Van Meerten's picks

You can learn a lot about investing by spending a day at the beach. When you first get there you ask yourself if the tide is going out or coming in. As you watch each wave, some go short and some go long. You really can't tell. You put a stick in the sand by the top of the last wave and pretty some it's either covered by water or standing 20 feet from the last wave. Now you know.

I have learned that although you may not be able to tell how high the next wave will come up the beach and you might not be able to tell which stock will go higher, it is essential to know which way the market is headed.

I use Barchart.com. Much of the site is free. It has a real good Market Momentum that tells how the market overall did that day, and what percentage of stocks traded above their 20,50,100,150 & 200 moving averages. As an additional gauge I use the Value Line Average which incudes approximately 1700 stock covering about 96% of the entire stock markets market cap.

This give me a sense of how fast and which direction the market is currently moving and how strong and long it's trend might be. I then know when to jump in and when the rip tides my suck the profit from my portfolio. You don't spit in the wind or swim against the tide.

Comments: View Comments |  Monday May 12, 2008