PursuingWealth.com

PursuingWealth.com and its Owner have Moved.

PursuingWealth.com and its owner have moved. You can now find me and my options trading material at:

http://www.learn-stock-options-trading.com/

If you want to subscribe to the new RSS feed you can do so here:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/online-options-trading-blog

To Your Success, Trader Travis
Learn Stock Options Trading.com

How to Pick the Best Stocks

How to Pick the Best Stocks to Invest in
By Travis W

Contrary to popular belief there is a very simply way to learn how to pick the best stocks to invest in and it only takes a few minutes of your time.

Here is the method: find someone (or a company) that is good at picking stocks and just copy whatever they are doing.

Seriously, why reinvent the wheel?

What I'm about to reveal to you is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to find good stocks to buy. The method is nothing new and thousands of other sophisticated traders are familiar with it.

Before I reveal the method, let me explain the major reason why having a list of good stocks is so important:

If you have a list of good stocks to buy then those stocks will attract the attention of institutional investors (mutual funds and hedge funds) and the buying and selling of institutional investors are what move the stock market.

So essentially you are riding on the coat tail of institutional investors.

How to Pick the Best Stocks to Invest In

Institutional investors have a large staff of employees to perform the actual process of fundamental analysis (researching stocks). They essentially sift through the thousands of stocks listed on the stock market and pull out only the best.

Since we don't have the staff nor the budget, I'm going to show you a shortcut.

How? By using the Investor's Business Daily!

The Investor's Business Daily has a proprietary (top secret) rating system that they use to evaluate stocks. Once all the stocks are ran through the system they are then compared to each other and assigned a rating for each of five categories.

Did you catch that? They run all stocks through a screen for you and then rate them.

Why spend hours trying to find the best stocks to buy when someone else can do the research for you?

Work smarter not harder!

I've used their formula for years and as a whole my stock watchlist has consistently outperformed the general market as a whole.

You can learn more about this method as well as what categories they rank by reading my best stocks to buy article.

What I have found as an added bonus is I have also used these stocks for options trading and earned as much as 100 percent return on my investment.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_W
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Pick-the-Best-Stocks-to-Invest-in&id=4498142

Stock Options - 5 Interesting Facts

Options Trading - 5 Interesting Facts About Stock Options
By Travis W

When people refer to options trading they could actually be referring to a number of different securities. Options are traded on all types of securities (forex, commodities, stocks, etc.), but for the purpose of this article I will only be referring to stock options.

Here are 5 interesting facts about options trading that most traders never realize:

Fact 1: Most people never know who actually creates stock options. Heck, I traded for years before I found out the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) issues all listed options at the CBOE as well as other U.S. option exchanges.

The OCC ensures the options market stays liquid and that there is always a buyer and seller for every transaction. Another party that helps facilitate this liquidity are Market Makers.

Fact 2: Sometimes it's not another options trader who buys or sells your stock option from/to you. Market Makers are exchange members who help keep the market liquid by using their own money to buy and sell options.

So when there is an absence of public buy and sell orders the Market Makers step in and put up their own capital to ensure the trade can be executed.

Fact 3: The price options are quoted at is their per share price, but they are only actually sold in 100 share batches. So what that means is that whatever price you see quoted has to be multiplied by 100 to get the true cost of that option.

People who are unaware of how stock options work may look at a quoted price of $2 and then get excited thinking they can buy that stock option for $2 when in all actuality it will cost them $200.

Fact 4: Stock options do NOT expire the third Friday of the month of their expiration. They actually expire the third Saturday of the month of expiration, but for trading purposes people usually state that they expire on Friday (since the market is not open on Saturday).

Fact 5: When you purchase a stock option you're not purchasing ownership in anything like you are with stocks. The only thing you are purchasing is a contract that grants you certain "rights".

In the case of a Call option you are purchasing the "right" to buy a stock and with Put options you are purchasing the "right" to sell a stock.

Options trading can be confusing at first, but take your time, keep learning and eventually things will start to come together.

But if none of this makes sense just follow the link to the resource below for a more in depth explanation on stock options trading.

For further reading you can learn how with options trading a small sum of money can be multiplied into a larger sum of money rather quickly. Check out http://www.learn-stock-options-trading.com/options-trading-leverage.html.

Or you can learn some more interesting facts about online options trading.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_W
http://EzineArticles.com/?Options-Trading---5-Interesting-Facts-About-Stock-Options&id=4512790

Stock Trading Software - I Finally Found Something That Works

Stock Trading Software - I Finally Found Something That Works
By Travis W

I was finally suckered into trying out this company's stock trading software. Okay I wasn't suckered, but I was heavily persuaded.

As a matter of fact, when an employee of Ino.com (the parent company of Marketclub) contacted me about trying the service, I essentially blew him off. I figured he was just another salesman.

I'm embarrassed to say that I was even a bit rude. Lucky for me he was persistent. After several contact attempts, he finally told me that one of my trading buddies is a user of their service and she recommended I evaluate their service.

This was a friend whom I trusted so I knew she would only recommend the best of the best. That fact alone is what broke down my wall of skepticism.

