Investing today is not for the faint of heart. When people are talking about the stock market, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the New York Stock Exchange. But what are stocks? Why is the stock market such a big thing? How do you invest in the stock market?
Finding the right stock has never been harder, much less getting truly helpful stock market investment advice. Yet investors keep plunking money down like there’s no tomorrow. Why?
For one thing, the ease of trading is like a siren’s call. No longer is investing a mysterious financial play made by only those in the know. Today, the image of the investor is that of the day trader, an average Joe attempting to amass a fortune from the comfort of his own computer. But ease of investing is only a part of the story…
The real reason we keep pouring money into the markets is that we’ve seen lightning strike before. We were either in on it, and loved the thrill; missed out on it entirely and can’t let that happen again; or even worse, latched onto a tech rocket, rode it to the top, then held on until it crashed back down in a blaze of worthless paper.
What are stocks?
Before you delve into the intricacies of the stock market, the first thing you should understand is what exactly a stock is. Stocks, which are also known as shares, are portions of companies that people can buy, and therefore own part of the company. But even though you may own a part of a company, only those who have invested a lot of money into the company have any real say in how the company is run.
There are two different types of shares: preferred shares and common shares. When you invest in common shares, there is a greater risk of losing part or even all of the investment that you have put into the company should the company stop functioning. Why is this? Because creditors, bond holders and preferred shared holders have a higher rank than the common shareholders, and because of this they will get the first chance to get some of the money they have put in if the company goes out of business.
By the same token, the investors who have preferred shares have a higher standing than the ones with common shares, but still have to get in line behind the creditors when it comes to how much of the company they own, or getting paid if the company goes out of business. In addition to having more of a say in the company decisions than those who have common shares, investors who have preferred shares can also look forward to higher dividends.
There are two ways to purchase stocks - investors can either use a brokerage, or buy their stocks through Direct Investment Plans or Dividend Reinvestment plans.
If you decide to purchase stocks through a brokerage, you can go one of two ways. If you are going to trust the experts to do the right thing, and leave it in their hands, then you should go with the services of a full service brokerage. But, if money is a consideration and you don't want to spend the money on a full service brokerage, you can go with a discount brokerage. Even though discount brokerages cost less than full service brokerages, they don't offer the same amount of assistance that the full service brokerages do.
If you decide to invest using a Direct Investment Plan or a Dividend Reinvestment Plan, check to make that the company that you are interested in investing in offers such plans because not all of the companies do.
Sound Stock Market Investment Advice from the Good Doctor
Oxford Club Investment Advisory Panel member Dr. Van K. Tharp is “coach” to the world’s greatest investors and traders. These superstars come to Dr. Tharp (he has a three-month waiting list according to USA Today) for stock market investment advice that will lift their profits to even higher levels. He was profiled in Jack Schwager’s best-selling book, Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders-in fact, Dr. Tharp was the only trading coach included!
During the past 20 years, Dr. Tharp has accumulated psychological profiles on over 4,000 investors from all around the globe. To maintain current profile data, he has conducted many follow-up interviews with them. In addition, he has conducted extensive, in-person interviews with many of the world’s best investors and traders.
Remarkably, Dr. Tharp discovered that these great money makers had hardly anything in common. They invested in different kinds of stocks, some liked commodities, others favored precious metals, many dabbled in currencies-and almost all had their unique systems for investing.
And of course this made the two things they did have in common all the more precious…
Dr. Tharp found that out of all the techniques, strategies, and systems these great investors used, only two had strong appeal across the board-but these two were used by a full 99% of these investors. In other words, they disagreed on almost everything else-but a full 99% believed that these two techniques were essential to their success.
And these are the techniques we’ll be looking at today. Once you’ve learned these strategies and start applying them to your investments, you will be in the fortunate position of being able to greatly multiply the returns you’ve been accustomed to pulling in from your investments.
One final note before we begin…
As with all the individual investment recommendations and strategies you’ll discover through The Oxford Club, the two techniques you’ll learn about today have been thoroughly analyzed- and have been enthusiastically endorsed-by the entire Oxford Club Investment Advisory Panel.
Now-let’s start ratcheting up your profits with stock market investment advice and secrets from the world’s most successful investors.