How Low Will the Stock Markets Go?

With the demise of Lehman Brothers stock markets around the world have taken another major nosedive, it was not quite another Black Monday however it was not far off. The credit crunch is now in over drive with many people asking just how much lower can and will the stock markets go?

Even today as stocks and shares from around the world continue to plummet there are many people talking up the state of the markets. These will be financial advisers, stock brokers, people who are not wanting to lose face. They do not want to be seen to have given any form of bad of advice. In reality it is not their fault that the markets have fallen in this way and it can be quite difficult to second guess which way the markets are going to go. As long as people are being given full advice as to the fact that stocks can fall as well as rise then there should be no problem. In fact people who are investing on a regular basis rather than in lump sums may well actually do very nicely out of the current climate as the lower the stock markets go the more units or shares your money will buy. This becomes of benefit to you when the stock markets start to rise again.

The main players in the financial sector are fully aware that we may not have seen the worst of this credit crunch as yet and that stock markets could well have much further to fall. Just think for a moment, what would happen if AIG were to fall into administration or a bank in the UK such as HBOS? I hope you are not laughing as this could well happen.

I personally think that we have a long way to go before we do reach the bottom of the market. I am however a speculator and am currently investing on a monthly basis into some very dicey waters, that being the Russian, Indian and Chinese stock markets. Am I brave or rather foolish? Well we will have to wait and see. It is all a bit of a gamble at the end of the day.


By Steve Hill

The Stock Market Drop - How to Make Money in a Tough Economy

Multiple Trading Approaches

Imagine your friends laughing when you say you made a lot of money as the stock market dropped. Then imagine their faces when you show them your incredible gains. They won't laugh any more. They'll beg for help.

Everybody loves it when the stock market goes up. Many people panic when it falls. But they don't need to. An American market exists that allows traders to make money regardless of whether stocks are going up or down.

Professional investors know how to hedge their bet. They take precautions because they know the economy will move through various cycles. What goes up will eventually come down.

The common man and woman are different. They assume investing is difficult so they don't take time to learn simple methods that might benefit their lifelong effort to get ahead. They throw their money into mutual funds or a 401-K account and hope for the best. This may work when things are going well in the financial markets. In a crisis, this method will be the cause of many a sleepless night.

Every family could use some extra money each month. And it's not a pipe dream, if you are capable of taking simple direction and absorbing new information.

Here's how you to make money when the stock market falls: hedge your bet by trading the mini-sized Dow Jones futures market. I know what you're thinking. Futures?! Isn't that a great way to lose money? My answer: Have you ever lost money in the stock market?

Today's economic conditions should be a reminder that our money is always at risk. Yesterday's victories may be tomorrow's defeats. All the more reason to hedge - always - your most important investments.

The mini-sized Dow Jones electronic market is global and stays open for business throughout the night and into the next day. It closes briefly at the end of each business day, all day Saturday, then opens again late Sunday afternoon. Plenty of time to access and manage your online account.

One significant reason for learning this market is its simplicity. You can learn to trade the market up and down - and it's all legal. For people who have only traded stocks, it is sometimes difficult to understand how a futures trader can make money when a market drops. But it's true, it can be done, without breaking any laws.

This is not true of some "short selling" that takes place in the stock market. Some rogue brokerages break Securities and Exchange Commission rules and in the process rob good, honest investors. That is not what I'm suggesting. But that illegal practice is precisely why you would be wise to learn how to hedge your stock portfolio with the mini-sized Dow Jones futures market.

There are many tutorials to help you understand how to trade this market. Google "mini-sized Dow Jones" or "the mini-Dow" and you'll have plenty to choose from.

But don't fall for offers that ask you to pay big bucks for software and platforms you won't need. I'm not suggesting you day trade - not at first anyway. So choose a guidebook that is modestly priced and then learn as much as you can from it before buying your next book.

The Chicago Board of Trade and the CME Group Exchange websites offer good, free information to help you understand the basics of trading futures. Take full advantage.

Finally, be a specialist. Master the one market that can do you the most good. The mini-sized Dow Jones stock index will be enormously beneficial if you have long-term or short-term stock investments. You'll soon realize that by concentrating on one market you don't have to be Warren Buffet to make smart moves.

