Saturday, June 23, 2012

Stock Picking Strategies

Some times, I like to watch business TV channels for the sheer entertainment they provide. None more than a financial adviser who hosts a half-hour show twice a week where viewers call in with their queries and the host of the show lambasts them about their stock picks.

I was watching the show last evening. A viewer called in with a query on India Glycol. On learning that the viewer was a marketing professional at a brokerage house, the host asked whether good advice was being provided to the brokerage clients or not.

The viewer responded with a resounding ‘Yes’ only to face a tougher question from the TV show host: “Can you please tell me what India Glycol produces?” After the briefest of hesitations, the viewer said: “I don’t know.”

The next question was even tougher: “What is Mono-Ethylene Glycol?” This time, the viewer responded promptly: “I think some pharmaceutical product.” The TV show host slammed down the phone receiver and went apoplectic! It was too funny for words.

He looked straight at the camera and started shouting at the top of his voice: “Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself? This is the kind of good advice you provide to your clients? What is happening to this country? When will you people learn how to pick good stocks?” On and on he went for a couple of minutes before sitting down in sheer exhaustion.

Part of the anger was an act – but only a part. Most small investors enter the stock market without a clue about how to select a stock for trading or investment. No wonder they end up losing money. Then they compound the problem by ‘averaging’ the stock as it continues to fall – turning a smaller loss into a much bigger one.

If you want to learn stock picking strategies, you can read a 11 part tutorial at investopedia.com. The first part can be found at the following link:

http://www.investopedia.com/university/stockpicking/#axzz1ydDfLEzu

Links to the next 10 parts are available in the above link.

Related Posts

http://investmentsfordummieslikeme.blogspot.in/2009/03/how-to-pick-stocks-for-investment-part.html - Part I
http://investmentsfordummieslikeme.blogspot.in/2009/04/how-to-pick-stocks-for-investment-part.html - Part II
http://investmentsfordummieslikeme.blogspot.in/2009/06/how-to-pick-stocks-for-investment-part.html - Part III

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