Stocks Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-19-2025

Swing trading can result in significant gains for your portfolio but involves risks that must be managed. Not every day is a good day to swing trade because the market may not be cooperative. And even when the market is cooperative, you should only trade stocks in strong industry groups to maximize the chances of success. Which stocks you buy depends on properly applying technical and fundamental analysis and only pulling the trigger when a positive catalyst exists. Finally, your risk management system should protect your portfolio when you are wrong, while allowing profitable trades room to grow.

Article / Updated 09-25-2024

The most important determinant of whether you'll be a successful swing trader is how well you manage risk. Ask yourself these questions before placing a trade to ensure you don't cut corners: Is the security liquid? Is the security a penny stock (hopefully not)? Are you prepared to limit losses at the individual stock level? Determine which precautionary measure you'll take: Set the position size based on the percentage you're willing to lose (0.25 percent to 2 percent of total assets). Set the risk level as a straight percentage of assets and that percentage doesn't exceed 10 percent of your total portfolio. Is your portfolio diversified? Make sure your positions are spread among different market capitalizations (for example, large cap, mid cap, and small cap), different sectors, and asset classes (not to mention domestic and international securities). Have you limited your total portfolio losses to 7 percent? Cover all your bases by confirming that Each security in the portfolio has a risk amount equal to the difference between the current price and stop loss level. The difference on an individual security level is tight — around 0.50 percent. The sum of those differences doesn't exceed 7 percent of the total portfolio value. The stop loss levels are at a level representing a profit (barring a gap in prices, of course). Cut losses when your stop loss is hit — no questions asked.

Article / Updated 09-25-2024

Being a successful swing trader calls for many skills, including the ability to assess the relative strengths of various market sectors. If you determine which stage the economy is in and then use that information as you review the following chart, then you’ll have a good idea which economic sectors are likely to lead the market in the near future.

Article / Updated 09-11-2024

To succeed with swing trading, you need to know how to read market indicators. Make a swing trade that’s more likely to yield good results by getting to know the following signs of favorable conditions. (Just keep in mind that no trade is a sure money-maker.) The market is on your side. A rising tide lifts all boats. And before you buy, make sure the public equity market (for the country where you are buying the security) is in a solid uptrend. The industry group is on your side. Stocks tend to follow their industry groups up or down. If the security’s industry group is a strong uptrend, chances are your purchase will be profitable. If you’re trend trading, buy on a technical signal or a breakout of a chart pattern: The stock should be entering an uptrend (from a chart pattern) or resuming an uptrend on a technical signal. Use the ADX indicator to determine whether a trend exists. If you’re trading ranges, the candidate has just bounced off of support/resistance with a technical indicator confirmation. Watch for the technical indicator (an oscillator) to generate a buy signal. Divergences between your oscillator and the price action signal higher-confidence trades (for example, a stock falling to a support level while the oscillator, such as stochastics, traces a higher low and indicates underlying strength). The fundamentals back the technicals. Pair your great chart setup with strong fundamentals. And no, you don’t need to spend 25 hours reading a company’s financial statements. Simply verify the important items, such as financial health, return on equity, P/E ratio, and expected earnings growth rates. The stop-loss level is near your desired execution price. The best swing trading candidates are those where your emergency exit is nearby. The closer your desired entry price is to your stop-loss level, the less you stand to lose if matters turn ugly. But don’t place your stop loss at a level so close to the market price that a small insignificant move forces you out (as with most things in life, there must be a balance). You allocate the right amount to the trade. Loss is always possible, even with the best swing trading candidate. Set your position size in accordance with your trading plan, which should put an absolute ceiling on your position size and set a maximum percentage of capital you’re willing to lose on a single trade and for the entire portfolio (remember, shark bites versus piranha bites).

