Why Am I Losing Money in the Stock Market
Have you been asking yourself this question for a long time?
Have you been trying every possible method for making money in stocks yet failed to do so?
Have you started to believe that stock investment is similar to gambling?
Don't worry, a few years back I was in your place too. Whenever I bought something it used to go down, even if I managed to make some gains, they were eroded somewhere else by doing another mistake.
After years of experience I started to realize that making money in the stock market is easy and simple if you adhered to simple rules and never seized to apply them. In this article, I will describe some of the few tips that can help you stop the bleeding, that are not normal advices that I read somewhere nor advices that I believe might work, instead they are the summary of years of practical experience of investing my money in 3 different continents and in many asset classes. Read them carefully, apply them and you won't lose money in the stock market again.
How to stop losing money in the stock market
Day trading, speculating and buying stocks because of rumors are among the fastest ways to lose money. Day traders make some money for a day or a couple of days then lose it all in addition to a part of their capital the day after. The only way to make money from the stock market on the long term is to become a long term investor.
The reason I used the phrase 'Make money on the long term' is that lots of people think that they are following a successful strategy because they have been making money for a month or two. Some people even keep making money as long as the stock market is going up (bull market), such a trend could last for years and those people may start to think that they are stock market Gurus, but when the trend reverses all these people lose the money they have made in addition to their principal.
If you really want to know whether you are following a successful strategy or not, you must watch your returns and see if you are making money on the long term. If you have been investing your money in the stock market for four years and your cumulative annual return is 11% then you are making money, while if your return was 40% the first year, 50% the second year , 10% the third year and -90 % the fourth year then you are only losing money.
Buy quality stocks
Quality stocks are stocks that are known for their strong balance sheets, well known brand names, healthy financials, strong profit growth and prospering growth opportunities.
The Coca-Cola company, AAPL, Honeywell, Exxon Mobile, Western Union, Wall Mart and Du Pont de Nemours are examples of companies that have sustainable competitive advantages that allows them to weather economic downturns. Buy a quality stock like these for a cheap price then hold on to it for years and you will make more money than any day trader or speculator.