I found this interesting site through a link that came up on my Google Finance screen for Crystallex. Ant & Sons Chart of the Week Video: Ant & Sons has rolled out its updated Chart of the Week column with technical analysis video using the latest technology. The video is hosted through YouTube and displayed (more…)
Is it possible to predict the quarterly earnings for a business, or a giant multi-billion dollar conglomerate accurately down to a single/narrow cent-per-share figure? A large number of investment analysts out there sure think so! After all, who wants to be the sucker who can only give you a broad earnings range, when “I” can give you the exact figure, so “I” must be better. So pay “me”, and hire “me”! And may god strike it down if that company misses “my” estimate by even one cent! It’s not “my” estimation error, it’s their fault! (Returning back to normal) I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me just now!
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But can you hear the analysts tooting their own horns as they predict earnings? And when did companies think it was a good idea to help these overpaid statisticans along with corporate guidances? Is it a good idea? I’d love to hear from you, but I’ll first share my perpsective!
On Monday, I wrote about using Google Trends as a resource for investing ideas. I took a look at three restaurant businesses which, while they were on my mind at the time, probably weren’t the best candidates for this kind of research.
Below, I’ll take a look at three Google Trends charts and compare them against some corresponding stock charts.
– Trends for “bull market” and “bear market” vs. the S&P 500.
– Trends for “bed”, “bath”, and “kitchen” vs. Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY).
– Trends for “book” and “books” vs. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN).
We’ve had discussions here about different ways to use the huge amount of data freely available on the web to make better informed investing decisions. Let’s take a look at some graphs courtesy of Google Trends and see if they can inform us about which restaurant stock to purchase.
If I’m forced to select only one thing about stock trading to tell you, this is it: do NOT average down. This is not to say that averaging your cost basis on the way down never works. But more often than not, averaging down is a bad decision on top of a wrong one already.
I’ve been doing a little research on margin trading, because I’ve recently been using it to float purchases of stock while my sale of some mutual funds clear. So I had a bunch of questions, like “What’s buying power?” and “How much do I need to keep in my brokerage account?” Well, I was once again helped by a terrific tutorial on Margin Trading at Investopedia which answered most of my questions.
I hope you’ll head over there and read it, but let me address some potential questions for you here in case you don’t have time to check it out. (I’ll assume for brevity that you understand what margin trading is)
It was Thomas Jefferson who said: “Every generation needs a Revolution.” He was, of course, talking about the fact that every few years there comes a time where the old administration must be replaced by a newer one in order for our nation and liberty to survive. Every four years this nation has an opportunity for a revolution of sorts.
Soon in 2008, whether you love them or hate them, the old administration will be gone. What does this mean for the investor? It is impossible to predict all the possibilities that will flood in when a new President, and therefore a new vision, takes the oath on those gleaming white steps. Wal-Mart however is hedging its bets.
I’d like to invite you to look at a recent, not atypical, four day chart of a stock. In this particular case, it’s SiRF Technology Holdings (SIRF).
As you can see, the stock gapped down from the $25-$26 it had been trading at to the $19-$20 range. You see this kind of thing all the time when “bad” news comes out.
The question I’d like to raise today is: who set the price?
Most people invest in bonds because they want to have stable fixed income. Because the performance of bonds are very stable, they also serve to reduce the volatility of the overall portfolio. Depending on the weighting from 0% to 100%, you can reduce your stock volatility correspondingly. With regular re-balancing between your stocks and bonds, you should be able to “sell high and buy low” in your stock portfolio, and use your bonds as a stable source of income.
Everything sounds good so far, but the most attractive feature of fixed income is also its greatest drawback — the income is FIXED. It does NOT increase as time goes on, and inflation keeps reducing your principle and interests into nothingness. Since inflation is almost always there, you’ve got a real problem especially when you’re investing long term in long term bonds.
I recently have been looking at the Bid/Ask Spread to help me determine the right time to add to my positions. Here are some tips I’ve picked up that you might find useful when looking at your stock’s spread.
