4 Stock Perils And What You Can Do To Keep Yourself Safe

Stock investing is profitable - and risky. I've written before how you can reduce your investment risk.

But some risks are beyond your control. Fortunately, you aren't totally unprotected and don't have to just accept them.
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How Can You Passively Invest In The Stock Market?

My new year's resolution is to simplify - cut down on things I have to do so I can free up time for things that increase my knowledge or earnings.

For stock investors, that normally means investing in pooled funds (like UITFs and MFs) rather than directly investing in or trading stocks.

That's not the only way though. And for people like me, who either like direct stock investments or somehow find it more profitable, there's a way to do so without having it take up too much of your time.

So if you're a full time employee (or a busy freelancer) but want to invest in stocks directly, how do you do it?
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My Twin Towers Appraoch To Stock Market Investing

A couple of years back, I read Fitz's post/quiz on how to tell if you were an investor or a trader.

It was a great article. You can make money either way - as long as it suited your strengths. Sure, I advocate long-term, "safe" investing; it would be irresponsible of me not to. But plenty of people make money by actively trading.

The next day or so, Burn wrote a post inspired by that quiz. After reading his 3-guard combo stock investing strategy, I thought to myself "That's a great strategy!"

I tried implementing a similar strategy. And that's when I realized investing involves creating a strategy that fits your personality and situation.

And so I'm sharing my own investing strategy. (True to form, it took me one year to react when it took someone else just one day to do the same.)
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How To Teach Yourself To Manage Your Investments

Sometime ago an anonymous reader asked me a pretty good question (I'm paraphrasing to make it more concise):

"I'm planning to invest in UITF but I have very basic info about investing in general. Since I don't have any prior experience in investing, I'd rather be a passive investor. But then I also would wish to learn how to manage my investment by myself. Could you please give me advice? Thanks"

Although I already answered his/her question I realized it was actually a very good topic worth sharing. I didn't have any earth-breaking advice, but that's the point.

I think it's something that's going to be very relevant to a lot of beginner investors. And everyone who went through it would have great ideas on how to pull it off. So I'm posting this for all of us to chime in and give what worked for us (and even what didn't work).

I'll start and give my answer, and hopefully I'll read your ideas too in the comments section.
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How To Trade Stocks during Bull Markets, Consolidations & Bear Markets

The are quite a number of different stock investing strategies. We can choose which ones fit us best. But sometimes the choice isn't all about what we want.

The stock market is a chaotic place. A lot of things can happen. And, like most other things in life, different situations call for different actions.

To be honest, cost-averaging over the long-term is still the best approach. It's easy, simple, hassle-free, and - best of all - emotionless. Emotionless until the euphoria of finally pocketing your gains, that is.

But there are times when your goals are not so long-term. And times when, after a long-term investment, you may be looking to end on a "high" note, so to speak. Or perhaps your goals are just too steep, and by necessity are forced to maximize your earnings.

If one of those is the case, it pays to adjust your strategy to the situation at hand.
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