These are shocking times for many people as they witness firsthand the erosion of the equity and value of their homes and begin to feel the financial pain and uncertainty this has brought into their lives. Yesterday the markets dropped more in a single day than they have in any day since 9/11. Pundits will be out in force today telling you things will come back. They always have and this time will be no different, or will it? I'm not convinced it will, at least not very quickly. So if you want to survive and prosper in the next few years, I've got 3 keys that you simply can't afford to ignore.
The cause of this crisis is clearly uncontrolled greed. It's not the bank's fault of the government's. We have nobody to blame but ourselves for wanting more than we could afford. The market simply filled the biggest need that we had and created lending programs that allowed us to access sources of capital that allowed us to raise our lifestyle without inflicting much immediate financial pain.
The economy was awash in lots of easy and cheap money that we used to drive up the cost of everything from homes and condos, to cars, boats, clothes, and food. Now the easy money is gone. The shell game the banks and lenders were playing has been exposed in a very public way. As a society, we broke the #1 rule of personal finance "live within your means" and now we're all going to have to pay a heavy price to bring things back into their proper perspective.
The irony in all this is that at the time we're all feeling the most pain, there are some of the greatest opportunities that will be leveraged by a small group of wise investors to create amazing wealth. Will you be one of them? Not if you're sitting on the sidelines.
When times are tough the typical thing most investors do is run for cover. They move to cash or money market funds, they stop opening their brokerage statements thinking it will make the losses they would see easier to take. Doing nothing in times like these will assure that you get the worst of what the market has to dish out. Now is the time for action, not paralysis
Here's 3 essentiall keys to help you weather this storm and come out on top when this crisis ends.
1. Always plan for the unexpected. In just the past 4 months we've had a the worst single month in the markets since the great depression, and the worst one day drop since 9/11. More bad news will inevitably come out and further dampen and already dismal investor sentiment which in turn will lead to more selling and more lost money for most investors. It's not too late to put up the safety net if you haven't already. If you used stop loss orders on your holdings, congratulations the money you saved will give you a solid leg up when the market turns again.
I tell people who take my courses that if they ever have a catastrophic loss after they finish my class - Shame on them! That's right. If you make a rule to never lose more than 10% on any single investment and use the tools at your brokerage firm to help you stick to that rule no matter what the market does, you'll be able to eliminate completely the catastrophic losses from your future. Imagine what an extra 2-3% overall would add to your retirement account if you didn't have that one massive loss each year. Compound that savings over your lifetime of investing and we're talking some serious money.
So key number one is to cut the bleeding. Put up the safety net and stop losing money when the markets tank.
2. Learn to trade options and ETF's. If you've been told options are risky and that you have no business trading them, you need to take a second look. I personally don't know how any investor could have survived the carnage in the markets in 2008 without using some simple option strategies. The fact is that a well diversified portfolio won't help you weather this storm. That's the primary risk management strategy employed by the traditional brokerage community (I'm talking about all those companies on the verge of bankruptcy and insolvency). I guess they forgot to practice what they preach to all their clients. The fact is that diversity is way over hyped. If you're well diversified, it just means you have more stocks that went down this year.
I read a story recently by a very successful investment manager who made the comment, "diversity is for amateurs." When I meet very successful investors, the majority got rich by making substantial investments in the right sectors or stocks at the right time. They also all practice risk management in every trade they make.
Options will give you a tool to play either direction with limited risk and unlimited potential. This is the single best way to play the bearish side of the market in my opinion. You can also use options to hedge the positions you own in stocks or mutual funds against unexpected drops in value. When these holdings hold their value, the options will help you generate consistent and reliable income from your investments, even if they don't go up in a value.
The wide range of index and sector ETF's now available offer so many advantages over picking individual stocks that I'm amazed anyone buys individual stocks anymore. If you can spot a trend, you can pick an ETF to play it. If you want a little more leverage, you can now find an ETF that offers 2:1 leverage to play the market in either direction. Check out the QID and QLD for the nasdaq and the DIG and DUG for oil. If you use these vehicles, you can always invest in something that's going up.
So spend a little time and money and learn to trade options and ETFs. You won't be able to survive in the future economy without using these powerful tools and strategies. They are some of the most efficient vehicles for investing available. They are almost universally easy to use, and cheap to trade when compared with traditional stocks and mutual funds.
3. Stop listening to your broker and financial advisors and take control of you own money. I have a saying and it's that, "nobody takes care of Ross' money like Ross." It's the rare exception when a broker or financial advisor will actually watch your account and make the recommendations to sell or change strategy when the market trends change. They are taught to get your account so diversified that you won't get the best of the rallies, but you'll avoid the worst of the sell-offs. The goal of traditional portfolio diversification and management as taught by the major brokerage firms is simply to get you to the point where you don't feel the need to call your broker every day to talk about your investments. They simply don't have time to talk to you because they are too busy trying to raise more money to increase their assets under management. That's all that matters in their world. Their education is limited to asset allocation models and portfolio diversity. Most brokers couldn't recommend an individual stock or ETF to save them. The fees you'll pay are not in line with the value you receive.
Get an education if you need one and take control of your own money. You'll be happy you did.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
My views on Microsoft and Yahoo
Today the news came out that Microsoft is pulling their $40+ billion dollar offer for Yahoo. When I first read the story I couldn't help but think, "What are these guys thinking?" I believe Jerry Yang will forever be remembered for not accepting this generous offer. Too bad that one of the greatest entreprenuers of our generation is going to be remembered for something so negative.
Having started a few very successful companies myself, I sympathize with Jerry. Sometimes it's hard to let go of a business that is so much a part of you as Yahoo is to him. Unfortunately, often the guys who come up with the great ideas are not always the best guys to run the business, especially something the size of Yahoo.
From the stock standpoint, I think he blew a great opportunity to get an amazingly fair deal for the Yahoo shareholders. The number he and his board had in mind for the company was obviously a much greater number than the market valued Yahoo. Personally, I trust the market to set the value of a company and that's just what it did today with Yahoo shares. If the company is really worth $37 per share, why is it trading for $24?
I always wondered who came up with the concept of paying a huge premium over the current market price to buy a company. Yahoo just tried to play that game and lost.
Now Mr. Yang is faced with the challenge of building the company up in the eyes of the market to a value greater than the offer that was withdrawn by Microsoft. That's a tall order given the current state of the company and the market. I sure wouldn't want that expectation staring me in the face every day I came to work.
Personally, he also missed a huge opportunity to turn a new page in his life. To walk away on the top of the mountain with a ton of money and respect to build his next deal with. Now he may end up with less of both.
So here's my prediction. There are no better offers out there that will get the value they just passed up on this deal. In a few months when that become obvious the the Yahoo board and Mr. Yang, will be begging Microsoft to buy them at a lower price than the one they just passed on. We might have just witnessed one of the biggest corporate blunders of all time. Time will tell.
Having started a few very successful companies myself, I sympathize with Jerry. Sometimes it's hard to let go of a business that is so much a part of you as Yahoo is to him. Unfortunately, often the guys who come up with the great ideas are not always the best guys to run the business, especially something the size of Yahoo.
