject to the environment in many ways.

The only thing missing from the manual card voting systems was a verification pass. This could be a simple efficient inexpenvise step. The voter would punch out the holes beside their selection as they always have and then view a simple display - it could be video screen or even something simpler. The voter would then view their selections on the display and then press a verification button that everthing is OK. There would then be two records of the event - the card itself and the verified information in a simple computer fashion. The votes could then be tallied in batch mode with each batch having its own record. It could then go to a larger computer to process all the data but still have the original voting records in tact from the separate procedure, if there are any questions.

In the Florida voting problems, nothing was for sure once the cards were manually counted. Stock cards are paper products and paper is a dynamic element subject to its surrounding. For example, the cards only in boxes, that were transported in hot trucks in the Florida sun, were subject to many things. The cards could warp and popped the chads in an automatic response to the heat. Moisture also affects stock cards and could cause a horizontal or vertical bending of the card automatically. That is why it was nonsensical to watch all those people on TV checking the cards by hand. The data was still raw without any verfication process to back up the original voting selection. With all the manual handling only God really knew what was the original situation. With a simple second verification process, none of this would have been needed and the hard copy only had to compare with the verification after the fact with the clicking of the verification button on a simple display being the result of the individual voter action.

Compare this with a touch screen sophisticated computer devices. Bits and bytes of data are dynamic subject to changes at any time. The simple dynamics of card stock is easy to control. Electronic pulses are not.

For more real world information see Tapart News and Art that Talks at http://tapsearch.com/tapartnews and view the editorial art featured at Tapart News in one place at http://arklineart.fotopages.com

The author was a National Accounts Manager for several major corporations which used millions of tab cards for all kinds of processing for many years. He worked out of a tab card manufacturing plant. Similar tab perforated cards as used with voting machines were used for many applications including inventory control and for re-ordering from end user locations. "KISS" prinicple was followed - meaning Keep It Simple Stupid...... Some of the same information was published in a top newspaper story in about 2000. Email contact at tapin@safe-mail.net or go to http://tapsearch.com/tapartnews

Mens Skin Care Products

A while ago, men had to steal a bit of our wives, girlfriends or even sisters face cleanser or moisturizer. Of course we know it wasn't because we like to put on make up or play dress up. It's because we want to look good, clean and attractive for women. However, now a days companies are finally starting to respond to men's interest in skin care and today we have a variety of men skin care products on the market. Statistics show that just in the United States, men spend more than 4 billion dollars per year on grooming products.

I know some of you guys may still me tempted to just use whatevers in the bathroom mirror cabinet, but you have to realize that a man's skin and woman's skin is very different. The mens skin care products made today are designed specifically for men and our skin.

A man's skin is about 20 percent thicker than woman's, and its a lot more firm than hers because we have more collagen and elastin. Unfortunately, men have more active sebaceous glands; this means our skin tends to be oilier. Also, due to regular shaving, men's facial skin tends to get dehydrated.

While taking care of your skin sounds girlish, it'll actually get you more attention from the ladies because youre taking care of your appearance and more specifically your facial skin. Trust me, good skin doesn't go unnoticed. So it's time to stock up on some quality men skin care products and you can get these babies either online or at most local stores. Below I picked out some moisturizers for men that I would recommend. Remember, all of these products where mad for men and theres nothing girly going on here.

-Zirh Protect: Face Moisturizer
This is the ultimate environmental defense lotion for your face. It contains an effective moisturizer that leaves no oily film, improves your skins texture and slows your skins aging. Unlike many face lotions that contain mineral oil which may cause acne, this moisturizer will give you no problems.

-Brave Soldier: Brave Face
Brave Face immediately soothes, cools, and reduces irritation and redness after shaving. Healing botanicals such as soy amino acids and marine extracts helps enrich and stimulate your skins own natural balance. Personally, I use this moisturizer all the time after shaving and it really does what it says.

-Sharps Barber & Shop Daily: Prep Skin Tuning Lotion
This super hi-tech lotion has a controlled release system that delivers all day moisture without the greases. The company strives to a modern approach to the traditional barbershop, getting guys all cleaned up and ready for action.

-Jack Black: Line Smoother Face Moisturizer
This ultra-lightweight moisturizer helps fight the signs of aging. Natural fruit acids and vitamins help minimize fine lines, wrinkles and skin discoloration by gently sloughing off the top layer of skin, revealing younger, smoother skin beneath. The formula soaks in fast, with no greasy after feel. My favorite feature is that it's fragrance free and colorant free.