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-08-2024

You're investing in stocks — good for you! To make the most of your money and your choices, educate yourself on how to make stock investments confidently and intelligently, familiarize yourself with the online resources available to help you evaluate stocks, and find ways to protect the money you earn. Also, be sure to do your homework before you invest in any company's stock.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-22-2024

If you want to get started in day trading, doing some preparation before you dive in dramatically increases your odds of success. From setting up your trading business (and it is a business) and learning trading jargon to tracking the markets with technical indicators and calculating your performance, these articles get you on your way.

Article / Updated 08-17-2023

Stocks are well known for their ability to appreciate (for capital gains potential), but not enough credit is given regarding stocks’ ability to boost your income and cash flow. Given that income will be a primary concern for many in the coming months and years (especially baby boomers and others concerned with retirement, pension issues, and so on), I consider this to be an important consideration. The first income feature is the obvious — dividends! I love dividends, and they have excellent features that make them very attractive, such as their ability to meet or exceed the rate of inflation and the fact that they’re subject to lower taxes than, say, regular taxable interest or wages. Dividend-paying stocks, called income stocks, deserve a spot in a variety of portfolios, especially those of investors at or near retirement. Also, I think that younger folks (such as millennials) can gain long-term financial benefits from having dividends reinvested to compound their growth (such as with dividend reinvestment plans). The basics of income stocks I certainly think that dividend-paying stocks are a great consideration for those investors seeking greater income in their portfolios. I especially like stocks with higher-than-average dividends that are known as income stocks. Income stocks take on a dual role: Not only can they appreciate, but they can also provide regular income. The following sections take a closer look at dividends and income stocks. Getting a grip on dividends and their rates When people talk about gaining income from stocks, they’re usually talking about dividends. Dividends are pro rata distributions that treat every stockholder the same. A dividend is nothing more than pro rata periodic distributions of cash (or sometimes stock) to the stock owner. You purchase dividend stocks primarily for income — not for spectacular growth potential. Dividends are sometimes confused with interest. However, dividends are payouts to owners, whereas interest is a payment to a creditor. A stock investor is considered a part owner of the company they invest in and is entitled to dividends when they’re issued. A bank, on the other hand, considers you a creditor when you open an account; the bank borrows your money and pays you interest on it. A dividend is quoted as an annual dollar amount (or percentage yield), but it’s usually paid on a quarterly basis. For example, if a stock pays a dividend of $4 per share, you’re probably paid $1 every quarter. If, in this example, you have 200 shares, you’re paid $800 every year (if the dividend doesn’t change during that period), or $200 per quarter. Getting that regular dividend check every three months (for as long as you hold the stock) can be a nice perk. If the company continues to do well, that dividend can grow over time. A good income stock has a higher-than-average dividend (typically, 4 percent or higher). Dividend rates aren’t guaranteed, and they’re subject to the decisions of the stock issuer’s board of directors — they can go up or down, or in some extreme cases, the dividend can be suspended or even discontinued. Fortunately, most companies that issue dividends continue them indefinitely and actually increase dividend payments from time to time. Historically, dividend increases have equaled (or exceeded) the rate of inflation. Who’s well suited for income stocks? What type of person is best suited to income stocks? Income stocks can be appropriate for many investors, but they’re an especially good match for the following individuals: Conservative and novice investors: Conservative investors like to see a slow but steady approach to growing their money while getting regular dividend checks. Novice investors who want to start slowly also benefit from income stocks. Retirees: Growth investing is best suited for long-term needs, whereas income investing is best suited to current needs. Retirees may want some growth in their portfolios, but they’re more concerned with regular income that can keep pace with inflation. Dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) investors: For those investors who like to compound their money with DRPs, income stocks are perfect. Given recent economic trends and conditions for the foreseeable future, I think that dividends should be a mandatory part of the stock investor’s wealth-building approach. This is especially true for those in or approaching retirement. Investing in stocks that have a reliable track record of increasing dividends is now easier than ever. In fact, there are exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are focused on stocks with a long and consistent track record of raising dividends (typically