Thursday, March 15, 2007

Choose your own style

When identify a good company to invest, the first thing I look at is its core business. If I don’t like it, I will just ignore it and forget about it. The second thing is earnings per share without the exceptional gains. Third is the caliber of the management. In this respect and when in doubt, I will look at its track record. Only when I am satisfied that its prospective earnings and earnings growth are good will I delve further into it.

Dividend yields are important. When I invest, I will be looking for dividend yields of at least 50% more than what the banks pay in interest.

The only benefits a minority shareholder has in a company are capital appreciation and dividend payments. Therefore, you must pay attention to these.

Every stock has an intrinsic value. Benjamin Graham known as the “Father of Value Investing “ and the “Dean of Wall Street” advocates that we buy at 2/3 of the intrinsic value of a share. If you want the safest of all bets, you must have the patience to wait for the opportunity. You must also know it when it is there.

Buy a stock when its price is below its intrinsic value; sell it when it is way above it. It’s as simple as that. Don’t get married to your stocks. Enjoy the romancing and then say, “Bye-bye!” Never get emotional with stocks.

“Trading is the most exciting thing you can do have with your clothes on,” says a professional trader and technical analyst .Excitement is exciting; everybody wants it. How wonderful to be there, yelling, shouting and laughing and at the same see your wealth climbing. If you have mastered the mastery of trading, that is what you will be enjoying. If not, you will find that trading is not so exciting after all.

Money is what I am after when I invest in the stock market. After I have made my dough, I can go for my excitement.

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today....William Allen White