Basic Investment Principles In The Stock Market - Part 2

By Zigfred Diaz

We are now on the second part of this series. This is a discussion on the principles of investment in the stock market. We have already discussed the first principle. The first principle dealt with realizing that the stock market is just another investment vehicles. Before deciding to invest in the stock market, you must know about other vehicles of investments. Let us proceed by discussing the next two principles. If you wish to view the article in its entirety, visit my blog.

2.) You must know that investing in the stock market is a roller coaster ride - One of the advantages of the stock market is that there are times when it really climbs up then really big profits are made. However when it really goes down then really big losses are also made.

Bearing in mind that the stock market is a roller coaster ride it is generally best to sell when the market goes up and buy when the market goes down. When I started investing in the stock market about 2 years ago, the Philippine Stock exchange index was about 2000 + points. It went up to 2500 points and then down to the 2000 level in the middle of 2006. Slowly and steadily it climbed up to the 3200 level during the 1st quarter of 2007. It then went down in a very short period of time during the final days of the 1st quarter of 2007. It steadily climbed to a high of 3700+ points in July 2007 but went down below 3000 points a month after. It rose steadily to its highest at 3800+ points by October 2007, but after a month dropped to 3600 points.

The conclusion here is that it is really a roller coaster ride. During those up and down moments of the market, profits and losses are made

3.) You should determine what type of investor you are - Are you a long term investor or a short term investor? This is a very important question that each serious new investor should consider. This affects whether you should buy or sell a certain stock.

If you are a long term investor, meaning that you hold your stocks for 5 to 10 years or more it means that you believe in the company that you are investing in and that you have extra money for other things because you can afford to put in your money for a long period of time.

Long term investors also do not have to worry about the gruesome day to day technical analysis that has to be monitored. For as long as they believe in the fundamentals of the company there is no problem if the stock is held for a long period of time. But if you are a short term investor, that means you decide to cash in within a months time to 6 months time, then you should consider several things. You have to monitor the day to day activities of the market.

Short term investors have also to consider if they can afford to put in their money for a long period of time however the time element is not as long as that of the long term investor. This is so because during the short period wherein you buy and sell stocks, you might incur losses during this time so you may decide to wait longer a little bit more.

When I started out I determined to be more of a long term investor. I do have stocks whom I consider as short term but I consider most of the stocks I hold to be invested in the medium and long term period. - 29970

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