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Michael Griffis
Michael Griffis became an active trader in the mid 1980s. He first traded commodities and precious metals after taking a commodities trading class as part of his MBA program at Rollins College. He became a stockbroker in 1992, where he helped businesses and individuals manage investments in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, retirement plans, 401(k) employee-savings plans, and asset management programs. Michael is an author and business owner and has written about stock trading for online audiences.
Articles & Books From Michael Griffis
Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-20-2022
Forecasting what will happen in the economic future is hard. Nobody gets it right all the time. However, with a grounding in economic indicators, you can improve your investment results and the profitability of your business.How are economic indicators relevant to you?Economic indicators were first published for government leaders who needed a better understanding of the country’s current economic condition.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Stock options can be used as substitutes for the underlying stocks when swing trading. A stock option is a limited-duration contract that grants the option buyer the right to either buy or sell a stock for a fixed price. The option seller, called the option writer or the option grantor, is granting the right to the option buyer to either buy or sell a specific stock for a fixed price.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Looking for the best economic forecasting tools? Here are a few investor favorites that you can use to improve your investment decisions:
Unemployment insurance: A rise in unemployment insurance claims is one of the earliest signs of a faltering economy. A one-week rise doesn't foretell a recession, but a persistent increase usually does.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The economy cycles through periods of growth and contraction. Knowing the following signs of each economic phase makes planning your investment or business strategies easier:
Expansion: During expansion, consumer spending is growing, especially for purchases of big-ticket products. Although interest rates are relatively low at the beginning of an expansion, they generally rise as the economy grows.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Economic indicators were first published for government leaders who needed a better understanding of the country's current economic condition. Today, those indicators are useful across a wide variety of professions. Here's how economic indicators can help you:
Investors: Use economic indicators to fine-tune your investment strategies, improve your buy/sell decisions, and match your asset allocation decisions to the economic cycle.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Some economic indicators are better predictors than others. Knowing the major categories of indicators can help you identify which indicator is right for the job at hand. Here are the three main types of indicators, based on how timely they are:
Leading indicators: These indicators generally signal changes before changes actually occur in the economy.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
After you pick your broker, you must be sure you know the trading rules. Although federal law mandates margin requirements, sets trade settlement rules, and bans free riding, brokerage firms sometimes have even more stringent rules for their clients. You need to check with your broker to find out any additional rules your chosen firm imposes.
Article / Updated 06-29-2021
Traders can open brokerage accounts in a couple of different ways: as a cash account or a margin account. However, if you open a margin account, you also must open a cash account. You also may open separate accounts for retirement savings. Because retirement accounts have more restrictions, your trading alternatives are more limited in those accounts.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Technical analysis helps you identify trading trends, discovering when one begins and ends. Our style of trading, position trading, looks for the persistent trend, which is a trend that lasts for at least several weeks to several months or even longer.
Day traders and swing traders who buy and sell in the shortest of terms also look for trends to trade.
Article / Updated 02-02-2017
The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator is a trend-following momentum indicator. MACD is designed to generate trend-following trading signals based on moving-average crossovers while overcoming problems associated with many other trend-following indicators. MACD also acts as a momentum oscillator, showing when a trend is gaining strength or losing momentum as it cycles above and below a center zero line.