on an annual basis). Assessing the advantages of income stocks Income stocks tend to be among the least volatile of all stocks, and many investors view them as defensive stocks. Defensive stocks are stocks of companies that sell goods and services that are generally needed no matter what shape the economy is in. (Don’t confuse defensive stocks with defense stocks, which specialize in goods and equipment for the military.) Food, beverage, and utility companies are great examples of defensive stocks. Even when the economy is experiencing tough times, people still need to eat, drink, and turn on the lights. Companies that offer relatively high dividends also tend to be large firms in established, stable industries. Some industries in particular are known for high-dividend stocks. Utilities (such as electric, gas, and water), real estate investment trusts (REITs), and the energy sector (oil and gas royalty trusts) are places where you definitely find income stocks. Yes, you can find high-dividend stocks in other industries, but you find a higher concentration of them in these industries. To learn more about high-dividend stocks, and much more about stock investing, check out my book Investing in Stocks For Dummies. Heeding the disadvantages of income stocks Before you say, “Income stocks are great! I’ll get my checkbook and buy a batch right now,” take a look at the following potential disadvantages (ugh!). Income stocks do come with some fine print. What goes up … Income stocks can go down as well as up, just as any stock can. The factors that affect stocks in general — politics, megatrends, different kinds of risk, and so on — affect income stocks, too. Fortunately, income stocks don’t get hit as hard as other stocks when the market is declining because high dividends tend to act as a support to the stock price. Therefore, income stocks’ prices usually fall less dramatically than other stocks’ prices in a declining market. Interest-rate sensitivity Income stocks can be sensitive to rising interest rates. When interest rates go up, other investments (such as corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, and bank certificates of deposit [CDs]) are more attractive. When your income stock yields 4 percent and interest rates go up to 5 percent, 6 percent, or higher, you may think, “Hmm, why settle for a 4 percent yield when I can get better elsewhere?” As more and more investors sell their low-yield stocks, the prices for those stocks fall. Another point to note is that rising interest rates may hurt the company’s financial strength. If the company has to pay more interest, that may affect the company’s earnings, which, in turn, may affect the company’s ability to continue paying dividends. Dividend-paying companies that experience consistently falling revenues tend to cut dividends. In this case, consistent means two or more years. The effect of inflation Although many companies raise their dividends on a regular basis, some don’t. Or if they do raise their dividends, the increases may be small. If income is your primary consideration, you want to be aware of this fact. If you’re getting the same dividend year after year and this income is important to you, rising inflation becomes a problem. Say that you have XYZ stock at $10 per share with an indicated annual dividend of 30 cents. The yield is 3 percent (30 cents @@ds $10). If you have a yield of 3 percent two years in a row, how do you feel when inflation rises 6 percent one year and 7 percent the next year? Because inflation means your costs are rising, inflation shrinks the value of the dividend income you receive. Fortunately, studies show that, in general, dividends do better in inflationary environments than bonds and other fixed-rate investments do. Usually, the dividends of companies that provide consumer staples (food, energy, and so on) meet or exceed the rate of inflation. This is why some investment gurus describe companies that pay growing dividends as having stocks that are “better than bonds.” Uncle Sam’s cut The government usually taxes dividends as ordinary income. Find out from your tax person whether potentially higher tax rates on dividends are in effect for the current or subsequent tax year. Stock dividends or company dividends? The term stock dividend is commonly used in financial discussions about the stock market. However, the reality is that dividends are not paid by stocks; they’re paid pro rata distributions of cash by companies. It may sound like I’m splitting hairs, but it’s a fundamental difference. Stock prices are subject to the whims of market buying and selling — one day the share prices are up nicely; the next day prices go down when that day’s headlines spook the market. Because the dividend isn’t volatile and it’s paid with regularity (quarterly usually), it’s more predictable. I think that investors should be in the business of “collecting cash flows” as opposed to fretting over the ebbs and flows of the market. What does that mean? If a hundred shares of a given dividend-paying stock provide, say, $100 per year in annual dividends, the income-minded stock investor should keep a running tally of annual dividend amounts. That way, they keep investing until they reach a desired income level (such as $2,000 annual dividend income) and feel confident that this dividend income can be relatively reliable and will keep growing as payouts grow from company operations. Lastly, keep in mind that technically a “stock dividend” is actually a pro rata distribution of stock (and not cash).