I thought my skepticism was helping me, but little did I know it was actually hurting me. On the other end of my skepticism was a trading system that would eventually change my life.

It was Marketclub's stock trading software.

Let's face it; if we are truly honest with ourselves we will admit that skepticism is a double edged sword of distrust. We usually only focus on the aspects of distrust that actually help us out in life.

But keep in mind distrust is twofold. It prevents you from being scammed, but it also prevents you from learning something new that can possibly benefit you.

Through my friends recommendation I tested out the software. It's mainly a system designed to help you evaluate the trends of stocks and then they have these little red and green trade triangles that help you enter and exit trades.

The first thing I noticed was their stock trading software essentially gave me a way to semi-automate my trading routine. It's been nice to sit back and give my brain and emotions a much needed break.

Marketclub has essentially given me an emotionless way to trade.

And we all know that our human emotions, such as fear and greed, are what cause the majority of traders to fail.

I don't want it to sound like Marketclub's stock trading software is the holy grail of trading, because nothing is 100%, but it is very accurate.

But no matter what stock trading software you use here is what I found to be the key to seeing if it is a winner:

1. Trade in the same direction of the general market (Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P).
2. Only trade when the stock and the general market both have strong trends either up or down.
3. Then sit back and allow the trading signals to guide your entry and exit points.

If you follow those 3 principles and still can't make money then ask for a refund, because the stock trading system is garbage (smile).

I'm still a member of Marketclub and shall remain one as long as they stay in business. I wrote a Marketclub report revealing a few example trades I made using Marketclub's trade triangles. The profit made was astounding.

I also wrote a more complete Marketclub review if you're interested.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_W
http://EzineArticles.com/?Stock-Trading-Software---I-Finally-Found-Something-That-Works&id=4699832

Stock Market Software - Confessions of a Skeptic

Stock Market Software - Confessions of a Skeptic
By Travis W

If you've ever been suckered into buying some stock market software that turned out to be a waste of time, then raise your hand and join me in the club of weary investors.

You know it's not so much that I spent the money buying the product; it's that I spent so much time trying it out and believing that it would be my path to riches.

It wears you down and after so many of these fruitless attempts you begin to lose hope that there even is stock market software out there that can achieve your desired results.

There's a phrase that says that people give up right before they are about to achieve their victory. I don't know how true it is for everyone, but for me this quote rang true.

You see, several years ago I was living the life of an average investor. I wasn't making a million bucks a year, but I was earning decent returns as an options trader that at least gave me hope in a better future.

I bought several stock market software products and none of them really seemed to live up to their promises so when an employee of Ino.com emailed me I gave him a less than pleasant first impression.

First of all I wanted to know how he got my personal email and second I made sure he knew that I was not interested in the stock market software his company was marketing. Now that I look back on the whole incident I can't believe how much of an idiot I was. I didn't realize I had become so skeptical and cynical.

The software actually turned out to be a winner, but my skepticism almost caused me to pass up this golden opportunity.

The only reason I tried out Marketclub's stock market software was because my friend recommended I try it out (that is how he got my personal email). I trusted this friend so in honor of her friendship I tested out the software with a few trades.

Without going into great detail, the Marketclub software helps you identify the trend strength of stocks, mutual funds, forex, etc. and trading signals are produced on the stock chart to help you enter and exit trades.

My first trade was a huge winner so I was immediately sold. Now here is where I tell you I made a million dollars and retired...NOT.

My next round of trades were losers. I wasn't using the trading software the way I was supposed to. It took me awhile to fine tune my approach, but now the accuracy is razor sharp and I was finally able to start making consistent money.

I'm still an addict for trying out new products, but Marketclub's stock market software has me content enough to stay put for awhile as I build up my trading account. When my account size is large enough I'll go back out there and try out other trading services.

Hopefully I won't get burned (smile).

I'm all about proof so check out some of my trades using Marketclub's trading software.

I also highly encourage you to sign up for Marketclub's FREE Trial so you can verify my trade results and also see what all the hype is about.

May you have much success in your trading journey.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_W
http://EzineArticles.com/?Stock-Market-Software---Confessions-of-a-Skeptic&id=4705197

How to Buy Quality Value Stocks for a 10%-20% Discount with Phillip Davis’ Option Strategies

 

How to Buy Quality Value Stocks for a 10%-20% Discount with Phillip Davis’ Option Strategies

By Phil Davis at Phil’s Stock World 

If you want to concentrate on investments that give you better prices than those paid by the average retail investor, pick value stocks. This will allow you to stay ahead of the game using very basic option strategies.

The best method to work your way into new bullish positions with value stocks is with the famous Phil’s Buy/Write Strategy. This strategy is the most sensible way to initiate new stock positions using one of the most effective, time-tested tools for dealing with market uncertainty.  This strategy allows you to purchase stocks for 10%-20% below their current price.  The strategy is called a "Buy/Write" because we buy the stock and write/sell options against it.

Assuming you want to own 200 shares of a stock, Phil’s Buy/Write Strategy can reliably give you a 10-20% discount off the current market price.  It’s simple, easy to follow, and ideal for trading in a volatile market.