-Men Science: Advanced Face Lotion
This high-performance moisturizer, formulated with advanced water binding agents and skin refining ingredients, helps renew and restore your complexion while nurturing and protecting it. The ultra light, oil-free formula absorbs immediately and is by far one of my favorite light lotions.

There are tons of quality mens skin care products on the market today. I would suggest that you try various products, so you can see which is best for your type of skin. Of course this doesn't mean skin care has to be your lifes priority, remember that this only takes up a couple of minutes after your shower and the benefits, such as getting more attention for girls, are definitely worth it.

Joqtan A. is an expert writer for Mens Skin Care Products. A site concentrating on men skin care tips, advice and product reviews for men of all skin colors.

Why A High Quality Auto Sound System Is A Great Investment In Your Automobile

For those people who love music and like to take it with them, there are many systems that you can plug your music right in to. It doesn't matter what kind of mp3 player you may have all of the newer stereos have the plug in for the mp3 connect.

Many of us know that bringing an mp3 player around with you everywhere you go is a lot better then bringing a book full of CDs with you. It is also a good tool because a lot of people only like one or two songs from a CD so now you can just download the certain ones you want directly to your mp3. Having a sound system that you can just plug your mp3 up to is better then having a ton of CDs.

I don't know about you but I am totally fascinated by audio books. You will learn that these books can teach you about your audio that you may have and teach you how to fix them if they may become broken. So if youre going on a trip and somehow your stereo stops working you might be able to fix it using the book you had brought with you. You might also be able to fix something you had wanted to fix for a while.

I typically try to find books that kids like so they are not bored the whole trip. This gets them to start reading and so they are not really worried about the, are we there yet part. Great sound systems dont only sound good but they make the music that you are listening to sound a lot better and cleaner. This is not only true when it comes to news or just talk shows but it is also good for everything you might think of when it comes to music.

When you start looking for the perfect sound system for you be sure to look for the one with all the things you want including all the features you may be looking for. You can find systems today that have a built in GPS or DVD player or radios, mp3s anything you can think of can most likely be in a sound system too. Pick the sound system you really want and try and make it last as long as possible and enjoy it for as long as it lasts because you may never find one like it again A premium sound system is something that will stay with your car until it dies or you trade it in but try to make your choice long before you are looking to trade it in. At the same time a system is a good reason to keep the vehicle longer instead of trading it in. I wouldnt even bother installing a premium sound system in a car if I was just going to trade it in so if you are going to be trading your car in and think you may get a better deal because of it having a good sound system think again. The idea is to install a sound system so you will have it to listen to for a long time.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about audio systems as well as car care products at http://www.autopartsandaccessoriesplus.com

Commodities - An Overview

Commodities are products traded solely on the basis of price. The products are undifferentiated products, goods or services that are not traded based on quality and features, only on price. Historically, commodities were items of value, of uniform quality that were produced in large quantities by many different producers. The items from each different producer were considered equivalent. Commodities are defined by an underlying contract and standard, rather than the quality of the product.

History

Chicago was the birth place of the first commodities market, way back in the 1840s. Farmers would bring their wheat to the market and exchange it for good, hard cash. Futures contracts developed from there. A farmer would contract with a dealer to sell a set amount of produce to him at a set date for a set price. It was comforting for both parties the farmer knew how much he was going to get paid and the dealer knew exactly how much he was going to pay for these commodities.

This practice of commodities trading evolved over the years that ensued. The farmer would decide not to sell and cede the contract to another farmer to fulfil, or the dealer might decide that he did not want the produce anymore and then on-sell the contract to another dealer.

Naturally supply and demand entered the equation. If the harvests were poor, the produce would fetch a much higher price and if the crops were abundant, a leaner price prevailed. Before long, speculators were in on the act. They started trading the futures contracts in the hope of buying the commodities at a low price and selling these for a handsome profit.

What defines a successfully tradeable commodity?

To successfully trade, commodities must:
Be standardized. If the commodities industrial or agricultural, it must be unprocessed. Have an adequate shelf-life, if these are agricultural.

There should be sufficient fluctuation in supply and concomitantly price. The reason for this is that without the risk factor, profits are meagre and unappetising. Examples of commodities are: electricity, wheat, chemicals, metals, pork bellies, RAM chips, labour and currency.

