How can i become a great investor?

Question

Im 16 and im wondering how i can be a great, or at least better then most at investing. I tend to chase past gains (currently in EEB, EWZ and WBD). I know diversification is good but i like taking risks, especially because im kinda young. I want to know how to find great stocks before it happens. How do investors do it? I know its not easy.

Basically is what im asking is, how can i become a better investor?

Answer 1

read read read read and the read more. IBD the wallstreet journal, yahoo finnce, barrons, kiplingers, local paper.  After you get done reading read some more

Answer 2

AS you know you been following investments based on the past. You should get an idea of how the pro's do, it there's a whole commentary section in MSN Money, you would get great benefit from it.

There are some books out there that will help you,

What Works on Wall Street by James O'Shaunessey

Beating the Street by Peter Lynch

One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch

How to Make Money in Stocks” by William O’Neil

There are many "screens" out there that will help you select good sound investments, try visiting MSN Money (investing, stocks for the screens) http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/fin...

Visit some other websites

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp

http://www.zacks.com/

http://screen.morningstar.com/StockResul...

http://www.investors.com/?tn=top

http://investorshub.advfn.com/default.as...

http://www.thestreet.com

http://www.brokerage101.com/

http://www.1source4stocks.com/

http://www.decisionpoint.com/TAcourse/TA...

http://www.grahaminvestor.com/

http://www.morningstar.com/

http://www.dividenddetective.com/

For frequent or even dailey reading, you should like into the Investors Business Dailey, you can check out their website at

http://www.investors.com/?tn=top

Good luck, study well and you'll invest evern better

Answer 3

Learn the ins and the outs of the system. Study the series 7 materials, research each and every day. Look deep into the market to find the hidden gems, be prepared to lose a lot while you find the right mix and the top performers.

Answer 4

Consider reading the popular business news (Businessweek, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune) and keep before you what the current trends are and who the major players may be inside them.

As for diversification, it is to provide you with an aggregate sense of safety for each of your positions is a risk. Even in that ancient book, the Bible, diversification is found: Jacob cheated his brother Esau, as he was coming home he sent a part of his possessions as a rich gift to help settle the grudge, then he divided things in two groups so that if Esau struck against one group "then the other company which is left shall escape" (Genesis 32:8). Spreading your money then, four ways, ten way, or a hundred provides safety. But while it dilutes the effect of your losses, it blunts the effect of your successes too, so don't spread things too thinly.

Part of the place for businessweek and fortune and even forbes is that they ferret out lists. The piles of obscure and comparatively unimportant companies are excluded as they assemble lists of companies, for this reason or that, have solid features of profitability and value. You could do your cherry picking from those lists. Part of the problem is, however, the talk and flash of traders who live on an adrenalin rush will pooh you for not being sufficiently aggressive, or taking the same kinds of risks. Face it, you can buy a motor cycle to be like Evil Kneival or his son Robby, always pushing the limits (and cracking up, a lot, more than they succeed), or you could buy it to inexpensively "get from point A to point B". Well, if "no pain no gain" is your investing motto, then check out the likes of Cramer, but you can still be very successful with less aggressive methods (and lifestyle). (BTW, I see Cramer as a screamer that smashes chairs like a rock star guitars, but when he shows up on Today or such news spots, he's often as quiet and docile as a lamb, so bear in mind that part of this extreme shows that somewhere in there he is acting, so remember that your passion and desire for this result or that is still dependent upon the market's moods, not yours).

Be patient, be persistent, and don't be greedy. You'll do fine.

Answer 5

Diversification as most people think is having a diversity of stocks.  The best strategy is to diversify into several asset classes - U.S. stocks, non U.S. Stocks, bonds, real estate, and hard assets.  I talked to a financial advisor from Morgan Stanley yesterday, and he told me to add an asset allocation in gold, and he referred me to a website -- www.safeasgold.com, and told me to click on the Gold Market News link.  There was a ton of info there from Forbes, Wall St. Journal, Bloomberg and MarketWatch that explained why you need to have some gold in addition to everything else.

Answer 6

Become a trader/investor.... not a gambler.

The answer is simple... but it requires work. The best traders are voracious readers.  I try to read at least 6 -8 trading books a year. Many good traders aim at 1 a month. The key to trading is "technical analysis".

Read;

Trading In The Zone, Mark Douglas

Mastering The Trade, John Carter

Check these sites out.  Look for reading suggestions;

http://www.alphatrends.net/

http://www.slopeofhope.com/

https://www.shadowtrader.net/videoArchiv...

http://www.thekirkreport.com/

http://tradermike.net/2006/06/tools_of_t... (look at essential books area).

https://www.thinkorswim.com/tos/displayP...