Article / Updated 08-14-2023

The basics of stock investing are so elementary that few people recognize them. When you lose track of the basics, you lose track of why you invested to begin with. Here's what's involved in stock market basics: Knowing the risk and volatility involved: Perhaps the most fundamental (and, therefore, most important) concept to grasp is the risk you face whenever you put your hard-earned money in an investment such as a stock. Related to risk is the concept of volatility. Volatility refers to a condition in which there is rapid movement in the price of a particular stock (or other security); investors use this term especially when there’s a sudden drop in price in a relatively short period of time. Assessing your financial situation: You need a firm awareness of your starting point and where you want to go. Understanding approaches to investing: You want to approach investing in a way that works best for you. Seeing what exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have to offer: ETFs are like mutual funds, but they can be traded like stocks. I think that every stock investor should consider ETFs as a positive addition to their portfolio strategies. For the details on all of these concepts, and much more, check out my book Investing in Stocks For Dummies. The bottom line in stock investing is that you shouldn’t immediately send your money to a brokerage account or go to a website and click a Buy Stock button. The first thing you should do is find out as much as you can about what stocks are and how to use them to achieve your wealth-building goals. Before you continue, I want to clarify exactly what a stock is. Stock is a type of security that indicates ownership in a corporation and represents a defined portion (measured in shares) of that corporation’s future success. The two primary types of stocks are common and preferred: Common stock: This type of stock entitles the owner to vote at shareholders’ meetings and receive any dividends that the company issues. Preferred stock: This type of stock doesn’t usually confer voting rights, but it does include some rights that exceed those of common stock. Preferred stockholders, for example, have preferential treatment in certain conditions, such as receiving dividends before common stockholders in the event of a corporate liquidation or bankruptcy. Additionally, preferred stock seeks to operate similarly to a bond for investors seeking stable income. Preparing to buy stocks Gathering information is critical in your stock-investing pursuits. You should gather information on your stock picks two times: before you invest and after you invest. Obviously, you should become more informed before you invest your first dollar, but you also need to stay informed about what’s happening to the company whose stock you buy, as well as about the industry and the general economy. When you’re ready to invest, you need to open a brokerage account. After you’ve opened a brokerage account, it pays to get familiar with the types of orders you can implement inside that account. Knowing how to pick winners When you get past the basics, you can get to the meat of stock picking. Successful stock picking isn’t mysterious, but it does take some time, effort, and analysis. And the effort is worthwhile because stocks are a convenient and important part of most investors’ portfolios. Recognizing stock value Imagine that you like eggs, and you’re buying them at the grocery store. In this example, the eggs are like companies, and the prices represent the prices that you would pay for the companies’ stock. The grocery store is the stock market. What if two brands of eggs are similar, but one costs $2.99 a carton and the other costs $3.99? Which would you choose? Odds are that you’d look at both brands, judge their quality, and, if they’re indeed similar, take the cheaper eggs. The eggs at $3.99 are overpriced. The same is true of stocks. What if you compare two companies that are similar in every respect but have different share prices? All things being equal, the cheaper price represents a better buy for the investor. But the egg example has another side. What if the quality of the two brands of eggs is significantly different, but their prices are the same? If one brand of eggs is stale, of poor quality, and priced at $2.99 and the other brand is fresh, of superior quality, and also priced at $2.99, which would you get? You would take the good brand because they’re better eggs. Perhaps the lesser eggs are an acceptable purchase at $1.99, but they’re overpriced at $2.99. The same example works with stocks. A poorly run company isn’t a good choice if you can buy a better company in the marketplace at the same — or a better — price. Comparing the value of eggs may seem overly simplistic, but doing so does cut to the heart of stock investing. Eggs and egg prices can be as varied as companies and stock prices. As an investor, you must make it your job to find the best value for your investment dollars. (Otherwise, you get egg on your face. You saw that one coming, right?) Market capitalization and