Few of us have time to really play the stock market. We are always on the go. Here are a few reason you should upgrade to a smart phone to become a better investor.
1. Text Message
You can set up text alerts with most online brokerage companies. Yahoo has a free alert service. Set your buy/sell price and have the service text you when it reaches its limit.
2. Stock Market Apps
Most smart phones have apps that allow you to analyze stocks. This is useful when you load your wish list on to the phone and can check each stock as you have time. Waiting at the doctor’s office, in line at the grocery store and waiting for the kids are all now investing research time.
3. Notes
Most smart phones have a note application. List your wish list with the buy/sell prices. You’ll never have to worry about not having your list with you.
4. Buy/Sell
All the major brokerage companies have a mobile website. You can buy and sell from your phone. I’ve bought stocks at 3:30 while waiting to pick my kid up from school. This handy option will give you many more opportunities.
5. Education
Most smart phones can play video, podcasts and audio books. Use this option to educate yourself on how to be a better investor.
When it’s just you investing, it’s easy to ignore losing money. “I’ll make it back” is a common thought. One way to avoid letting yourself slide into bad habits is to have someone you “report” too. Pick a best friend, wife/husband, girlfriend/boyfriend or in my case a blog and let everyone know what you are doing and why. Once you have the rules in place and break them, you’ll need to explain why you broke them. It’s easier to stick to the rules, than to explain why you broke them and lost.
Happy Trading!
I’ve discussed this before on my site; don’t blindly trust anyone with your money. It’s a solid rule that will keep you from being cheated. Always know what you are getting into and how you will profit from it.
Business Insider has a fantastic graph showing how they think Glenn Beck may have gold scheme. I can’t argue with the facts. He is a doom and gloom guy. Once people are in a panic, it’s easy to sell them gold to guarantee their future finances.
I can’t really express to everyone how important it is to have a list of stocks with their buy/sell prices. This week things have been very hectic for me, yet I was able to grab my little notebook and see that one of my stocks hit the buy point. I know it’s very low tech, but nothing beats a small notebook. It’s quick, fast and user friendly. Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone 4, but it’s still not going to replace my notebook.
Action time: buy a small notebook to keep with you. Keep a list of stocks you want to buy with their buy and sell prices.
On my other website (www.littlebuddhaproject.com), I had a week long discussion about charities and the value of giving. I know that this seems to be an odd subject for an investing site, but there is some value for investors too. I’m not talking about just tax right offs.
Let’s be honest, if we don’t have a purpose, it’s difficult to stick with something that can be frustrating (like the stock market). If you find that you are losing purpose for having a portfolio (except money), try trading stocks to give a portion to charity. Pick a good round number and once you profit, donate! I would suggest starting with 20% of the profits.
Giving can be a very rewarding endeavor.
Do you think I’ve lost it? Do you give to charity? Let me know in the comments. Happy trading!
I’ve discussed before that you shouldn’t panic on outrageous headlines. Because people do, you can take advantage of this. Bad news could be a good time to add to your portfolio. Do your homework and be sure that the bad news in only temporary. Buy the stock as it recovers from the downward surge. You don’t need hit the exact bottom; in fact it is better to buy when you see the stock recover.
Bad news isn’t always bad news for your portfolio. Happy Trading!
I’ve been known to only read the headlines of articles only to find out later that it wasn’t exactly true. Don’t make investing decisions on just the headlines alone. Understand the news before you make any buy or sell decisions. The good news in this, people do make quick decisions on just headlines. By understanding the news, good or bad, could help you profit while other people are panicking.
Sorry for the lack of update. I needed to take a break, which I recommend to everyone. It’s time to get back to trading stocks. I’m excited about working on this blog again. Join me and let’s explore making ourselves wealthy with the stock market!
As always, I seem to learn a lesson by losing money. In this case, I was prepared for a trend to break downward. What I wasn’t looking for was a trend to break upward. My new rule, once a trend is broken, UP or DOWN, sell.
JOEZ was set nicely for a good upward trend. I was excited about the chart and the upward movement it was making. I bought it at just the right time (at the bottom of it’s trending cycle). It did everything I expected. Then one day, bang, it jumped 15%. 15%! Yes, what I should have done was sell it. The trend was broken. Unfortunately, I was only tracking a trend that broke it’s trend downward. The next day, bang, 15% loss. I went from a $200 profit to a $6 loss. Of course, my trailing stop loss kicked in and sold.
Moral of the story:
When a trend is broken (up or down), it’s time to sell.
I’ve had a few days with my iPad and I can honestly say this has potential to be a big technology changer for everyone. This also includes investors. The new mobile society has become even more capable with this device.
What does the iPad have in store for Lunch Break Investors? Here are a few of my thoughts on how this will change it all:
1. Full web browser. No more squinting at the mobile version of our favorite financial site. I was able to log into my Scottrade account and view charts, financial data and news. Just like on my laptop. The only drawback I’ve had so far is that I can’t use the drawing tool on the stock chart. So, I’m still not at the point that I can completely know if a stock is trending.
2. The every growing awesome apps. The Apple app store has enough financial apps that should suit anyone’s strategy. I’ll start reviewing those over the next few days.
3. Numbers is the Apple version of Excel. This is an amazing application. I’m in the process of converting my stock tracking spreadsheet to it (I currently use Google Docs). Again, there is one draw back to the app, it will import Excel documents, but not export them.
4. iBooks, Knook (Barnes & Noble) and Kindle (Amazon). These are the three big boys of the ebook reader market (sorry Sony). Barnes & Noble and Kindle both run on the iPad. What does that mean for Lunch Break Investors? No more heavy books! You can now buy all your favorite books on your preferred format and read away.
5. The video player is much better on the iPad than on the iPhone/iPod touch. Now those videos from podcasts and iTunes U are much easier on the eyes. Time to upgrade your financial knowledge.
Those are my thoughts, do you have any to share. Post a comment below, I would love to hear from you!
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