From the stock standpoint, I think he blew a great opportunity to get an amazingly fair deal for the Yahoo shareholders. The number he and his board had in mind for the company was obviously a much greater number than the market valued Yahoo. Personally, I trust the market to set the value of a company and that's just what it did today with Yahoo shares. If the company is really worth $37 per share, why is it trading for $24?
I always wondered who came up with the concept of paying a huge premium over the current market price to buy a company. Yahoo just tried to play that game and lost.
Now Mr. Yang is faced with the challenge of building the company up in the eyes of the market to a value greater than the offer that was withdrawn by Microsoft. That's a tall order given the current state of the company and the market. I sure wouldn't want that expectation staring me in the face every day I came to work.
Personally, he also missed a huge opportunity to turn a new page in his life. To walk away on the top of the mountain with a ton of money and respect to build his next deal with. Now he may end up with less of both.
So here's my prediction. There are no better offers out there that will get the value they just passed up on this deal. In a few months when that become obvious the the Yahoo board and Mr. Yang, will be begging Microsoft to buy them at a lower price than the one they just passed on. We might have just witnessed one of the biggest corporate blunders of all time. Time will tell.
Friday, March 21, 2008
What Stock Investor is NOT!
Because I've spent millions of dollars promoting my various companies and products over the years, I'm a pretty easy target on the Internet. I understand that it comes with the territory. Many investor like to do their due diligence online before getting involved with a new product or program and I applaud that. There are a lot of shady programs out there and it's always best to do some homework before spending your hard earned money. If that's what's brought you to my website and blog, great! You appear to be someone that has one of the most important skills you'll need to become a successful investor, skepticism.
There are many motivations for wanting to be a better investor. I've met many investors over the years and their motivations ranged from wanting to get a nicer car, a bigger house, get out of debt, send their kids to college and a million other excellent answers. Whatever the motivation, I know that investing has the potential to get you there...eventually.
Too many people have unrealistic expectations when it comes to learning about investing. I've been investing my own money for over 2 decades and I still don't know it all. I make stupid emotional mistakes just like I bet most of you have made at one time or another. It's a constant battle that every investor faces every time they put their money at risk in the markets.
I believe we've put together a great program to help anyone learn some very basic principles about investing. I'm confident that I can help you shorten the learning curve on the path to becoming a successful investor, but the most important ingredient for your success is you!
I've been teaching many of the same concepts and strategies for the past decade to thousands of investors all over the world. Many have enjoyed great success as they have applied the lessons I've taught and used the tools I've put together. I wish I could say that every single investor is successful, but that simply would not be true. Investing involves risk and that's something that none of us can control completely. It's something that we all try to manage as best we can, but sometimes it gets the best of us and we end up losing money. If you ever have someone tell you they never lose a trade, run in the opposite direction. Losing trades are one thing that every investors has in common. It's how they are managed that determines if they ultimately find success or failure.
I feel strongly that you should have a chance to check out my programs before you risk any money on my courses and tools. So that's what I do. It costs me money to allow anyone to get a free trial, but I feel strongly enough about what I've created that I'm willing to take that risk to afford you an opportunity to check out my program. All you risk is your time. I think that's fair and I hope you agree. If after your free trial you are not impressed, or feel you would rather go with another program, or simply stick with what you're doing, I say great! Thanks for giving my program a look and best of luck in whatever course you choose.
If you wish to continue on with my tools or invest in some additional training programs with my company, I believe you'll find them to be very professional, valuable, and fairly priced. I instruct all of my staff, my sales team, my coaches and support staff to always be professional, tell the truth and do everything in your power to make our customers happy and successful. In my company we have a very clear mission statement posted all over our office. It reads "Educate and empower people to make positive change."
My courses are not designed to be a black box that spits out the stock of the day that's guaranteed to make money. It's not a system in that sense of the word as it's commonly used in the day trading world. I consider my program to be more of a process or a checklist of activities designed to help you make better investment decisions. No two investors are likely to always find the same investment opportunities using this simple process.
I'm not going to be giving you my stock picks or ever tell you what to do with your money. Those are decisions that only you can make. If that's what you're expecting. Don't buy my programs. What you need is a good broker or financial advisor or maybe you should just buy a newsletter and follow the recommendations of someone you believe knows what they are talking about. I believe that only you know what's best for you and that you should learn how to invest your own money yourself. Get help when you need it, but ultimately it's too important to trust anyone when it comes to making the important decisions about how and where to invest your money. I'd like to help you avoid a few mistakes and gain confidence in your ability to make those decisions a little faster.
This isn't about doing it Ross' way. It's more about learning the best way to do it for you.
I often get asked what kind of returns you can expect when using my program. That's a very tough question to answer because I have no idea what your objectives are, what tools you'll use, what strategies you apply or how disciplined you'll be in following the simple process that I teach. My goal in creating this program and these tools is to give you a realistic opportunity to beat the market, any market - any time. Only you can determine how much risk you're willing to take to reach your objectives. I just want to teach you a variety of strategies so that you'll be armed with the knowledge to find the best opportunities no matter what the market is doing and be able to apply them correctly.
It's not realistic to think that you'll actually do every strategy I teach in my courses. I don't use them all myself, but I understand them all and can teach them to you. What you will do as part of the learning process is determine the best strategies for you. Those that fit your objectives, your tolerance for risk and the size of your investing account. In my course I teach both bullish and bearish strategies because the market doesn't always go in one direction and you must learn to invest in any market condition if you're ultimately going to survive today's volatile markets. I'll expose you to a wide variety of strategies and approaches and you'll pick the one to start with. Maybe that's the only one you'll ever need. I know that I use a couple of strategies over and over again, month after month, because they fit my lifestyle and help me accomplish my personal objectives. It works for me and I'm happy with the results. You need to find what works for you. I've designed my courses and training to expose you to a wide range of stratgies and approaches so you can get a good fit. That's very important. You're likely not in the same situation financially or experience wise that I am, so it's unrealistic to think that doing exactly what I do would be best for you. At Stock Investor it's not one size fits all, its more like a size for every investor. Through our unique training programs I'm confident you'll find a good fit that works for you. That's a success if you ask me.
In my experience most investors want to buy stocks that are going up, no matter if the market is going up or down. Right now the market is clearly in a bearish trend, but most investors are spending the bulk of their time trying to find the one or two stocks that are going up against that trend. If you look hard enough you'll usually be able to find a few needles in the haystack, but wouldn't it be easier to find the needles when the entire haystack is full of them. That's why you'll find in my courses a great deal of training on recognizing and following the trends in the market. If you know which direction the current is flowing, it's much easier to get into an investment that follows it. That's a mistake many investors make over and over again. I will teach you a simple process for spotting the trend in the market and then it's up to you to choose the best strategies for making money in that type of market. I'll teach you both bearish and bullish strategies so you're prepared for anything. I'm also a big fan of using cash as a strategy. For some the best strategy when the market is falling is to just sit in cash and collect some interest until it's safe to get back in the market. I believe that's OK too. Interest isn't such a bad return when stocks are falling, especially if you don't know how to use bearish strategies.