stock value You can determine a company’s value (and, thus, the value of its stock) in many ways. The most basic way is to look at the company’s market value, also known as market capitalization (or market cap). Market capitalization is simply the value you get when you multiply all the outstanding shares of a stock by the price of a single share. Calculating the market cap is easy; for example, if a company has 1 million shares outstanding and its share price is $10, the market cap is $10 million. Small cap, mid cap, and large cap aren’t references to headgear; they’re references to how large a company is as measured by its market value. Here are the five basic stock categories of market capitalization: Micro cap (less than $300 million): These stocks are the smallest and, hence, the riskiest available. (There’s even a subsection of micro cap called nano cap, which refers to stocks under $50 million, but they’re not appropriate for this article.) Small cap ($300 million to $2 billion): These stocks fare better than the micro caps and still have plenty of growth potential. The key word here is potential. Mid cap ($2 billion to $10 billion): For many investors, this category offers a good compromise between small caps and large caps. These stocks have some of the safety of large caps while retaining some of the growth potential of small caps. Large cap ($10 billion to $200 billion): This category is usually best reserved for conservative stock investors who want steady appreciation with greater safety. Stocks in this category are frequently referred to as blue chips. Ultra cap or mega cap (more than $200 billion): These stocks obviously refer to companies that are the biggest of the big. Stocks such as Google and Apple are examples. From a safety point of view, a company’s size and market value do matter. All things being equal, large-cap stocks are considered safer than small-cap stocks. However, small-cap stocks have greater potential for growth. Compare these stocks to trees: Which tree is sturdier, a giant California redwood or a small oak tree that’s just a year old? In a great storm, the redwood holds up well, whereas the smaller tree has a rough time. But you also have to ask yourself which tree has more opportunity for growth. The redwood may not have much growth left, but the small oak tree has plenty of growth to look forward to. For beginning investors, comparing market cap to trees isn’t so far-fetched. You want your money to branch out without becoming a sap. Although market capitalization is important to consider, don’t invest (or not invest) based solely on it. It’s just one measure of value. You need to look at numerous factors that can help you determine whether any given stock is a good investment. Sharpening your investment skills Investors who analyze a company can better judge the value of its stock and profit from buying and selling it. Your greatest asset in stock investing is knowledge (and a little common sense). To succeed in the world of stock investing, keep in mind these key success factors: Understand why you want to invest in stocks. Are you seeking appreciation (capital gains) or income (dividends)? Timing your buys and sells does matter. Terms like overbought and oversold can give you an edge when you’re deciding whether to purchase or sell a stock. Technical analysis is a way to analyze securities through their market activity (past prices and volume) to find patterns that suggest where those investments may be headed in the short term. Do some research. Look at the company whose stock you’re considering to see whether it’s a profitable business worthy of your investment dollars. Understand and identify what’s up with “the big picture.” It’s a small world after all, and you should be aware of how the world can affect your stock portfolio. Everyone from the bureaucrats in Europe to the politicians in the U.S. Capitol can affect a stock or industry like a match in a dry haystack. Use investing strategies like the pros do. I’m very big on strategies such as trailing stops and limit orders, and fortunately, today’s technology gives you even more tools to help you grow or protect your money. Look outside the U.S. stock market for opportunities. It’s easier than ever before to profit from stocks offered across the globe! Find out more about investing in international stocks through American depositary receipts (ADRs) and international ETFs. Consider buying in smaller quantities. Buying stocks doesn’t always mean that you must buy through a broker and that it must be 100 shares. You can buy stock for as little as $25 using programs such as dividend reinvestment plans. Do as others do, not as they say. Sometimes, what people tell you to do with stocks is not as revealing as what people are actually doing. This is why I like to look at company insiders before I buy or sell a particular stock. This includes insider trading done by Congress. Keep more of the money you earn. After all your great work in getting the right stocks and making the big bucks, you should know about keeping more of the fruits of your investing.

