Basic Investment Principles In The Stock Market - Part 3

By Zigfred Diaz

This is part three on our discussion about the basic principles of investing in the stock market. Previously, the first three principles of investment was discussed. The first principle given was that you must realize that the stock market is just another vehicle of investment. The second principle dealt with realizing that investing in the stock market is a roller coaster ride. The third principle talks about determining what type of investor you are. In this article the next 4 principles will be discussed. Please visit my blog should you wish to view the entire article.

4.) More cash more profits, but you don't need a lot to start investing. - Investing in the stock market does not require you to have millions or hudreds of thousand of pesos. My personal estimate is that you need P 20,000.00 to start trading.This is what I started with. But even if you only have P 10,000.00, you can already start trading. However that amount may be too small in my opinion. To drive the point of the above principle lets say you bought shares of Jollibee (JFC). Jollibee shares cost only 51.50 today. The board lot (the minimum amount of stocks that you could invest in) is only 100. If you calculate, you only need P 5,150 (51.50 x 100) to be "part owner" of the Philippines' number fast food chain company. Lets pretend that after 1 year the per share value of the Jollibee stocks you bought already cost P 100.00 per share, you have gained P 5,000.00 more. Imagine the profits you are making ! How much more could you have made if you invested in 200 shares ?

5.) You must be consistent in investing - If you start small make sure you do not stay that way. Discipline yourself to invest a certain amount of your income to the stock market in order to pump in more capital so that your portfolio may grow. For the past month now I have slowly added to my investment, I did not just stop at P 20,000.00. Make investing a habit.

6.) Minimize your losses, Maximize your profits - The loss is only on paper if your stock goes down. The actual loss occurs when you sell your stock at the "losing" price. The best thing to do therefore is to never ever sell at a loss. This is the reason why it is very important that the money that you invest in the stock market is considered as surplus money, not your emergency fund. If you invest your savings or emergency fund, you will be forced to withdraw sell your stock at a loss if you desperately need the money. To maximize your profit you must utilize profits you gained from the sales of stocks and the dividends you receive to buy more shares of stocks.

7.) Want to get rich quick ? Don't even think about investing in the stock market. - The stock market is not a get rich quick scheme. You should never ever expect to get rich overnight here. Investments always takes time to grow. If you hear about investments that give you shocking rates of return in a very short length of time, beware of those ! In the stock market, especially the Philippine stock market, it may take you several months or even years before you could say that you have made it big time. On certain rare occasions, there will be a time that it will only take weeks or days perhaps wherein you can make a killing, but again these are only rare occasions. This might occur when there is a consistent bull run or when there is an unusual going up or going down of prices within a certain period. - 23208

About the Author:

Would you want to know more about investment strategies ? Visit the blog of Zigfred Diaz where he blogs about several interesting topics such as investments, financial management, business, making financial online and Stock market investing

Principles Of Investments In The Stock Market - Part 1

By Zigfred Diaz

People have been asking me lately if they should invest in the Philippine stock market or not. Majority of them also wanted to know how they should start. I am not sure if they are really serious about it. They could just be curious considering that it is all over the news that the stock market's performance is very positive.

The Philippine stock market or the stock market in general is not a child's play ground. If you are a true investor, you must have expectations as to how much you are going to earn for a certain type of investment. This is measured in terms of how much your money will grow at a certain period of time. (The most common measure being interest per annum) Since the Philippine Stock market is at its peak for months now, people think that they should join the party even they do not understand how it works. They are even naive with the basic principles involve. This is not to say that you should be an economist before you start investing.

The point I am making is that you should understand the basic principles first before you will be successful in the stock market. It is true that fortunes are made on the Stock market, however there are also stories of people loosing a large amount of their money. Other who just dive into the stock market without knowing the basic principles of investment quit after some time, telling themselves that the stock market does make any money for anybody.

Let us not begin first by discussing the "how tos" in investing in the Philippine stock market. Let us first understand the basic principles of investment so that we might enjoy trading and be successful in the stock market. There are ten principles involved. We will talk about the first principle here. Other principles will follow in the next articles. Visit my blog if you want to see the whole article.

1.) An alternative vehicle of investment - The first principle is that you must realize that the stock market is just another alternative vehicle of investment. There are other investment vehicles in which you could invest in. Each vehicle of investment is unique and one is not more superior than others. Each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. This will not be discussed in depth here.

