Know your levels

An important part of stock trading is conducting technical analysis.  This analysis must include support and resistance levels.  These are important beSupport levelscause they tell you what range a stock’s value has historically traded at.

The support level is the price at which the stock generally does not go below.  It is where the demand for the stock keeps the price from going any lower.  Of course support breaks can happen, (bummer L) which will then create another support at a lower price point.

The resistance level is the top price for a stock.  It is expected that the price will not rise any higher.  Again a resistance break can happen,  (Yay! J) which will create a higher top price.

Know these levels and use them in your technical analysis so you can win!

Click like if you use levels in your technical analysis!

 

Historically out performs the S&P 500 and most mutual funds?

Do you want to learn “One Simple Trade” that historically out performs the S&P 500 and most mutual funds?   Follow the rules of “The Bull” and you can.  Check it out!

One Simple Trade at a 73% WIN PERCENTAGE. Interested?

 

Image courtesy of ddpavumba from www.freedigitalphotos.net

Image courtesy of ddpavumba from www.freedigitalphotos.net

It is called “The Bull” and it is NOT full of it.  This Thursday at 7:30pm join our FREE webinar where we will go over this simple stock option trade that really seems too good to be true.  But it isn’t, here are the highlights:

-No Technical Analysis!

-No Searching for Stocks!

-No Adjustments!

This trade only needs to be checked once a day, just like making your bed in the morning.   This would be an excellent investment vehicle for your IRA retirement accounts or really any account that you want to grow with minimal interaction.

What is the WIN PERCENTAGE of your trades?  Please share.

 

Test the water before you jump in.

Image courtesy of by tratong from freedigitalphotos.net

Image courtesy of by tratong from freedigitalphotos.net

Paper trading allows you to swim in the sea of the stock market without risking any of your money.  It allows you to try out trading strategies for FREE!  These accounts will use the current stock market conditions to reveal your results.  This is a fantastic tool to help you develop a written trading plan and get prepared to fund your stock market trading.

A word of caution, paper trading can seem very easy since there isn’t any real money on the line.  If you don’t take it seriously and simulate trades that you intend on executing, it will be a waste of time.  Wade slowly and tread carefully.

Have you used paper trading and has it helped improve your trading?  Please comment.

 

Taxes; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Just in case you missed it…A fantastic webinar, Taxes; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with Kim Landry, CPA from Landry and Associates.  Kim gave us some great tax strategies and planning techniques to be able to keep more of what you make.

What is a tax strategy that has saved you from paying more taxes than necessary?  Please share.

Worth their weight in gold!

Image courtesy of digitalart from freedigitalphotos.ne

Image courtesy of digitalart from freedigitalphotos.ne

A CPA can be a very important member of your investing team who can guide you through the labyrinth of taxes.  They are worth their weight in gold to you and your business.  A true CPA professional can ease your stress and save you lots of money you may have given Uncle Sam because you didn’t know any better.  Here are some tips when working with a CPA to make the most of your time and money.

Form a good relationship.  Once you find a good CPA, stick with them.  They become familiar with your business and they will ask important questions to lead you to a lower tax bill.  Of course, telling the truth is very important because it may make your CPA terminate your relationship and will hurt you if you are dishonest.

Lower your annual bill by being organized.  If you hand over a shoe box fill of receipts instead of a categorized report of expenses, your bill will most certainly be much higher.

Use your CPA in making decisions.  Be sure to consult your trusted CPA regarding purchases and don’t make assumptions.  Those assumptions could be very costly.

We are proud tonight to have our trusted accountant and friend Kim Landry, CPA with us tonight for our FREE webinar to go over the topic of taxes.  Don’t miss it!

 

Please comment on what you learned from the webinar.

 

 

Capital gains, hopefully not losses…

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles from freedigitalphotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles from freedigitalphotos.net

Capital gains (or losses) are recognized when you sell a capital asset.  A capital asset is almost everything you own and use for personal, pleasure or investment purposes.

 Capital gains are categorized either as short term, held less than one year or long term, held for one year or more.  Long term gains have beneficial treatment in the US tax structure since they are taxed currently at 15% where short term gains are taxed at the individual’s tax rate which can be much higher.  One exception to the rule is the treatment of stock options under section 1256 where gains or losses open at the end of the year or terminated during the year are treated as 60% long term and 40% short term regardless of how long the contracts were held.

We all know taxes are very tricky so there are exceptions to most rules and we encourage always seeking the guidance of a professional.  Check out our webinar on Thursday, January 22, 2015 with Kim Landry, CPA to discuss “Taxes; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” and she will help clarify some of the tax laws for us.

 What tax strategies are you planning on using in 2015?

 

Where are your eggs? Asset Allocation Webinar

Just in case you missed it, here is a copy of our webinar from Thursday, January 15, 2015, “Where are your eggs?  Asset Allocation”.

Join us this coming Thursday at 7:30pm EST on January 22, 2015 for a very informative webinar entitled “Taxes; The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” with our friend Kim Landry, CPA!  If you have tax questions you would like answered, please send them in to questions@financialfreedomclassroom.com and we will do our best to include them.

If you haven’t already, sign up to get an invite to the webinars on our website.  We hope you can join us!

 

Ice cream or hot chocolate? Or both?

Image courtesy of criminalatt at freedigitalphotos.net

Image courtesy of criminalatt at freedigitalphotos.net

Here in NH it can get very cold in the winter; in fact it was in the negative digits last week. An outdoor vendor here would sell much more hot chocolate than ice cream. In fact, we have a friend who owns a food truck that targets product for sale during the warm summer months. They quickly realized that only selling ice cream limits their season drastically, so they added cold weather products like hot chocolate to sell year round. This vendor knows the importance of diversification!

Diversification is also very important in stock market investments. An example of this would be if you have $100k to invest and you invested it all in one stock. If that stock lost 90% of it’s value you would have only $10k left. Oh, I shutter at the thought! But if you invested $100k in 10 different stocks at $10k each and ONE of those stocks lost 90% you would still have $91k in your portfolio. Visit the SEC website for more on this topic and tune in this Thursday at 7:30pm EST to our FREE webinar entitled “Where are your eggs?; Asset Allocation” for more information.

What is your diversification ratio mix?  Please share…

Stocks; forming a foundation

“Stocks Chart Graph Shows Increase Investment Earnings” by Stuart Miles from freedigitalphotos.net

“Stocks Chart Graph Shows Increase Investment Earnings” by Stuart Miles from freedigitalphotos.net

In order to form a good understanding of stocks, we need to start from the beginning.

What are stocks?  Companies raise money by issuing shares of stock.  By purchasing and holding the stock, you are part owner in the company.  As a company earns more, the stock increases in value and investors are willing to pay more for the stock.

A stock you may have purchased for $1 per share over time may eventually be worth $11. If you sell the stock at that time for $11 you have recognized a 1000% gain.  However, if you hold the stock and it rises, but then falls to $.10 per share, you now recognize a big loss.  The value of the stock can be unstable and fluctuate, which can risk your capital.

How much risk are you willing to take?  Please comment.