I wrote a book on investing in a bear market called the Bear Market Game Plan. When the market turns bearish, like it is now, you can't keep using bullish strategies and expect to make money. It's hard for most investors to get comfortable investing when stocks are going down, but there is great opportunity if you do. The market tends to drop much faster than it rises, so often bearish investments have great returns in short periods of time. It's all about timing. Knowing the trend and following it.
One other think I want to make perfectly clear is that Stock Investor is NOT a seminar company. Because of my severe hearing loss, it's difficult for me to do seminars anymore. I love to speak and teach in seminars. But for most people it's a poor way to learn. There is too much information in too short a period of time and we physically and mentally just can't absorb it all. Seminar are also very expensive to put on and that's one reason they cost so much to attend. I've built some of the largest seminar companies in the business, so it should say something that the company I have now is NOT doing seminars.
All of my training programs are designed to incorporate the best learning techniques available. My courses are taught on video, over the web, through printed materials and exercises, and for those that would like a little extra help, you have the option of working witha personal coach or mentor. you choose the approach that fits your personality and budget. You learn a little bit at a time and then have time to apply what you've learned before you go on to the next topic. You control the pace so you can keep up and absorb it all. That's how adults learn best. Bit by bit over time. Learning to invest will be no different.
I do teach a few seminars but only as a bonus to those who have gone through my basic courses or coaching programs and would like to meet with me and my team in a small intimate setting for some real hands-on, real-time instruction. When I teach seminars I spend all the time teaching. I'm repulsed by companies that say they do seminars and when you go all it is is a hyped up sales pitch for something more expensive. I think the seminar industry has really lost their way in that regard. I still accept invitations to speak in other investment seminars from time to time because I really enjoy it, but that's not the business stock investor is in. I just returned from three weeks in Europe speaking in a series of seminars on how to invest with Options in the US markets. That's one of my favorite topics and it was a lot of fun to share it with a great group of new investors.
Ultimately I'd love to be your teacher and I hope you're a star student. Like I said earlier, I've been teaching the same stuff for a decade and some students end up making more with what I taught them than I make, while others fail miserably. The difference is not the training or the tools, but the person at the controls. You control your own destiny when it comes to investing and your money. If you need to be rich next week or next month, my programs are not for you. Investing is not get rich quick. Sure you can make money fast, but it won't happen every time and you shouldn't expect it. I'd rather look at investing as get rich eventually. That's more realistic. Like any other pursuit it's likely going to take some time. I like the odds of getting wealthy investing over starting a business, or waiting for a big inheritance.
Whether you learn from me or someone else, I hope you'll take the time to learn how to invest before you put your money at risk in the stock market. If you don't know what you're doing, it's NEVER a good time to invest, but if you learn how to do it right, there are always great opportunities in the stock market.
I'm very biased, but I think investing is the single best way for most people to achieve some level of financial security in their lifetime. It's not going to happen over night. That's certainly not what I promote or teach. You're also going to make mistakes and have losing trades from time to time. That's an important part of the learning process.
But if you manage things well and stay with it for the long-term it can work for you. I've seen in many times as students have shared with my their exciting success stories. I'm just a big fan of investing. It's my business, my hobby and my passion.
I'm not afraid to say that I think I'm one of the best investor teachers around. So don't believe everything you read on the internet. Don't take anyones word for it when it comes to spending money on investor education. I invite you to check out my programs and products and judge for yourself.
No matter where you decide to get your education I applaud you for wanting to learn before you start investing. Investing in an education first is one of the best investments you'll ever make. Happy trading. Ross
There are many motivations for wanting to be a better investor. I've met many investors over the years and their motivations ranged from wanting to get a nicer car, a bigger house, get out of debt, send their kids to college and a million other excellent answers. Whatever the motivation, I know that investing has the potential to get you there...eventually.
Too many people have unrealistic expectations when it comes to learning about investing. I've been investing my own money for over 2 decades and I still don't know it all. I make stupid emotional mistakes just like I bet most of you have made at one time or another. It's a constant battle that every investor faces every time they put their money at risk in the markets.
I believe we've put together a great program to help anyone learn some very basic principles about investing. I'm confident that I can help you shorten the learning curve on the path to becoming a successful investor, but the most important ingredient for your success is you!
I've been teaching many of the same concepts and strategies for the past decade to thousands of investors all over the world. Many have enjoyed great success as they have applied the lessons I've taught and used the tools I've put together. I wish I could say that every single investor is successful, but that simply would not be true. Investing involves risk and that's something that none of us can control completely. It's something that we all try to manage as best we can, but sometimes it gets the best of us and we end up losing money. If you ever have someone tell you they never lose a trade, run in the opposite direction. Losing trades are one thing that every investors has in common. It's how they are managed that determines if they ultimately find success or failure.
I feel strongly that you should have a chance to check out my programs before you risk any money on my courses and tools. So that's what I do. It costs me money to allow anyone to get a free trial, but I feel strongly enough about what I've created that I'm willing to take that risk to afford you an opportunity to check out my program. All you risk is your time. I think that's fair and I hope you agree. If after your free trial you are not impressed, or feel you would rather go with another program, or simply stick with what you're doing, I say great! Thanks for giving my program a look and best of luck in whatever course you choose.
If you wish to continue on with my tools or invest in some additional training programs with my company, I believe you'll find them to be very professional, valuable, and fairly priced. I instruct all of my staff, my sales team, my coaches and support staff to always be professional, tell the truth and do everything in your power to make our customers happy and successful. In my company we have a very clear mission statement posted all over our office. It reads "Educate and empower people to make positive change."
My courses are not designed to be a black box that spits out the stock of the day that's guaranteed to make money. It's not a system in that sense of the word as it's commonly used in the day trading world. I consider my program to be more of a process or a checklist of activities designed to help you make better investment decisions. No two investors are likely to always find the same investment opportunities using this simple process.
I'm not going to be giving you my stock picks or ever tell you what to do with your money. Those are decisions that only you can make. If that's what you're expecting. Don't buy my programs. What you need is a good broker or financial advisor or maybe you should just buy a newsletter and follow the recommendations of someone you believe knows what they are talking about. I believe that only you know what's best for you and that you should learn how to invest your own money yourself. Get help when you need it, but ultimately it's too important to trust anyone when it comes to making the important decisions about how and where to invest your money. I'd like to help you avoid a few mistakes and gain confidence in your ability to make those decisions a little faster.
This isn't about doing it Ross' way. It's more about learning the best way to do it for you.
I often get asked what kind of returns you can expect when using my program. That's a very tough question to answer because I have no idea what your objectives are, what tools you'll use, what strategies you apply or how disciplined you'll be in following the simple process that I teach. My goal in creating this program and these tools is to give you a realistic opportunity to beat the market, any market - any time. Only you can determine how much risk you're willing to take to reach your objectives. I just want to teach you a variety of strategies so that you'll be armed with the knowledge to find the best opportunities no matter what the market is doing and be able to apply them correctly.
