Stock Investing for Everyone

"While each investment vehicle has its advantages, the stock market has characteristics that make it the ideal vehicle of choice for the vast majority of investors."

"To avoid timing the market, which is very difficult, dollar cost averaging can be used as a viable alternative."

"A wide variety of companies trade in the stock market . . . Investors use many classifications to group these companies in order to analyze and track them."

"The performance of the stock market is tied to corporate profits, the economy, inflation, and interest rates."

"Investors need to understand a stock's supply and demand as well as factors affecting them."

"Historically, dividend yield has been the most consistent standard of value for investors."

"Fundamental analysis involves the study of various factors that affect a company's earnings and dividends which, in turn, influence its stock price."

"Technical analysis is based on observing a stock's behavior with the primary focus being on price and trading volume."

"The magnitude of the impact of any indicator depends on the time (recession, bull market, bear market, earnings season) as well as the presence or absence of other variables."

"A moving average is essentially the average price of a stock for a specified period. The objective of a moving average is to get a smooth directional trend by eliminating random, irregular fluctuations and noise."

"If the number of advancing stocks outnumbers declining stocks by a big margin, the market is said to have good breadth."

"Savvy investors closely monitor trading volume levels because heavy trading often precedes major price moves."

"Stock market investors use a number of sentiment, or psychological, indicators to monitor the pulse of the market and gauge investor sentiment."

"The two most important inflation indicators are the producer price index (PPI) and the consumer price index (CPI)."

"Market players use different definitions for bull and bear markets."

"Learn to recognize a market top or bottom, which can lead to making more profitable decisions in one of two ways?by delaying buying to a more favorable time or by selling before investors start dumping en masse. "

"No stock moves straight up in price. Even the strongest stock will pause at times in it relentless run-up to digest and consolidate gains before continuing its upward move."

"Investors use a number of investment strategies and techniques because a prerequisite for success in the stock market is the use of a strategy. Investing without a strategy is an invitation to disaster."

"The top 1% of growth stocks will consistently beat the market averages by 50% to 100%."

"An investor must have a selling plan for cutting losses, profit taking (short-term), and disposing of long-term winners."

"Every investor needs to strike a balance between protecting capital while building wealth. This is done by taking measured risks using selected strategies."