I recall reading in the past where only seventeen surgical operations covered the vast majority of surgeries performed on people. And I think you could say something like that with options trades.  While there is virtually an infinite number of ways to put options trades on, there is some much smaller number of plays that [...]

One of my favorite stock options trades to do is called a straddle – or a related trade called a strangle When we do a straddle we are buying a call AND a put on the same stock at the same strike price.  In other words, we aren’t choosing if the stock will go up [...]

Bonds have their place in an investment portfolio when market conditions are right. However, even in the right market conditions, many people have a misconception about bonds that is not good for their financial health. Let’s look at what that is. A bond is simply you loaning money to a corporation for a certain period [...]

I did a fun investment thing this weekend.  I turned my pocket change into .999 pure silver.  I always get a kick out of that. Because the “hold in your hand” silver is beautiful to look at.  And because I know I am beating inflation when I do this. Every night when I come home [...]

Regardless of all the bleak news we hear every evening, we are living, at this very moment, at the beginning of an incredible opportunity in the stock market.  There is a huge, world-shaking, game-changing event beginning right now as I speak. It is already underway.  And most people have not picked up on it yet. [...]

For those of you who don’t live in Florida, you might find this a bit unusual.  Actually, as a Mid-West guy from the Heartland of America (St. Louis), I’m still getting used to it. I stepped out of the office about 2:30 PM today to stretch my legs, and there, not 25 feet from me [...]

As we’ve said often before, both amateurs and professionals make mistakes.  But professionals limit the damage and keep from wiping themselves out. Here’s an important technique professionals use to minimize their stock losses.  It’s called trailing stop losses, and it’s a technique I use (I even have it automated). So here’s the thing.  Instead of [...]

For at least a year now, many financial newsletters I’ve read have been recommending investing in Microsoft.  Microsoft is one of those companies that is just positively gushing billions of dollars of cash per year.  And they recently started paying dividends. The newsletter writers were saying this was a great buy and hold stock, which [...]

Let’s face it.  Both professional and amateur investors will lose money on a stock from time to time.  This can happen when a sudden bad news event surfaces about the company you are invested in. Like the recent Walmart Mexico scandal. It seems that people high up in the Walmart organization knew that bribes were [...]

The past three months have been a frustrating time for stock market investors.  After making a major move up from August through February, and even March, the stock market seems stuck in a trading range. Which way will it go? The prognostications on this question are a bit maddening.  Many feel the market will make [...]