It's not realistic to think that you'll actually do every strategy I teach in my courses. I don't use them all myself, but I understand them all and can teach them to you. What you will do as part of the learning process is determine the best strategies for you. Those that fit your objectives, your tolerance for risk and the size of your investing account. In my course I teach both bullish and bearish strategies because the market doesn't always go in one direction and you must learn to invest in any market condition if you're ultimately going to survive today's volatile markets. I'll expose you to a wide variety of strategies and approaches and you'll pick the one to start with. Maybe that's the only one you'll ever need. I know that I use a couple of strategies over and over again, month after month, because they fit my lifestyle and help me accomplish my personal objectives. It works for me and I'm happy with the results. You need to find what works for you. I've designed my courses and training to expose you to a wide range of stratgies and approaches so you can get a good fit. That's very important. You're likely not in the same situation financially or experience wise that I am, so it's unrealistic to think that doing exactly what I do would be best for you. At Stock Investor it's not one size fits all, its more like a size for every investor. Through our unique training programs I'm confident you'll find a good fit that works for you. That's a success if you ask me.
In my experience most investors want to buy stocks that are going up, no matter if the market is going up or down. Right now the market is clearly in a bearish trend, but most investors are spending the bulk of their time trying to find the one or two stocks that are going up against that trend. If you look hard enough you'll usually be able to find a few needles in the haystack, but wouldn't it be easier to find the needles when the entire haystack is full of them. That's why you'll find in my courses a great deal of training on recognizing and following the trends in the market. If you know which direction the current is flowing, it's much easier to get into an investment that follows it. That's a mistake many investors make over and over again. I will teach you a simple process for spotting the trend in the market and then it's up to you to choose the best strategies for making money in that type of market. I'll teach you both bearish and bullish strategies so you're prepared for anything. I'm also a big fan of using cash as a strategy. For some the best strategy when the market is falling is to just sit in cash and collect some interest until it's safe to get back in the market. I believe that's OK too. Interest isn't such a bad return when stocks are falling, especially if you don't know how to use bearish strategies.
I wrote a book on investing in a bear market called the Bear Market Game Plan. When the market turns bearish, like it is now, you can't keep using bullish strategies and expect to make money. It's hard for most investors to get comfortable investing when stocks are going down, but there is great opportunity if you do. The market tends to drop much faster than it rises, so often bearish investments have great returns in short periods of time. It's all about timing. Knowing the trend and following it.
One other think I want to make perfectly clear is that Stock Investor is NOT a seminar company. Because of my severe hearing loss, it's difficult for me to do seminars anymore. I love to speak and teach in seminars. But for most people it's a poor way to learn. There is too much information in too short a period of time and we physically and mentally just can't absorb it all. Seminar are also very expensive to put on and that's one reason they cost so much to attend. I've built some of the largest seminar companies in the business, so it should say something that the company I have now is NOT doing seminars.
All of my training programs are designed to incorporate the best learning techniques available. My courses are taught on video, over the web, through printed materials and exercises, and for those that would like a little extra help, you have the option of working witha personal coach or mentor. you choose the approach that fits your personality and budget. You learn a little bit at a time and then have time to apply what you've learned before you go on to the next topic. You control the pace so you can keep up and absorb it all. That's how adults learn best. Bit by bit over time. Learning to invest will be no different.
I do teach a few seminars but only as a bonus to those who have gone through my basic courses or coaching programs and would like to meet with me and my team in a small intimate setting for some real hands-on, real-time instruction. When I teach seminars I spend all the time teaching. I'm repulsed by companies that say they do seminars and when you go all it is is a hyped up sales pitch for something more expensive. I think the seminar industry has really lost their way in that regard. I still accept invitations to speak in other investment seminars from time to time because I really enjoy it, but that's not the business stock investor is in. I just returned from three weeks in Europe speaking in a series of seminars on how to invest with Options in the US markets. That's one of my favorite topics and it was a lot of fun to share it with a great group of new investors.
Ultimately I'd love to be your teacher and I hope you're a star student. Like I said earlier, I've been teaching the same stuff for a decade and some students end up making more with what I taught them than I make, while others fail miserably. The difference is not the training or the tools, but the person at the controls. You control your own destiny when it comes to investing and your money. If you need to be rich next week or next month, my programs are not for you. Investing is not get rich quick. Sure you can make money fast, but it won't happen every time and you shouldn't expect it. I'd rather look at investing as get rich eventually. That's more realistic. Like any other pursuit it's likely going to take some time. I like the odds of getting wealthy investing over starting a business, or waiting for a big inheritance.
Whether you learn from me or someone else, I hope you'll take the time to learn how to invest before you put your money at risk in the stock market. If you don't know what you're doing, it's NEVER a good time to invest, but if you learn how to do it right, there are always great opportunities in the stock market.
I'm very biased, but I think investing is the single best way for most people to achieve some level of financial security in their lifetime. It's not going to happen over night. That's certainly not what I promote or teach. You're also going to make mistakes and have losing trades from time to time. That's an important part of the learning process.
But if you manage things well and stay with it for the long-term it can work for you. I've seen in many times as students have shared with my their exciting success stories. I'm just a big fan of investing. It's my business, my hobby and my passion.
I'm not afraid to say that I think I'm one of the best investor teachers around. So don't believe everything you read on the internet. Don't take anyones word for it when it comes to spending money on investor education. I invite you to check out my programs and products and judge for yourself.
No matter where you decide to get your education I applaud you for wanting to learn before you start investing. Investing in an education first is one of the best investments you'll ever make. Happy trading. Ross
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Is now a good time to invest?
I get asked that question all the time. What I usually tell people is that if you don't know what you're doing, it's NEVER a good time to invest. If you know what you're doing, it's ALWAYS a great time to invest.
When the market is falling as it has since the start of 2008, most investors lose money. It's a fact. I would guess that less than 5% of investors make money when the market falls. Are you one of them?
I think one of the biggest myths in the investing world is that if you're "well -diversified" you can ride out any dips in the market. Ask anyone who was well-diversified when the last bear market hit in 2000 and they will all tell you the same thing. I lost a ton of money and I'm still trying to get it back. Diversification is a false sense of security.
When the market gets rough there are two things you simply must do if you want to survive and prosper, protect yourself and change your strategy. The first is mandatory and the second is optional.
Before you make another trade you need to protect the ones you have. Often when I'm speaking to groups of investors, I ask how many had a catastrophic loss in their account in the past year. Usually almost every hand goes up. I then ask them if they could have eliminated that one bad investment from their account how many could have done better overall by 1-3% for the year. Again, almost every hand goes up.
What does all that mean. It means that for most investors the quickest way to make another 1-3% per year for the rest of their investment lives is to eliminate from now on the worst investment they make each year. Honestly, that's a VERY easy thing to do.
There is not a high-wire act or trapeeze artist that would ever consider going out on the wire without first putting up a safety net. It's not that they expect to fall into it, they don't. But if by some freak event they fall, they are happy the net is there to catch them. That's the same way you need to be with your investments.
