Well here we are again with all the Press, TV and radio all saying it’s the end of the world as far as the stock markets are concerned. I would urge all investors spread betters included to look on the stock market as a long term investment. By all means take a quick profit if it’s there. but if you are nursing losses, the likelihood is , if you do not crystallise your loss by selling and leave your  spread bets or shares in there, over the next 5 years or so they should prove to be a good investment.

 


I understand for most it is sensible to have stop losses in place. in April 2009 all my bets on the DAX were stopped at under 3500, within 2 years that index was back above 7000. The April 2009 experience cost me many thousands of pounds.. Since then I had all but clawed those losses back until last week. When the losses start coming in again. Am I perturbed,depressed or full of FEAR, no.  History shows quality indices (Nikkei aside) do recover. I now follow Warren Buffett’s example of buying quality blue chips and if no short term profit is there, just leave them until a good and respectable gain is showing. Yes you need to have a positive manner when each day you look at your SB account and see those red figures but look on it as one day nearer to the big push upwards. Bear markets are generally shorter (but harsher) than bull markets which tend to run for much longer periods.  The DOW and FTSE tend to have about 10 days a year when they are massive gains that come like a bolt from the blue and I don’t think even the best strategist can capture them other than leaving your money in there.

 


I recently finished reading the Naked Trader 2 by Robbie Burns and I would strongly recommend this book. Robbie conveys a no nonsense (but at times humorous) guide to investing in equities (via the stock market and by spread betting and also the many advantages of the latter way of investing)) and checking out backgrounds to companies, debt level, Annual Reports etc -very good. Other suggestions the Richest Man in Babylon and also Rich Dad Poor Dad, both great books for developing a positive mind set.

 


Keep positive!

Chris

 


Chris has been trading spread bets since early 2009. He is a traditional share and mutual fund buyer since 1973, starting with M&G American and General Accumulation Units. He focuses more on technicals than fundamentals, believing we are the last in the media chain to hear things “it’s yesterday’s news”. He uses an investing strategy when purchasing spread bets and is guided very much by long term trends. He focuses particularly on DAX, DOW and FTSE (has given up on Nikkei) and looks for blues chips like BG (British Gas), BP and Tesco.

 

August 8, 2011 by Harry
Category: blog