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Investing and Understanding What You Buy
"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action!" Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)I don't really know how cars actually work. Not really! I know how to drive them, but if you asked me how they work, I would not really know how to definitely explain it.

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Critical Investors Business Daily Responsibilities - If not Followed Could Cost You Millions!
When thinking about the investors business daily responsibilities in today’s market environment, the best remedy for this situation is for you to get more involved in your own investing decisions.The problem is that most individual investors do not have the knowledge, resources, or time to spend doing their own research, stock selection, execution, and position management.

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5 Ways To Protect Your Bond Portfolio From Rising Interest Rates
The Federal Reserve recently raised its target federal funds rate for the first time since March 2000. This could be just the tip of the iceberg, though, as many experts believe rising inflation and a strengthening economy will spur continued rate hikes for the foreseeable future.

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Why have Investment Plans for the Stock Market
If you do not have an investment plan in the stock market you are subject to impulses, urges, hunches, premonitions, strong feelings, greed, panic, fear, indecision, and just plain foolishness. In my opinion, without a plan, without that clear conception of a total stock market investment strategy, the chances of successful investing in the stock market are pretty slim.

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Keeping It Interesting
Some lines from a movie never leave your mind; I don't remember the context always, but I do recall the dialog. "The Big Chill" is one of the few movies I own (VHS).

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Value Investing
By definition, value investing is the process of selecting stocks that trade for less than their intrinsic value. A value investor typically selects stocks with lower than average price-to-book or price-to-earning ratios.

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Stock Market Leaders and Laggards
Leaders are stocks that breakout immediately when the market confirms a new rally. In the first several weeks, strong stocks with leadership ability will breakout on volume above their 50-day average.

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Remembering TEOTWAWKI and Learning from It
Its only been about 5 years since we had major scares in the marketplace regarding Y2K. You might recall that many computer systems were not programmed to be able to understand the change from 1999 to 2000.

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How to Terror-Proof Your Money
"To drift is to be in hell, to be in heaven is to steer." -George Bernard ShawFormer Homeland Security Director, Tom Ridge, has said it's not a matter of "if" we'll have another terrorist attack, but when.

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New U.S. Mint Coins a Golden Opportunity
In April, the U.S.

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Protecting the Tax Advantage of Your Deferred Compensation
The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 imposed strict new rules on non-qualified deferred compensation plans. Beginning in 2005, deferred compensation programs that are not in compliance with the new rules may be taxed as wages, slapped with a 20% excise tax, plus charged an interest penalty.

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Finding the Perfect Company
The perfect company - it's the holy grail of the investment world. The company that will make its initial investment hundreds of times over.

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Eight Questions to Ask Your Financial Advisor
You may like your financial advisor, but is he really looking out for you? All advisors are not created equal, and you have a right to know what makes them different! You also have a right to ask yours if he compares!(1) Do you use a holistic approach to financial planning by determining my values and goals?(2) Do you work on a fee-only basis, a commission basis, or both, and why?(3) Do you have company-established insurance requirements, or do you recommend insurance only when it is needed by your clients?(4) Do you attempt to 'beat' the market through timing and selection, or do you believe that attempts to do so are not worth the additional level of fees and risk? Are you aware that a vast majority of my returns will be based on asset allocation, rather than timing and selection?(5) Are you a Registered Investment Advisor, and therefore a fiduciary? In other words, must you legally and ethically put my interests above your own?(6) Do you meet with your clients at least three times a year to refine their portfolio and find out how events in their lives may have changed their financial goals?(7) Do you return phone calls the same day you receive them, and are you available to answer questions as they arise?(8) When you wake up each morning, do you ask yourself how you can best be of help to your clients that day?Adjust these questions as you see fit, and depending upon what your own objectives and needs are from an advisor. The best advice is to never be afraid to ask!© 2004 Matthew S.

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Preparing to Invest: How to get started
Investments can be a source of great potential earnings. The two most common reasons that a person does not invest are either they do not have the money or they do not know how to get started.

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Investing in New Zealand - Learn how to Find Unique Investment Opportunities
Investing in New Zealand might be much easier than investing in other western countries, thank to the excellent infrastructure, the low taxes and the assistance of the supportive NZ government.Technological Face of New ZealandNew Zealand has a unique reputation within the global market place.

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401(k) Plans
I've been in and interested in the stock market so long (one year shy of forty years) I can remember when the mutual fund pages in my home town paper were just one page! Now it looks like there are more mutual funds then there are stocks listed on the New York stock exchange.I wonder how many billions of investor dollars are supporting these funds.

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Volatile Oil
The Light Crude Continuous Contract fell from $67.70 a barrel on Monday to $62.

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CYA
You all know what CYA stands for. Of course, Cover Your Assets.

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Financial Planners
"Financial planners are like dentists: they may occasionally inflict pain, but in the end, you will be better off for following their advice!"Whoever wrote these lines must have either been a financial planner or someone who relied heavily on planners for finance management. We all know that planning our finances is vital.

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Penny Stock Investing
The Nature of Penny StocksFor anyone new to investing in penny stocks, you should first be made aware of the differences between these micro-cap stocks and the more conventional blue-chip and mid-cap investments. Unlike buying shares in a large, stable company like Ford or IBM, you are dealing with speculative investments.

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