Difference between commodities and stocks The main difference between stocks and futures contracts from a trading perspective is that, unlike stocks, which you could keep for a very long time, commodities are held for a very short time only. Futures contracts are used to hedge commodity price-fluctuation risks or to take advantage of price movements, instead of trading the actual cash commodities.

How are commodities traded? Commodity Future and option trading take place at exchanges such as the Chicago Board of Trade, Euronext.liffe, London Metal Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange, and other online trading systems. At the exchanges, areas are provided, each designated for a different futures contract. Those trading on the floor must be members of the exchange and registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Those traders, who are not members, work through brokerage firms who are.

To conclude Commodity future option trading is both complex and risky, so the shoe may not necessarily fit just anybodys foot. If you are considering commodity future option trading, you should evaluate how much you are prepared to lose should push come to shove. Choose a trading method that you are comfortable with and that is best suited to achieving your objectives. The bottom line in commodity future option trading is that, if you exercise good judgment and manage your risks effectively, commodities trading are likely to richly reward your efforts!

Discover awesome, proven techniques for trading online; stocks, shares, currencies, FOREX etc. for both the novice and experienced trader at http://www.TradingOnline4u.com

Investers Cautious As Release Nears

Since Apple's initial announcement of the iPhone in early January, Apple Inc. shares have gone up in price by roughly 40 percent, peaking recently at an all-time high of $127. But with all the buzz surrounding the iPhone, surprisingly, many investors are leaning away from Apple stock.

You may wonder how the ubiquitous buzz surrounding the device can be a deterrent for investors. One would tend to think that any form of media and consumer attention for a product would do nothing but good for a product. However, in this case, the buzz may be TOO good. With expectations for the device higher than any consumer electronics device in recent memory (save perhaps the Playstation 3, and we all know how that went over), some major investors are left to speculate that Apple cannot possibly live up to them.

Hedge fund manager Jay Somaney is just one of a bevy of such investors. Its time to take some money off the table, said Somaney, who plans to sell as much as half of his shares prior to the June 29 release date. Somaneys reasoning also echoed concerns from stock traders nationwide, "There's just no way reality is going match the hype."

Past incidents of super-hyped disappointment include Microsofts Xbox System which continues to lose money for the company despite its widespread popularity, leaving Microsoft to garner much of the revenue from the system through licensing agreements and software titles. Last years Christmas season release of the PS3 left purchasers upset as the system was plagued with bugs and lacked significant software titles.

While the iPhone will certainly have its kinks to work out, initial sales forecasts for the device are strong. However, it is the long-term feasibility of the product that has investors concerned for Apples overall stock growth. If Apple is able to provide superior service when addressing potential issues and continue to develop improvements on subsequent generations, stock analysts see Apples stock with a potential of reaching as much as $160 before June of next year.

Perhaps, the key to Apples long-term iPhone success is the integration of business enterprising software; specifically, the need for Microsoft Exchange Server capability. While Steve Jobs maintains that the iPhone is the all-in-one super device, it will necessitate the advantages of a Windows Mobile device before it can truly eliminate the working business persons Pocket PC or Blackberry.

Apple may need to take a page out of its own book. When users were first allowed to run windows simultaneously with OS X on the companys consumer computers, Apple was praised for opening its doors to an endless amount of software titles and usability. If the iPhone is able to run a virtual version of the new and improved Windows Mobile 6, it will have a fighting chance at achieving long-term stability in the smartphone market. Until then, many sentiments will be aligned with Jay Somaney: sell , sell, sell!

Jordan Corning is a mobile enterprise solutions enthusiast. An analyst with Minneapolis based consulting firm ITR Group, Jordan enjoys exploring new ways in which mobile technology can offer significant contributions to the business, educational, and consumer worlds. For more info, visit the ITR Group website @ http://www.itrgroupinc.com or visit his blog @ http://www.iphailure.com

10 Sure-Fire Phrases That Will Increase Your Website Traffic

1. "Bookmark This Web Site Now" Tell your visitors to bookmark your web site. They may see your web site listed in their bookmarks and visit again. You should also give then a good reason to bookmark your site. For example tell them you add new content everyday.

2. "Subscribe To Our Free E-zine" Tell your visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. When they subscribe you'll capture their e-mail address. Every time they read your e-zine, it will remind them to return to your site.

3. "Participate On Our Discussion Board" Ask your visitors to participate on your online discussion board. By participating they will meet other people. By meeting other people, they will revisit your web site on a regular basis to stay in contact with them.