Put up the net every time you make a trade. It's called a stop-loss order. It won't cost you a dime to place it with your broker. They only earn a commission to FILL orders. You'll only pay a commission if you hit your stop-loss price and the order is filled. You can place those orders today as "good until cancelled" and they will stay on the books at your broker to protect you against the unexpected dip in the market.
I suggest that you use a 7-10% stop on stocks and 30-50% on long option positions. If you ever lose more than that on a stock or option trade, SHAME ON YOU! It's very easy to protect yourself with a stop order if you just place it. Get in the habit of doing it every time you place a trade. The time to place a stop is not after the stock is already moving against you. That's very difficult to do with the powerful emotions we will be feeling. Do it first when you're not expecting your stocks to fall and you'll be happy you did. Adjust your stops as the stock rises to lock in your profits.
Secondly, you need to change your strategy when the market is falling. Most investors have NEVER used a bearish strategy in their lives. They think that diversity is the only option and they're about to find out that diversity will not protect you from losing money when the market tanks.
There is only one sure way to avoid losses when the market drops - Move to Cash. Unfortunately most investors don't believe cash is a strategy. I think it is and it's one that's used far too little. Ask anyone that lost their entire portfolio in the bear market of 2000-2003 and they will all tell you they would have much rather gotten the return on a passbook saving account at the local bank. That was an option. Why didn't they take it?
Before you can apply a bearish strategy you first have to be able to recognize when the trend changes. Here's a few tips to help you stay on the right side of the market.
I like to use moving averages to help me determine which direction the market current is flowing. I use a 21 day exponential moving average to spot short-term market trends and a 100 day EMA for longer term trends. I have a simple rule that I follow - I will never buy a stock until it crosses above it's moving average. It's that simple and it works. A stock will never make a big move when it's below it's moving average. The big moves come when it's above. So don't buy stocks that are below their moving averages and you're going to avoid some real losers.
Most stocks are going to follow the trend of the overall market, so I make sure I check the major market trends first. Just add the QQQQ, SPY and DIA to your portfolio and check a chart each day along with your other holdings. These ETF's will help you spot the changing trends in the major market. When these stocks are below their moving averages, chances are most stocks that make up these indexes are also going to be below theirs.
When stocks are below their moving averages you need to be content to earn interest in your money market account and preserve your capital, or consider applying a bearish strategy. If your analysis leads you to conclude that the dip will be short and the long-term up trend will continue, you may consider hedging your postion with options. The covered call strategy is one ofthe most basic and underused strategies available to all investors. If you'd like to learn more about covered calls, I would invite you to visit my website at stockinvestor.com and check out my variety of training programs. You can also check out optionsXpress.com and learn some basics in their education area.
A covered call is only a temporary short-term solution to a falling stock. Once the stock falls farther than the income you collect from the covered call, you're losing money that you started with. The only safe solution to avoid further losses is to sell the stock and move to cash.
When the market is bearish you can also use option strategies that allow you to profit even if you don't own a stock. I like to use a bearish call spread to make money on stocks that are tanking. In this strategy you basically sell a call option that gives another investor who you will never know or meet the right to buy shares of a falling stock from you at a price that is higher than the current price of the stock. Think of this as finding the worse stock you can find and then getting a sucker to pay you for the right to buy it at a higher price. That's what you're doing. Then you hedge your bet by using some of the money they are going to pay you for that right (the premium on the call option) to buy some insurance in the form of another call option with a higher strike price than the one that you sold.
If the stock doesn't move or continues down, you keep the premium you collected as your profit. If the stock rises higher than the strike price of your call plus the premium you collect you begin to lose money. The maximum loss is the difference between the strike prices of the call you sold and and the call you bought less the premium you collected. That's the most you can lose.
You make money in two out of the three possble outcomes (down and sideways) and can even make money if you're a little bit wrong and the stock goes up, as long as it doesn't go up a lot. I like the odds of that and it's one of my favorite strategies in a bear market.
I perfer this to buying puts or shorting stock because with those strategies I will only make money if the stock drops and I will lose money if it stays the same or goes up. The attraction of those strategies is that the profits have no limit, but I'm content to take the better odds on a limited profit and limit my risk substantially as well.
Bottom line, in a market like we're had thus far in 2008, you need to first get a stop in place on every stock you own. If the stock is already below it's moving average, you're a little late, but still do it, because it could get worse. Don't be afraid to sell those losers and move to cash. You'll likely have a better chance to earn back your loss on a new investment when the market improves than waiting it out in a bad investment hoping it gets better. HOPE is NOT a strategy.
If you protect yourself and apply bearish strategies when the market trends turn south, you'll be able to survive and prosper in any market.
Happy Trading.
Ross
When the market is falling as it has since the start of 2008, most investors lose money. It's a fact. I would guess that less than 5% of investors make money when the market falls. Are you one of them?
I think one of the biggest myths in the investing world is that if you're "well -diversified" you can ride out any dips in the market. Ask anyone who was well-diversified when the last bear market hit in 2000 and they will all tell you the same thing. I lost a ton of money and I'm still trying to get it back. Diversification is a false sense of security.
When the market gets rough there are two things you simply must do if you want to survive and prosper, protect yourself and change your strategy. The first is mandatory and the second is optional.
Before you make another trade you need to protect the ones you have. Often when I'm speaking to groups of investors, I ask how many had a catastrophic loss in their account in the past year. Usually almost every hand goes up. I then ask them if they could have eliminated that one bad investment from their account how many could have done better overall by 1-3% for the year. Again, almost every hand goes up.
What does all that mean. It means that for most investors the quickest way to make another 1-3% per year for the rest of their investment lives is to eliminate from now on the worst investment they make each year. Honestly, that's a VERY easy thing to do.
There is not a high-wire act or trapeeze artist that would ever consider going out on the wire without first putting up a safety net. It's not that they expect to fall into it, they don't. But if by some freak event they fall, they are happy the net is there to catch them. That's the same way you need to be with your investments.
Put up the net every time you make a trade. It's called a stop-loss order. It won't cost you a dime to place it with your broker. They only earn a commission to FILL orders. You'll only pay a commission if you hit your stop-loss price and the order is filled. You can place those orders today as "good until cancelled" and they will stay on the books at your broker to protect you against the unexpected dip in the market.
I suggest that you use a 7-10% stop on stocks and 30-50% on long option positions. If you ever lose more than that on a stock or option trade, SHAME ON YOU! It's very easy to protect yourself with a stop order if you just place it. Get in the habit of doing it every time you place a trade. The time to place a stop is not after the stock is already moving against you. That's very difficult to do with the powerful emotions we will be feeling. Do it first when you're not expecting your stocks to fall and you'll be happy you did. Adjust your stops as the stock rises to lock in your profits.
Secondly, you need to change your strategy when the market is falling. Most investors have NEVER used a bearish strategy in their lives. They think that diversity is the only option and they're about to find out that diversity will not protect you from losing money when the market tanks.
