The Secret Guide To Stock Investments

The most effective stock investment strategy for novices focuses on stock funds as the best stock market websites investment to keep it simple, and emphasizes investment strategy over stock picking. You do not need to pick the top stock or maybe the most effective stock funds to do well should you have an investment strategy that keeps you out of trouble. Here is how to keep it easy and also make money, with less risk.

Funds that invest in stocks will often be called equity funds and they come in two popular varieties: mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). You may best get started on your own in one of two different ways: by opening a mutual fund account with an important no-load fund company, or by opening a brokerage account with a discount broker. In any event, you can put the most effective stock investment strategy for novices that I know of to work with you.

Earmark this account as your stock investment account. All of your money will be either in stocks (equity funds) or even in cash in the form of a money market fund that is safe and pays interest within the form of dividends. The key to our best investment strategy is that you are never 100% invested in equity funds or stocks, and never 100% invested on the safe side. Instead, you pick your target allocation and stick with it. I'll give you an example.

You don't want to be too aggressive, so you pick 50% as your target allocation to stocks. It means that no matter what happens within the market, you will keep half of your hard earned money in equity funds and half within the safety of a money market fund earning interest. This is your investment strategy, and it takes the need to make micro decisions out of the picture. You have a plan and also you intend to stick with it to prevent major mistakes as well as the major losses that will result from emotional decisions.

Now let's take a look-at how this simple investment strategy works to keep you out of trouble. Bad news hits the market and stocks go in to a nose dive. What do you do? Since your equity funds will fall also, if you fall below your 50% target you move money from your safe money market fund into equity funds. To put it differently, you buy stocks when they are getting cheaper. However, if stocks go to extremes on the up side, what do you do?

If your equity funds represent 60% or more of the total, you cut back to 50%. Basically, you take some money off of the table. How often should you move money back and forth? This best investment strategy is meant to be simple and not time intensive. When your asset allocation gets to 60-40 or 40-60, it's definitely time for you to move money. If you want to be more active, use 55-45 or 45-55 as your guidelines.

This stock investment strategy makes the buy and sell decisions for you so you may relax. Consider the bear market of 2008 when the market fell by over 50% by March of 2009. Stocks then went up about 70% over the next 12 months. Did most investors make money? Quite the contrary. They made poor decisions while they got scared and lacked a sound investment strategy. With this simple plan, you will be doing all right in 2010. Plus, there could be no reason to fear a market reversal, because you've got an investment strategy.

It's easy to move money back and forth between mutual funds, but be a bit careful. Do not do it anymore often then is necessary. Second, to keep the tax issue simple do this in an account that is tax deferred or tax qualified... like an IRA or 401k. You can roll your existing IRA into an IRA with a no-load mutual fund company. Then your buy and sell transactions are not reportable for tax purposes.