STOCKS, ECONOMY

If you didn't jump this market on the breakout over 8500 you really need to ask yourself "why?". This opportunity was classic for a small investor (5K to 25K). Couldn't have been more obvious. My prior posts are listed in this post. As a long time player I can tell you that failure to "pull the trigger" is common. Even for people who trade every day. Most guys will tell you that they spend as much time working on themselves as they do on markets. One day about twenty years ago after I had chickened out three times in a row I called a guy I know in Chicago who has made $40 million in the markets and asked him about it. He laughed and told me that he "chickens out" at least three times a week. Forget it.

My recommendation for a first reading is J. Peter Steidlmayer, a futures trader at the CBOT and the guy who developed Market Profile (He has a brand new book coming out but I don't know the details). This is an example of an elegant explanation of markets that will allow you to trade without emotion. It is not for stocks but I found his explanations a breakthrough for understanding why to trade. NOT FOR STOCKS but a good explanation for emotional detachment. I still think William O'Neill is the only way to go for stocks. Read his book and employ his methods and you'll be rich in ten years. A good first link is here. Go to IBD. Get two weeks of paper free than then subscribe and get a free copy of his book How to Make Money in Stocks and get rich. Stop screwing around.

There is only one possible negative out there and that is asset deflation in real estate which could affect the banks, but Greenspan is all over that one and he will probably be able to defuse it through warnings to banks on their lending practices regarding real estate speculation. HERE for my blog on this. HERE for a referral to all links.

Work on yourself. This market is the best in fifteen years. Healthy as can be. For the first time in recent memory people are investing because of dividends. This tax bill the stupid Dems are attacking has the wonderful dividend tax reduction which makes corporations shell out the cash they are sitting on instead of speculating with it. Real growth is going to be 4% or higher for the second half of this year. Interest rates are going to stay low. You have mergers taking place for the first time in years. You have a huge tech rally. A biotech rally. Why are you out?

There are several books on investor psychology, but I know that fear of being WRONG is the biggest fear. We have this curse; the need to be right and make others wrong. You cannot invest if you are a victim of this curse. Get rid of it. Get a system and work it. Be a mechanic. The opportunity is still out there for literally hundreds of stocks. This market will be over 20,000 on the Dow in twenty years. You will have losses. Take them and move on. This is a great great opportunity for all of you.

Read my warnings on real estate if you are messing with it. There are major warning signs out there and remember three things about real estate: 1. It's not liquid, 2. It's not liquid, and 3. It's not liquid. When real estate goes it just goes and you cannot get out no matter what. LINK here and read. A repeat of a link above.

Get rich. What are you waiting for?