You must understand that the stock market belongs to an investment category called "Capital Markets." Capital Markets are divided further into several categories. Here alone, there are several investment vehicles wherein you could place your money. Examples of these investment vehicles aside from the stock market are real estate, pension funds, bonds, insurance, different types of savings and time deposit accounts. It is of vital importance that you know this fact because knowing the different types of investment vehicles under the Capital markets will help you evaluate whether or not you should invest in the Stock Market considering that there are other vehicles of investment.

I reiterate that each vehicle of investment has its own advantages and disadvantages. I did not to place all of my eggs in one basket. Most of my investments are in the Capital Markets though. This includes bonds through mutual funds, the stock market, insurance, pension and deposits. - 23208

About the Author:

Desiring to know more about investment strategies ? Visit the blog of Zigfred Diaz where he writes about several interesting topics such as investments, money management, business, making money online and Stock market investing

Make The Rule Of 72 Work For You !

By Zigfred Diaz

Once upon a time an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) started working abroad. At the age of 29 he had already saved a total of P 100,000.00 (Philippine peso)

In order to preserve his P 100,000.00, he decided to place it in the bank, since this is the only vehicle of investment that he knew about. The bank manager was delighted that the OFW opened an account with them. He even recommended that the money be placed in a time deposit account enabling the OFW to earn more than the ordinary savings account.

So he placed his money in the time deposit account and waited until he reached the age of 65. At the age of 65 he went back to the bank and asked to withdraw the P 100,000.00 in his time deposit account. Lo and behold his P100,000.00 already became P 400,000.00 because of the interest. So he withdrew his money from the bank and lived happily ever after.

So tell me, is this a "live happily ever after" story or not? Do you think this OFW has "wisely" handled his money? Did he really maximize his money's potential or did he just made others more richer ?

The rule of 72 gives us the answers to the above questions. This rule determines how many years it will take your money to double. The rule is expressed in this very simple equation: 72 / interest = No. of years it takes for your money to double

For this certain OFW, his money will double every 18 years. This is simply solved by applying the rule of 72 which is computed as follows: 72 divided 4 % per annum = 18 years. This means that if you add 18 years from the time he deposited his money, the P 100,000.00 will double to P 200,000.00 when he reaches the age of 47. After 18 more years when he reaches the age of 65, his money will already become P 400,000.00.

So what does the bank do with that P 100,000.00 ? Well, they take the OFW's money and invests it at mutual funds, the stock market, the money market, government bonds, corporate bonds and even consumer loans etc. averaging a 12 % return per annum. Using the Rule of 72, the OFW's P 100,000.00 will double every 6 years. (This is computed as follows: 72 divided by 12 % interest = 6 years)

After 36 years of waiting, the OFW claimed his P 100,000.00. You wouldn't be surprised why the bank manager willingly and gladly gave him back the P 100,000.00 plus the interest of P 300,000 amounting to a total of P 400,000.00. No sweat, they already made more or less a total of P 6,400,000.00 from the OFW's P 100,000.00 deposit. Now you tell me if that isn't hi-way robbery !

Think like the bank if you want to be more wealthy and a more better steward of your money ! The Rule of 72 works ! Make it work for you ! - 23208

About the Author:

Want to know more about investment strategies ? Visit the blog of Zigfred Diaz where he writes about several interesting topics such as investments, financial management, business, making financial online and Stock market investing

Reasons For Investing In The Stock Market - Part 2

By Zigfred Diaz

Last time we discussed about the advantages or the reasons why you should invest in the stock market. We talked about the first three which are, potential for greater returns, part ownership of the company you are investing and belonging to a special group of people. This is the concluding part of this 2 part series. If you wish to view the entire article, check out my blog.

4.) The stock market is still the one of the best investment - While it is true that investing in the stock market has its up and down moments, in the long run investing in the stock market is still one of the best investment vehicles out there. Stock market returns fluctuate from year to year. In 1986 we have the recorded highest return rate at 224 % and negative 41 % as the lowest return rate in 1997. Yet despite the markets up and down if you hold on to your money (Holding period of about 20 years) on the long term, the average return for investing in the stock market is 24 % to 28 % per year so in short you it is not possible to incur any loss if you are a long term investor.

5.) Helps you become more financially literate and inspires you to increase that knowledge - Investing in the stock market forces you to go over the business news. It also helps you give significant meaning to the major news headlines. News for you is not something to be discussed in chit chats, but rather you view it as something that will have an impact on how the market behaves. You are forced to understand words that are foreign to you. You will become more sharper intellectually as you are motivated to keep on reading. If you dozed off in your your economics class in high school or college, this time you will be pulling your hair apart just to figure out what inflation means. you will be motivated to become a life long student.

