Stock Market Investing Today

When I set up Stock Market Investing Today, the market was pretty crazy. There were all sorts of stock market declines, bailouts and just overall turmoil in the market. Things have settled down a bit now and while nothing really has changed about investing in the stock market today, I hope that your investment philosophies have. 2008 should serve as a reminder that you cannot trust Wall Street to manage your money. They have proven during that time period that do not deserve to be our money manager. It's time we take control of our stock market investing accounts.

Step one is that you've got to decide for yourself that you can and will do what it takes to manage your own money. You've got to have a desire today to invest in the stock market on your own terms. That means in stocks that you pick, that you determine when to get into and when to sell. If you are going to buy individual stocks, you've got rid your self of the "buy and hold" crap you've been brainwashed to believe. That might be OK for individual mutual funds, but it's not the case when it comes to individual stocks.

Step two is that you have got to what the market tells you instead of what the media tells you. Today more than ever, stock market investing is driven by rumors and market manipulation. You have two choices. You can take advantage of it or you can be taken advantage of. How? By doing what they do and not what they say. You've got to pay attention to where the institutional money is flowing and follow it. The CANSLIM strategy is perfectly designed to do just do that. If you haven't already, go out and pick up a copy of William O'Neil's book How To Make Money In Stocks. Start studying his methods and break them down to a step by step investing system.

Step three is practice by investing in todays' stock market with real money. You cannot learn the true nature of the market by trading on paper. You have to start putting real money on the line. Only then will you know how to make investing decisions with the emotion the comes with it. Paper trading is easier than trading with real money. Once you factor in the decisions of trading with the emotion of losing money, you can then be confident that you can really learn when you apply CANSLIM.

Step four is to keep records of all of your buy and sell decisions to review. Review each trade upon completion to learn from your mistakes and improve your stock selection. Investing today in the stock market is a skill anyone can master. The only thing is that very few try and those who do, wing it. Don't let this be you. Vow to study the market and how to make money from it. Study your trades and make sure that you learn from your mistakes. It might take a year or two of devoted study, but you can do it if you set you mind to it.