Article / Updated 07-06-2023

To be a successful trader, you must have good judgment and a solid trading system. Follow the steps in the following list to develop a system that works for you and that reflects your priorities and tolerances. Select system development tools. Gather historical data to test your system. Develop and test your system design. Identify system optimization pitfalls. Test with blind simulation. Account for slippage. Keep a trading journal. Frequently evaluate your trades.

Article / Updated 04-25-2023

Momentum investors (speculators) lean toward technical analysis instead of fundamental analysis when choosing which stocks to buy, when to buy, and when to sell. Investors who rely on technical analysis spend most of their time looking at charts to spot patterns in an attempt to predict the future movement of a stock’s price. Upward momentum With momentum investing, you basically want to buy stocks that show sustainable upward momentum and sell them before the price starts to trend downward. The key word here is sustainable, which means you’re looking for a pattern that you have reason to believe will continue for the foreseeable future. One way to identify a stock with sustainable upward momentum is to look at its 50-day and 100-day simple moving averages in relation to one another. A simple moving average (SMA) shows the change in a stock’s average price over a certain number of days. For example, to calculate the five-day SMA of a stock for a given day, you total the stock’s closing prices over the past five days and divide by five. To calculate the 50-day moving average, you total the stock’s closing prices over the past 50 days and divide by 50. To create an SMA chart, you calculate the SMA for the desired period (for example, for each of the past 50 days) and plot those points on a chart, as shown. You end up with a line or curve that smooths out the daily fluctuations in the share price (which reduces the “noise”) to make the stock’s overall momentum clearer and easier to visualize and understand. The good news is that you don’t have to calculate simple moving averages and chart them. Nearly every online broker features moving average charts as part of its service. I explained how to calculate the SMA and create a chart just so you would have a clearer understanding of how this investment strategy works. As a momentum investor, you look for times when the short-term upward trend is strong enough to trigger a positive shift in the long-term trend. The most common way to spot such a shift is to chart a stock’s 50-day and 100-day moving averages and look for points where the two lines cross. When the 50-day SMA line moves from below to above the 100-day SMA line (see the following figure), this is a sign that the short-term trend may be strong enough to trigger an upward shift in the long-term momentum — a buy signal. However, if you look at enough of these moving averages charts, you start to notice that this technique doesn’t always work. You’ll notice plenty of instances where the 50-day SMA line moves from below to above the 100-day SMA line that corresponds with a sell-off. Likewise, you’ll notice plenty of instances where the 50-day SMA line dives down below the 100-day SMA line corresponds to an upward shift in share price. In other words, don’t blindly follow this technique. Momentum investors may examine the SMA over longer periods or use other types of charts to gauge a stock’s momentum and identify buy and sell opportunities, but this basic method enables you to wrap your head around the concept and try it if you so desire. Be careful buying into an apparent rally, because short sellers can quickly inflate a stock’s price when they exit their positions in anticipation that the stock price will soon tank. Downward momentum After buying a cannabis stock with upward momentum, your next decision is when to sell it. At this point, monitoring the stock’s SMA is even more important, because at any time in the future, the trend can flip from upward to downward. You want to sell your stock as close to the stock’s peak as possible, and as you feel comfortable doing. As is commonly said among investors, “Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered.” Don’t be too greedy when deciding the right time to sell. If you’re unsure whether a stock has peaked, consider cashing out your principle (the initial amount you invested) and riding to the top with your gains (the remaining shares). As you become more familiar with cannabis stocks, you may want to consider taking bigger risks. Deciding when and how much to sell depends on your personal risk tolerance and how much you can afford to and want to gamble. Now, instead of looking for points where the 50-day SMA moves from below to above the line for the 100-day SMA, you want to watch for when that 50-day line crosses down from above to below the 100-day line (see Figure 13-3). How far that 50-day line dives down before you pull the trigger is up to you, but if you want to remain true to this strategy, the sooner you sell, the better.