Put options can be used for many purposes, one of which is to lock in profits on a stock that has advanced rather quickly. Sometimes it is difficult to know whether to sell a stock that has had a quick run up of 20-30%. Will it continue to rise? Should I take the profits now? What if it keeps going? What if it starts to decline? How long should I watch it? Will I regret selling? Will I regret not selling? Save yourself from all this mental anguish by purchasing a put option and locking in your profits!

After a stock has had a wonderful run, it is natural to suspect that there might be a period of consolidation. You would like to lock in your profits but also allow the stock to keep following its current trend if that is what is going to happen. You can accomplish both by purchasing a put option. Simply select a put option that will guarantee that you will receive a profit. You will probably want to select a put option that expires in 2-3 months giving the stock an opportunity to consolidate and then begin its rise or to decide that it is done and decline again. To purchase such a put option will likely cost about 10% of the current stock price meaning that your 30% gain would be locked in at about 20%. A 20% gain is nothing to be ashamed of. (more…)

The world of stock market investing is extremely glamorous. This is why many everyday investors have chosen actively-managed mutual funds to handle their investments. They try to get in the hot fund that had amazing returns last year. Unfortunately, this often leads to inferior investment returns.

The stock market is usually portrayed as where someone smart can make a good amount of money. So why not have a financial wizard manage your investments? This is the sales pitch of mutual fund companies. Unfortunately, things are not so simple. Many funds will be able to brag about their investment returns over the past few years. But these numbers are often due to luck. It is very important to note that very few managers outperform the market in the long run (over ten years). (more…)

Investing your money is certainly a game. We are all taking a gamble with our money when we speculate on where we are going to invest and we do so in the hope that we are going to make some decent money at some point in the future. Let’s face it, if this wasn’t our end objective why would we bother to invest.

However, there is more to an investment than just speculating where to put your money and waiting. There is the journey and lots of people tend to ignore the fact that to make wealth you have to experience a journey. You need to go on a trip and that trip is full of many surprises and lots of ups and downs. (more…)

As an investor, it is usually interesting, and sometimes worthwhile, to pay close attention to the messages coming out of the Federal government. Government policies frequently influence not only stocks, but also bonds, currencies, and commodities such as the gold price and silver price. Based on the significant, unusual, and quite eventful economic developments of the past few years, the government has taken on the role of reassuring the American public that things will be ok and ultimately return to “normal.”

However, there is a relatively substantial and growing contingent of market participants and economists who believe that the economy has entered a “new normal”, which involves considerably less debt and leverage in the system. That goes for both corporations and consumers. These people cite low interest rates and encouragement of homeownership for all by our government as some of the main causes for the blowup of the debt bubble in 2007 and 2008. And they go on to say that this type of debt fueled economy is not coming back for a long time because of the destruction caused in 2008 with the threat of the financial system unraveling. Instead, a new normal has arrived, consisting of more government intervention in and regulation of the financial markets, coupled with a scared and cautious consumer. They say this because the psychology of the average person on Main Street has changed, after seeing his/her investment portfolio cut in half for the second time in less than a decade, the value of his/her home decline dramatically, and perhaps even his/her job disappear. (more…)