4. "Sign Our Guestbook" Ask your visitors to sign your guest book. When people sign your guestbook you may get valuable feedback or constructive criticism on how to improve your web site. This may help you increase traffic to your web site.

5. "Use Our Free Content On Your Site Or In Your E-zine" Allow your visitors to use your articles on their own web site or in their e-zine. Just ask them to include your resource box. This will spread your advertising all over the internet.

6. "Refer This Web Site To A Friend" Ask your visitors to refer your web site to a friend(s). They may know someone that would benefit from visiting your web site.

7. "Fill Out Our Online Survey" Ask visitors to fill out your online survey or questionnaire. You could use it to get valuable feedback on ways to improve your web site to increase traffic.

8. "Enter Our Contests" Ask your visitors to enter your online contest or sweepstakes. People love to win stuff, and they will visit your web site to try.

9. "Give Away Our Freebie To Your Visitors" Allow your visitors to give away your online freebies to people that visit your web site. Include your ad on the freebie and those freebies will multiply your traffic.

10. "Join Our Affiliate Program" Allow your visitors to make money selling your products or services. This will increase your traffic because they will link to your web site.

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BONUS: Here are 5 High Powered Ways To Increase Your Traffic

1. Trade links with other web sites. They should be related to the subject of your web site. Instead of trading links, you could also trade banner ads, half page ads, classified ads, etc.

2. Start an e-zine for your web site. When people read each issue they'll be reminded to revisit your web site. They'll see your product ad more than just once which will increase your orders.

3. Form an online community. It could be an online message board, e-mail discussion list or chat room. When people get involved in your community they will regularly return to communicate with others.

4. Write articles and submit them to e-zines, web sites and magazines that accept article submissions. Include your business information and web address at the end of the article.

5. Give away an electronic freebie with your ad on it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away. This'll increase your ad exposure and attract people to your web site at the same time.

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Well Managed Investing Risks Bring Rewards!

"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing!" Warren Buffett (1930 - )

We often listen to people who hesitate to invest in the stock market because they fear risk. There are older people who fear that a stock crash could leave them destitute. There are young couples who pine for a new home but worry that an investment loss could kill their chances.

For any investor, risk is a fact of life!

Whenever an opportunity opens up for you to make an investment profit, you also face the fear of the possibility of suffering an investment loss. Even with "safe" kinds of investments, such as bank deposits, there is a risk that the rate you earn will not exceed the rate of inflation.

Often, these fears are rooted in a misunderstanding of what risk is. Those who understand market risks --and properly evaluate their ability to tolerate them-- can supercharge their investment portfolios by embracing a certain amount of uncertainty!

In the financial world, risk translates to uncertainty and it's measured by standard deviation from the norm.

Many individuals would say the riskier investment is the first, because their principal would be in greater jeopardy. But to professionals, the first investment is merely stupid --not risky--because it's a sure thing to lose!

Still, what worries many is that you never know when the stock market is going to dive. What if it falls right before you need to sell?

Most individuals measure risk as their chance of loss, but we measure risk by the variability of returns!

In other words, because stocks have higher average returns, you can suffer some losses and still end up vastly ahead over the long run.

There's only one situation in which adding stocks to your portfolio doesn't make sense--when you don't have time to let the market work for you.

In any given year, you have about a 1 in 4 chance of taking a loss in the stock market. If one year or less is as long as you plan to invest, stocks boil down to a gamble.

But if your time horizon is five years or more, there's a very good chance that putting at least a portion of your money in stocks will boost the performance of your investments!

One question you have to resolve is the kind of investment risk you're comfortable taking. The choice ranges from conservative to aggressive, with a broad middle ground between the extremes.

Conservative Investing: Means putting money where there's little risk to principal.

Moderate Investing: Means taking risks by putting money into growth stocks and bonds.

Aggressive or Speculative Investing: Means taking a possible risk of losing part of your investment in exchange for the possibility of making a larger profit.

The ideal risk equalizer is that you should work for balance among the various risk categories.

One of your concerns should also be that if you invest too conservatively, you won't have enough money down the road to afford your goals even if you've been diligent in following your plan.

Another concern is that by taking too many chances you risk losing too much of your capital.

Ioannis - Evangelos C. Haramis was born in Greece in 1951 and he studied in Greece, USA and in Belgium. He has been active in the stock markets since 1972. Since 2002 he is New Business Development Managing Director at an Investment Bank and the editor of http://www.greekshares.com

Copyright 2005 I.E.C. Haramis

haramis@greekshares.com
http://www.greekshares.com