There is only one sure way to avoid losses when the market drops - Move to Cash. Unfortunately most investors don't believe cash is a strategy. I think it is and it's one that's used far too little. Ask anyone that lost their entire portfolio in the bear market of 2000-2003 and they will all tell you they would have much rather gotten the return on a passbook saving account at the local bank. That was an option. Why didn't they take it?
Before you can apply a bearish strategy you first have to be able to recognize when the trend changes. Here's a few tips to help you stay on the right side of the market.
I like to use moving averages to help me determine which direction the market current is flowing. I use a 21 day exponential moving average to spot short-term market trends and a 100 day EMA for longer term trends. I have a simple rule that I follow - I will never buy a stock until it crosses above it's moving average. It's that simple and it works. A stock will never make a big move when it's below it's moving average. The big moves come when it's above. So don't buy stocks that are below their moving averages and you're going to avoid some real losers.
Most stocks are going to follow the trend of the overall market, so I make sure I check the major market trends first. Just add the QQQQ, SPY and DIA to your portfolio and check a chart each day along with your other holdings. These ETF's will help you spot the changing trends in the major market. When these stocks are below their moving averages, chances are most stocks that make up these indexes are also going to be below theirs.
When stocks are below their moving averages you need to be content to earn interest in your money market account and preserve your capital, or consider applying a bearish strategy. If your analysis leads you to conclude that the dip will be short and the long-term up trend will continue, you may consider hedging your postion with options. The covered call strategy is one ofthe most basic and underused strategies available to all investors. If you'd like to learn more about covered calls, I would invite you to visit my website at stockinvestor.com and check out my variety of training programs. You can also check out optionsXpress.com and learn some basics in their education area.
A covered call is only a temporary short-term solution to a falling stock. Once the stock falls farther than the income you collect from the covered call, you're losing money that you started with. The only safe solution to avoid further losses is to sell the stock and move to cash.
When the market is bearish you can also use option strategies that allow you to profit even if you don't own a stock. I like to use a bearish call spread to make money on stocks that are tanking. In this strategy you basically sell a call option that gives another investor who you will never know or meet the right to buy shares of a falling stock from you at a price that is higher than the current price of the stock. Think of this as finding the worse stock you can find and then getting a sucker to pay you for the right to buy it at a higher price. That's what you're doing. Then you hedge your bet by using some of the money they are going to pay you for that right (the premium on the call option) to buy some insurance in the form of another call option with a higher strike price than the one that you sold.
If the stock doesn't move or continues down, you keep the premium you collected as your profit. If the stock rises higher than the strike price of your call plus the premium you collect you begin to lose money. The maximum loss is the difference between the strike prices of the call you sold and and the call you bought less the premium you collected. That's the most you can lose.
You make money in two out of the three possble outcomes (down and sideways) and can even make money if you're a little bit wrong and the stock goes up, as long as it doesn't go up a lot. I like the odds of that and it's one of my favorite strategies in a bear market.
I perfer this to buying puts or shorting stock because with those strategies I will only make money if the stock drops and I will lose money if it stays the same or goes up. The attraction of those strategies is that the profits have no limit, but I'm content to take the better odds on a limited profit and limit my risk substantially as well.
Bottom line, in a market like we're had thus far in 2008, you need to first get a stop in place on every stock you own. If the stock is already below it's moving average, you're a little late, but still do it, because it could get worse. Don't be afraid to sell those losers and move to cash. You'll likely have a better chance to earn back your loss on a new investment when the market improves than waiting it out in a bad investment hoping it gets better. HOPE is NOT a strategy.
If you protect yourself and apply bearish strategies when the market trends turn south, you'll be able to survive and prosper in any market.
Happy Trading.
Ross
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Who is Ross Jardine?
Welcome to my blog! My name is Ross Jardine and I've been teaching and training individual investors for over a decade on how to take control of their personal investments and profit in any kind of market conditions. My introduction to investing came in the form of working in the commodities brokerage business as a fresh graduate right out of college in 1987. I was instantly hooked. While I loved investing and being a broker, I struggled with the obvious conflicts of the brokerage business and decided to pursue my passion from the "other side of the phone."
I'm an individual investor just like you. I've been active in the markets for over 20 years and teaching and training others how to succeed is my life's mission. My life took a dramatic turn in 1994 when I was introduced to the internet by a friend and neighbor. I can still remember leaving his office that day after seeing the online world for the first time and feeling like I had just been let in on the greatest secret in the world. I instantly realized this new technology would change the way business was done forever. I knew I either had to jump in or it would pass me by and I'd look back years later and say, "I wish I would have gotten involved in that earlier."
I decided to take my own business to the web. I created and marketed sports collectibles for the NFL, Indy 500, Kentucky Derby and America's Cup. My big claim to fame was minting the commemorative coin that was tossed at the start of the Super Bowl each year. It was just a few months before the Super Bowl when I discovered the internet. Coincidentally, I had just returned from a trip to Miami where the game would be played where I had the opportunity to meet the members of that year's Super Bowl host committee.
On a wild lark, I called my contact in Miami and asked if I could build a website for the Super Bowl. He said they had no money left, so I offered to do it all for free. After a few days he called back and gave me the green light. I was able to register the name superbowl.com because nobody had it. (that's a whole story in itself I'll save for another day)
We built a simple website in less than a week with all the info on the big game and an online store where fans could buy my coins as well as all the shirts, hats and programs that would be sold at the game. I set up a drawing for two tickets that I bought from a scalper and started promoting it all over the net. It was a huge success. We got over a million hits, which made us one of the busiest websites on the internet that year. But more importantly, I sold tons of coins, shirts, hats and programs to fans all over the world. I like to think I was doing ecommerce before the term was even created.
I used my success as a springboard to teach other business owners how to do business online. I offered them training and a place to put their electronic storefront. I called the business iMall and it was one of the first and most successful online shopping sites on the internet.
I soon found myself, almost by accident, travelling the country speaking in seminars on how to do business online. I ultimately sold my business to a seminar company who later sold it to Excite@Home for hundreds of millions of dollars in stock.
That experience of being a pioneer in online business exposed me to my next passion, seminars. People were starving for the knowledge to get on a path to financial independence. Live seminars were a perfect way to deliver that training. I had never done any public speaking in my life, but after overcoming the natural fears of being in front of a crowd, I fell in love with it. I love speaking and teaching. My friends used to kid me that they could put in a quarter and I could speak for 8 hours.
I decided to team up with a good friend, Scott Elder, who had helped me with my iMall business and create a new training business that was unlike anything anyone had done before. As a result of the tremendous success of my iMall business I now had more time and money to pursue my passions and that brought me right back to investing. I wanted to create seminars that really provided great value for the time and money people spent to attend them.
At that time investing online was in it's infancy. Everyone wanted to learn how to invest in the stock market. The tools and information that was now available online was far superior to anything I had access to just a few short years earlier as a broker. Unfortunately it was tough for the average person to make sense of all the information and tools that were out there. Quite simply, people were drowning in information and still starving for knowledge.
I taught Scott a few of the strategies I was using to manage my own money and showed him some of the tools that I had discovered online that made the process and decision making fast and easy. Scott made more money after a few weeks doing it himself than his broker had made for him in over ten years. He was hooked.