6.) Helps you more to become internet savvy. - It has been said that the development of mankind is divided into several ages. First we had the "stone age", then came the iron age and then the bronze ages etc. Afterwards we moved up to the industrial age. Currently we are said to be in the "information technology age." In this age, knowledge is power. This is not just considered as an adage. Rather this is the essence of the information age. Engaging in online trading will surely help you understand what this means. During the time that I was in college I wanted to invest in the stock market. The reason for my curiosity was because I always see in the movies how the traders are shouting buy or sell. However I did not invest during that time because of three reasons. First I lack the information. Secondly, I do not have the capability and thirdly I do not have the money to invest.

The advent of the internet age has certainly changed a lot of things. The information technology is powered by the internet and information on anything is accessible via the world wide web. This has also the changed the way stock market trading is done. Because of this I am now able to do everything online such as monitoring the business news, buying and selling shares of stocks and transferring money to and from my accounts. A future development would be to trade stocks globally. Although this might prove to be a much more complicated area of study nevertheless the principles of stock trading are similar.

7.) Helps build the nation - Investing in the stock market helps build the nation. Most stock market investors may not realize this but this is one of the most noble objective and advantage of investing in the stock market. Companies who are listed in the stock exchange intends to infuse more capital into their business in order that such capital might be further used for expansion. Business expansions would mean more people are hired for work. The government also benefits as more taxes are being paid. This further translates into more economic activity which in the long runs helps build the nation.

Certainly these compelling reasons make a valid argument as to why you should invest in the stock market. - 23208

About the Author:

Want to know more about investment strategies ? Visit the blog of Zigfred Diaz where he writes about several interesting topics such as investments, money management, business, making money online and Stock market investing

Principles Of Investments In The Stock Market - Part 4

By Zigfred Diaz

This is the final part of the series on principles of investment in the stock market. The last seven principles was discussed in the past articles. We will be discussing the last three principles in this article. Visit my blog if you want to see the whole article.

8.) You must devote your time to study - When you want to invest in the stock market you should devote time to study what it's all about. You can't just place in your money and hope that it will somehow grow someday. You have to read books and materials on the stock market. When I started investing I dug out materials in the internet related to the stock market especially the Philippine stock market. I bought books on the stock market. The Philippine stock exchange has an "investor's primer" for those who are new to the stock market. (See the Philippine stock exchange website for more information.)

Attending seminars on how to trade in the stock market can further add to your knowledge. Some brokerage firms conduct free seminars for those who are new investors. Last year I attended a 2 day seminar by CITISEC Online. They are one of the most active, most innovative and well managed brokerage firms in the Philippines. The information that you learn in the seminar will certainly help you in your quest to succeed in the stock market. Continuous study is required if you want to be successful in investing in the stock market. Do not not stop learning.

You should read all the materials and attend all the seminars you can to further expand your knowledge You should not give up when there are terms you could not understand. For example reading this article alone may give you a headache since there are words that you can't relate to. Words such as "points, "Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi), "Blue Chips" or "Bull run" may sound foreign to you. What is worse is that you don't even understand what a stock is. It does not matter. I started out not knowing what some of these things are.

You can never learn these things in school. However I learned these things by reading a lot about the subject and through experience. In order that you might be inspired, I suggest you watch the movie "Pursuit of Happyness." This inspired-by-a-true-story movie is about a man who overcame all odds to learn the stock market letting him make millions later on through stock market trading.For sure, you will be inspired by watching the film.

9.)Know what is happening in the world around you - There are several factors that affect the stock market. Be aware of the news that is making headlines in the news paper. For sure this will give you a hint on the direction that the market will take. Never skip the business news. It is here where you will be given an idea as to which stock you should buy. I prefer reading the online version of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in order that I may know where the market is heading.

10.) You must start now - The best way to learn is to experience it yourself. Start small if you wish but start now. Don't procrastinate. However don't rush immediately without studying how to go about it. After you have at least learned the basics of investments then you can start buying your first stock. There's nothing more exciting when you have made your first sale at a profit. - 23208

About the Author:

Want to know more about investment strategies ? Visit the blog of Zigfred Diaz where he blogs about several interesting topics such as investments, money management, business, making money online and Stock market investing