This is a guest post by Marcus de Maria...

You have made up your mind to invest in the stock markets and you have probably decided that you are going to do it as a long term investor. That means that you are not generally interested in short term trades that mainly rely on stock prices and their trends. Still, you need to know that there are some general guidelines for all long term investors which might help you secure better returns and minimize possible risks or losses. Let me offer a few tips.

One, have a long term goal in mind. Having a long term goal will help you decide which approach is most suitable for you while also guiding your future decision making despite acting as the bench mark for success or failure. In the long run you stand to make more consistent and steady decisions should the market move or change and avoid unnecessary moves that might jeopardize your investment.

Two, since long term investment will most likely compel you to use the fundamental analysis as opposed to technical analysis when it comes to analyzing the stock market, you need to keep yourself knowledgeable on the company in whose stock you are investing. You need to go through its past history, current performance in their market and what vision and future plans the company has in mind. This should help you decide whether it stands to grow substantially because the growth of the company represents the growth of your investment.

Three, maintaining self discipline is very crucial if you are to meet your long term objectives. The need to persevere even as the market shifts is important if you are to achieve your long term goals. Remember that self motivation is what compelled you to invest in the stock markets and secure and rewarding investments will always require a good amount of self discipline.

Four, always keep a record of all your trade moves. While this might sound more important for the short term investor it is equally important for you as well. Keeping track of all your investment decisions and moves will help you analyze your successes and failures and will serve as a reference point for your future decisions. They offer valuable lessons for your investment decisions in future.

Finally, there are of course plenty more tips you could learn from fellow investors, market experts, online tutorials and journals as well. This will serve as my fifth tip. Any useful information that is beneficial to you as a long term investor is very important to you. So go ahead and invest. Learn and keep learning and keep your investment secure.

Trading - Bio

Using the strategies he now teaches, Marcus de Maria went from 100,000 GBP in debt to financial independence in just 5 years.


He taught friends and family and seeing the same fast and effective result, decided to teaching more people by setting up one of the leading wealth creation education companies in UK. For more trading tips visit http://www.wealth-workout.com/socialnet/sn_audio_index.html

Does the winner of the Super Bowl determine who wins in the stock market?

This is what Chuck Jaffe of MarketWatch talked about in his article, Stupid Investment of the Week. Jaffe says that using the Super Bowl to pick stocks is a loser's game.

I can understand how people can get caught up in theories and superstitions when it comes to investing in the stock market. People are always looking for "proven" ways to cash in. If Mr. Financial Expert says it works, he must be right. As Jaffe says:

Investors are always looking for patterns, even where none exist. There have been countless cases through investing history where experts throw out a theory and show numbers to prove that it works; average investors -- looking for a thesis they can follow and understand -- then buy in.

Relative to this is the idea that President Obama plays a role in the performance of the stock market.

Pure insanity. That's all I can say about it.

Why not just rely on your own intellectual reasoning to decide what stocks to pick? Is that so hard?