By Douglas Glenn Clark

Multiple Trading Approaches

There are literally hundreds of different trading strategies out there. Some have their advantages over others. But no one strategy is perfect. Trading multiple strategies can allow you to help other strategies weaknesses.

For example say you like to trend trade. But during a volatile market when the market is not trending you can focus on day trading, or use some other approach to handle the volatile times. This allows you to switch back and forth between strategies to allow you to make the most at your given time.

You probably want to have a couple different trading strategies out there that you prefer to use. Personally I like the high probability of option selling and the huge short term profit potential of swing trading.

You might like different things in your trading. The point is you probably want to find a couple strategies that work for you and fit your personality.

But be cautious. Trying to trade too many different strategies at once can actually be harmful. If you try to copy every new strategy you find you will never be improving.

Instead try to find just a couple strategies that fit you well and learn them inside and out. This has the advantage of letting you improve those couple strategies over time. The market will teach anyone who is persistent enough to stay at it.

In fact you might even decide to learn to trade just one approach when you first start to trade. Learning just one approach gives you an advantage by allowing you to focus more on that single strategy. Just using one strategy can allow you find ways to produce a profit more often as well as find out how to cut losses shorter.

The disadvantage to just using one strategy is that you will have to benefit to switch over to another strategy when it is working better. Ultimately the decision of how many trading approaches to use is yours.


By Shaun Rosenberg

An Investment Strategy That Can Make You Millions

If you are learning how to invest stock all by yourself and doing it all by yourself, then you are going to have to look at some strategies to choose your shares. There is only one thing that you are actually certain about when looking to make money via stocks and shares, and that is the certainty of losing money by choosing your shares by random choice and emotions. In this day and age, there is absolutely no need to guess and pick your shares, we have the resources and data that can lead us to the decision. Sure it will take much longer this way, but you can bet yourself you are going to make much more money that way.


Being able to choose shares that are going to be winners by a gut feeling is an incredibly hard (and probably stupid) thing to do, even the legends of the investment market do not go about this kind of action, so there is absolutely no reason for a new investor to take such a hazardous step. We are in the process of learning how to invest stock, so we would rather set up a bunch of rules and a guide for ourselves to follow each and every time we go to make an investment and achieve a much better set of results at a consistent pace. Here are some key things to consider to no how to invest stock:

Have independent values and goals

For a new investor the market can be a petrifying sight. When you look into a company as a beginner it is very easy to become overloaded with information. So much information can eventually lead to the wrong decisions if we do not follow a persistent game plan that has been put in place.
A clear strategy and planned investment decisions can lead to excellent results. In order to be a successful investor you must stick to your own philosophy and develop it further while you learn how to invest stock.


What strategy should you follow?

When learning how to invest stock you will find that every investor has different investment strategies. Knowing your strategy is good will depend on you building on your strengths and weaknesses through your career. You will most certainly fail a few times before learning your strategy, but remember that in order to become a successful investor you must first learn how to fail. This is key for learning how to invest stock. Make sure you do not get negative through the process either, because failure is just a evil word for learning. That does not mean you just keep failing though, because when you do you must understand what it is you have done wrong. So keep fine-tuning your strategy until you are happy with the results you can produce. This industry is all about educating yourself and being smart.

There are several strategies you can take, it is just a matter of learning how to invest stock for your personal style. Everyone will be different. One method is value investing, which is simply buying the shares when they are cheap. This is a fantastic method because it is almost a known fact that over time share prices will increase. So if you buy at a low price, you are almost telling yourself that you are going to earn loads more in the future.

Another strategy is when you can focus in on one particular sector of the market that you yourself feel comfortable with and know very well. The basic concept is similar to the 80/20 rule. You put in 100% effort into learning about one particular section of the market and become a master in the field, which will provide you with an immediate edge over the other investors. This is hard work but the rewards pay off very well and failure is never really in your way.

A similar method to this in the investment industry is known as 'top down investing'. With this you are picking up on what you think is going to be a massive social trend, and then pick the best companies in that sector. For example back when the DVD player was just an invention, if you had faith in this device and invested into major companies like 'Sony' and 'Samsung', you can be sure that you would of made a killing. Do not worry though, opportunities like these will always come up, that is the importance of educating yourself on how to invest stock.

So make sure while you learn how to invest stock you can find your investment style and strategy, and make sure you stick with it until you perfect it to the maximum for the best results. Good luck with your ventures.

By Ajay Sahota