We decided that it was time to take this simple process to the masses of people searching for information on how to invest online. We started a new seminar business called "Online Investors Advantage." That was 1997 and we were right in the midst of the dot com boom and the stock market was on everyone's mind. Our business was a huge instant success. We revolutionize the industry by offering one of the first "money back" guarantees in the seminar business. If someone didn't think our training was worth the time and money they spent to attend, they could simply turn in their stuff at the end of the class and get 100% of their money back. If we didn't deliver value for the money, we would have been out of business the first week. Nobody at that time had the guts to offer such an amazing guarantee, but we knew our training could potentially create a return for our students many times the price of tuition, and we were right.
Within a few years we had taught tens of thousands of investors how to use our simple process and powerful tools to take control of their investments. We conducted seminars in over 20 countries around the world, including Australia, Dubai, England, Singapore, Hong Kong, Guam, and South Africa. It was so rewarding to meet thousands of individual investors from every walk of life and see their lives change as they learned to invest and started to see the fruits (profits) of their new found knowledge.
At the peak of the dot com bubble we were acquired by a small internet holding company. Our hope was to have the millions of dollars in profits we were earning be rewarded with the crazy multiples that were being lavished in the stock market on companies like Yahoo and Amazon and many others, most of which were still not making a dime. It was a great plan, but the dot com bubble burst a year later and the entire stock market slid into one of the worst bear markets since the great depression. While our business had enjoyed annual growth of 100% or more in our first three years, we were happy that we were able to sustain the business during a time when the many investors lost fortunes in a very challenging market.
During this same time the company that provided the technology and tools we used in our seminars, Telescan Inc. in Houston Texas, was on the verge of collapse and we were faced with the prospect of losing one of the key elements of our training programs, our website.
Over the course of the next year, we decided the best course of action would be to merge the two companies together, so in 2001 we created a new company called Investools and completed the merger between our company and Telescan. Our plan worked and we were able to survive the bear market with the same tools and training intact. Investools continued to flourish becoming a leader in the investor education industry. I'm very proud of what we created and the fact that we were able to touch so many people with our powerful training. Fortunately for us, the bear market soon ended and a new bull market took off and with it, the interest in investing began to grow again.
In 2003 I decided it was time for me to step back and simplify my life a little, so I resigned from Investools and spent the next couple years enjoying time with my wife and four wonderful kids doing some of the things we'd always dreamed of doing. We travelled the world, built a spectacular mountain retreat near Park City, and I played a lot of golf. I still kept active in the markets, but I retooled my approach to allow me to enjoy my new lifestyle without having to sit in front of a computer every day to track my investments. I learned a valuable lesson in my retirement, you can be an active investor AND have a great lifestyle too.
After a couple years away from the business I realized I still had a great passion for sharing my knowledge of investing and I also learned that you can only play so much golf, so I decided it was time to get back into the business of teaching investors how to succeed in today's challenging stock market. Together with my good friends Scott Elder and Mike Gillespie, we started a new business to teach investors the simple process and strategies that I had fine-tuned during my early retirement to help individual investors enjoy success in the markets without sacrificing their lifestyle. We called our new company Stock Investor.
We also started a second company to allow other companies to leverage our unique approach to training for their own methods and tools. We knew that the best way to teach an adult wasn't in a seminar where they get overloaded with the volume of information in such a short period of time. Most people are not able to remember much of what they learned in a seminar a few weeks after they return to their regular life with the responsibilities of work and family.
Our approach to training was to deliver the information in bite-sized chunks over a longer period of time with lots of practice in between lessons and a chance to review the material in a personalized session with an investing expert. It's a lot like how a person learns to play the piano. They have periodic sessions with their instructor with lots of practice in between and over time they begin to master the piano step by step. That's exactly how we teach people about investing and it works! If you haven't tried it, I'd like to teach you too.
In addition to creating a powerful new training program for Stock Investor, we also applied our unique training methodology to some of the biggest names in the world of investing, like Investors Business Daily, Zacks and OptionsXpress. Once again (for the third time in my life) I've got to enjoy the ride on a business rocket ship. It's been another great ride and thankfully it's still going.
Those who know me or have attended one of my seminars know that I'm hearing impaired. Unfortunately my hearing has deteriorated to the point that it's very challenging for me to conduct live seminars because I simply can't hear well enough. That's why I created a powerful new way to deliver my training. With the aid of modern technology, you can now bring me home and enjoy my powerful investor training programs in the comfort of your own home, at your own pace, and for a fraction of the price you would have to pay to get this level of training anywhere else in the world. Everyone wins. I get to continue doing what I'm passionate about and you get the training you need to make money in today's challenging markets.
Through this blog I'm going to periodically share some of my insights and opinions on the markets. I'll share a few of my favorite strategies for making money that I've learned over the years and help you discover how you can use them to get on the path to financial security. Investing isn't easy, but it's not as hard as most people make it out to be. I'm often asked why I do this? Why not just stay home and do my own investing, play golf and not worry about anything else.
Honestly I could do that, but I choose to do both. You see with my simple and fast 3-step approach to investing I can enjoy a wonderful blessed life AND teach you how to have it too. It's not a question of either/or as many might think. I hope you benefit from my insights and experience and you get some small measure of the success that I've been able to enjoy for yourself and your family. There is no better job than being an investor, but it's still just the best part-time job you could ever have.
If you're ready to get started, check out stockinvestor.com and I'll give you your first lesson for free. Maybe the next life I'll change for the better will be yours!
Happy Investing.
Ross
I'm an individual investor just like you. I've been active in the markets for over 20 years and teaching and training others how to succeed is my life's mission. My life took a dramatic turn in 1994 when I was introduced to the internet by a friend and neighbor. I can still remember leaving his office that day after seeing the online world for the first time and feeling like I had just been let in on the greatest secret in the world. I instantly realized this new technology would change the way business was done forever. I knew I either had to jump in or it would pass me by and I'd look back years later and say, "I wish I would have gotten involved in that earlier."
I decided to take my own business to the web. I created and marketed sports collectibles for the NFL, Indy 500, Kentucky Derby and America's Cup. My big claim to fame was minting the commemorative coin that was tossed at the start of the Super Bowl each year. It was just a few months before the Super Bowl when I discovered the internet. Coincidentally, I had just returned from a trip to Miami where the game would be played where I had the opportunity to meet the members of that year's Super Bowl host committee.
On a wild lark, I called my contact in Miami and asked if I could build a website for the Super Bowl. He said they had no money left, so I offered to do it all for free. After a few days he called back and gave me the green light. I was able to register the name superbowl.com because nobody had it. (that's a whole story in itself I'll save for another day)
We built a simple website in less than a week with all the info on the big game and an online store where fans could buy my coins as well as all the shirts, hats and programs that would be sold at the game. I set up a drawing for two tickets that I bought from a scalper and started promoting it all over the net. It was a huge success. We got over a million hits, which made us one of the busiest websites on the internet that year. But more importantly, I sold tons of coins, shirts, hats and programs to fans all over the world. I like to think I was doing ecommerce before the term was even created.
I used my success as a springboard to teach other business owners how to do business online. I offered them training and a place to put their electronic storefront. I called the business iMall and it was one of the first and most successful online shopping sites on the internet.
I soon found myself, almost by accident, travelling the country speaking in seminars on how to do business online. I ultimately sold my business to a seminar company who later sold it to Excite@Home for hundreds of millions of dollars in stock.
That experience of being a pioneer in online business exposed me to my next passion, seminars. People were starving for the knowledge to get on a path to financial independence. Live seminars were a perfect way to deliver that training. I had never done any public speaking in my life, but after overcoming the natural fears of being in front of a crowd, I fell in love with it. I love speaking and teaching. My friends used to kid me that they could put in a quarter and I could speak for 8 hours.
I decided to team up with a good friend, Scott Elder, who had helped me with my iMall business and create a new training business that was unlike anything anyone had done before. As a result of the tremendous success of my iMall business I now had more time and money to pursue my passions and that brought me right back to investing. I wanted to create seminars that really provided great value for the time and money people spent to attend them.
At that time investing online was in it's infancy. Everyone wanted to learn how to invest in the stock market. The tools and information that was now available online was far superior to anything I had access to just a few short years earlier as a broker. Unfortunately it was tough for the average person to make sense of all the information and tools that were out there. Quite simply, people were drowning in information and still starving for knowledge.
I taught Scott a few of the strategies I was using to manage my own money and showed him some of the tools that I had discovered online that made the process and decision making fast and easy. Scott made more money after a few weeks doing it himself than his broker had made for him in over ten years. He was hooked.
We decided that it was time to take this simple process to the masses of people searching for information on how to invest online. We started a new seminar business called "Online Investors Advantage." That was 1997 and we were right in the midst of the dot com boom and the stock market was on everyone's mind. Our business was a huge instant success. We revolutionize the industry by offering one of the first "money back" guarantees in the seminar business. If someone didn't think our training was worth the time and money they spent to attend, they could simply turn in their stuff at the end of the class and get 100% of their money back. If we didn't deliver value for the money, we would have been out of business the first week. Nobody at that time had the guts to offer such an amazing guarantee, but we knew our training could potentially create a return for our students many times the price of tuition, and we were right.
Within a few years we had taught tens of thousands of investors how to use our simple process and powerful tools to take control of their investments. We conducted seminars in over 20 countries around the world, including Australia, Dubai, England, Singapore, Hong Kong, Guam, and South Africa. It was so rewarding to meet thousands of individual investors from every walk of life and see their lives change as they learned to invest and started to see the fruits (profits) of their new found knowledge.
At the peak of the dot com bubble we were acquired by a small internet holding company. Our hope was to have the millions of dollars in profits we were earning be rewarded with the crazy multiples that were being lavished in the stock market on companies like Yahoo and Amazon and many others, most of which were still not making a dime. It was a great plan, but the dot com bubble burst a year later and the entire stock market slid into one of the worst bear markets since the great depression. While our business had enjoyed annual growth of 100% or more in our first three years, we were happy that we were able to sustain the business during a time when the many investors lost fortunes in a very challenging market.
During this same time the company that provided the technology and tools we used in our seminars, Telescan Inc. in Houston Texas, was on the verge of collapse and we were faced with the prospect of losing one of the key elements of our training programs, our website.
Over the course of the next year, we decided the best course of action would be to merge the two companies together, so in 2001 we created a new company called Investools and completed the merger between our company and Telescan. Our plan worked and we were able to survive the bear market with the same tools and training intact. Investools continued to flourish becoming a leader in the investor education industry. I'm very proud of what we created and the fact that we were able to touch so many people with our powerful training. Fortunately for us, the bear market soon ended and a new bull market took off and with it, the interest in investing began to grow again.
In 2003 I decided it was time for me to step back and simplify my life a little, so I resigned from Investools and spent the next couple years enjoying time with my wife and four wonderful kids doing some of the things we'd always dreamed of doing. We travelled the world, built a spectacular mountain retreat near Park City, and I played a lot of golf. I still kept active in the markets, but I retooled my approach to allow me to enjoy my new lifestyle without having to sit in front of a computer every day to track my investments. I learned a valuable lesson in my retirement, you can be an active investor AND have a great lifestyle too.
After a couple years away from the business I realized I still had a great passion for sharing my knowledge of investing and I also learned that you can only play so much golf, so I decided it was time to get back into the business of teaching investors how to succeed in today's challenging stock market. Together with my good friends Scott Elder and Mike Gillespie, we started a new business to teach investors the simple process and strategies that I had fine-tuned during my early retirement to help individual investors enjoy success in the markets without sacrificing their lifestyle. We called our new company Stock Investor.
We also started a second company to allow other companies to leverage our unique approach to training for their own methods and tools. We knew that the best way to teach an adult wasn't in a seminar where they get overloaded with the volume of information in such a short period of time. Most people are not able to remember much of what they learned in a seminar a few weeks after they return to their regular life with the responsibilities of work and family.
Our approach to training was to deliver the information in bite-sized chunks over a longer period of time with lots of practice in between lessons and a chance to review the material in a personalized session with an investing expert. It's a lot like how a person learns to play the piano. They have periodic sessions with their instructor with lots of practice in between and over time they begin to master the piano step by step. That's exactly how we teach people about investing and it works! If you haven't tried it, I'd like to teach you too.
In addition to creating a powerful new training program for Stock Investor, we also applied our unique training methodology to some of the biggest names in the world of investing, like Investors Business Daily, Zacks and OptionsXpress. Once again (for the third time in my life) I've got to enjoy the ride on a business rocket ship. It's been another great ride and thankfully it's still going.
Those who know me or have attended one of my seminars know that I'm hearing impaired. Unfortunately my hearing has deteriorated to the point that it's very challenging for me to conduct live seminars because I simply can't hear well enough. That's why I created a powerful new way to deliver my training. With the aid of modern technology, you can now bring me home and enjoy my powerful investor training programs in the comfort of your own home, at your own pace, and for a fraction of the price you would have to pay to get this level of training anywhere else in the world. Everyone wins. I get to continue doing what I'm passionate about and you get the training you need to make money in today's challenging markets.
Through this blog I'm going to periodically share some of my insights and opinions on the markets. I'll share a few of my favorite strategies for making money that I've learned over the years and help you discover how you can use them to get on the path to financial security. Investing isn't easy, but it's not as hard as most people make it out to be. I'm often asked why I do this? Why not just stay home and do my own investing, play golf and not worry about anything else.
Honestly I could do that, but I choose to do both. You see with my simple and fast 3-step approach to investing I can enjoy a wonderful blessed life AND teach you how to have it too. It's not a question of either/or as many might think. I hope you benefit from my insights and experience and you get some small measure of the success that I've been able to enjoy for yourself and your family. There is no better job than being an investor, but it's still just the best part-time job you could ever have.
If you're ready to get started, check out stockinvestor.com and I'll give you your first lesson for free. Maybe the next life I'll change for the better will be yours!
Happy Investing.
Ross
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