Sound investing principles include purchasing stocks that have strong underlying fundamentals, stocks we don’t mind owning for the long-term.

Of course, when you buy any stock, another sound investing principle is to scale in . . . enter your position in stages.  Why?  Because we can’t assume our timing is perfect. By entering a position in stages, we spread the risk over time.

Selling options simultaneously with a stock purchase, using Phil’s Buy/Write Strategy is a way to automatically follow a scaling system without having to monitor the position that closely.

Phil’s Buy/Write Strategy in Action

How does the Buy/Write Strategy work? It’s very simple, and here is an example using a value stock you may want to own today:

Let’s say you want to buy 200 shares of BAC (Bank of America Corp) today at $15.78. Using Phil’s Buy/Write Strategy, you purchase 100 shares of BAC today, June 17, 2011, and simultaneously sell options on the stock: (NOTE: One option contract is equal to 100 shares.)  Sell:

One Jan 2011 $15 call for $2.50

One Jan 2011 $15 put for $1.62

These two option contracts reduce your net cost basis to just $11.66 ($15.78-$2.50-$1.62), and you have taken on two obligations dependent on one of the following scenario taking place:

Scenario #1: BAC is above $15 on Jan 21, 2011.

The call option you sold will be exercised by the person who bought it, and your 100 BAC shares called away at $15.  (Your put option will expire worthless to the holder.) The profit on that trade would be $3.52 per share against our net outlay of $11.66, a 31% profit in 7 months.

Scenario #2: BAC is below $15 on Jan 21, 2011.

The put option you sold will be exercised by the person who bought it, and you will be required to buy an additional 100 shares of BAC at $15.  (Your call option will expire worthless to the holder.)

Yes, you will have to pay $15 for 100 additional shares of BAC, regardless of its current price, but remember, you got your original 100 shares at net $11.66 (considering the two options you sold), so 100 more shares at $15/share would give you a new net basis of $13.28 -which is 15.8% lower than the current price.

In either scenario, you have acquired or controlled the 200 shares of BAC you wanted to purchase -- and you got them at a10-20% discount using Phil’s Buy/Write Strategy.

Recall that sound investing principles start with finding fundamentally sound stocks which are undervalued, have good growth, are optionable, and which you don’t mind owning long term.

In short, if you think BAC is a relatively good deal at $15.80 - why not commit to buying it for $13.16 instead?

Let’s take the BAC example a step further.

In Scenario #2, when January 21, 2011 rolls around, you own 200 shares of BAC, at a basis of $13.16. You can continue to sell calls against the stock.

Let’s say BAC falls all the way to $12 (down 30%), and your net basis is $13.16.  You can still sell $15 calls for about $0.25 a month. That's $3 per year (per share) against your $13.16 (22.8% annual).  Plus, you’ll make an additional $1.84/share if BAC closes above $15 on any option expiration date.

Learning to use options effectively can enhance your investing life!

We identify dozens of trades like this every week at Phil's Stock World. While you can do this with any stock, we’re able to identify unique option opportunities that make certain stocks a little more favorable than others -- and we can teach you to do it, too.

At this point you may be saying to yourself: "If I can learn to buy all my stocks for 15% to 20% discounts, I bet my trading performance will improve."

That’s exactly what hedge fund managers do, and there’s no reason you can’t learn to do it as well!

We have featured hundreds of these opportunities to members of Phil’s Stock World, and in this scary and volatile market, this strategy is one of the best ways to capitalize on volatility while hedging the risk on your upside strategies.

If the market ends up flat-lining, however, you will be positioned in stocks at good prices that can generate a very reasonable monthly income -- which will keep you flexible in a challenging market!

To try the PSW Report Membership Package ($23/month) for a 20% introductory discount (or one of our other option trading services), click here.

Phil’s Stock World Report features some of these trades weekly. If you want live alerts of trade ideas as we identify them, or want to view our daily trading chat live, then check out a Basic or Premium Membership.

This is a good time to stop watching other people make money and get into the game!

Sincerely,

Phillip Davis

Phil’s Stock World

To try the PSW Report Membership Package ($23/month) for a 20% introductory discount (or one of our other option trading services), click here.

The Stork has Arrived....

Just dropped in to say that my wife finally gave birth to our first kid, DJ (David Jeremy).

 

Ok...gotta go, still in the hospital,

 

Travis

 

Covered Calls Are a Great Way to Earn Additional Income From Your Stock Portfolio

Covered Calls Are a Great Way to Earn Additional Income From Your Stock Portfolio
By Travis W

The rumors are true about covered calls. You can use them to make double-digit returns from the stock market and earn a steady monthly income from your stock portfolio. You have to first learn about stock options before you are able to use this strategy. The learning curve for stock options is usually what prevents most people from ever learning about covered call options.

You also have to become familiar with selling stock options. Selling is called "writing" in the world of stock options. So when you hear someone talk about writing call options they are just referring to someone selling covered calls.

Covered Call Analogy

The process that an option seller goes through is similar to how a car dealer leases cars. Suppose a dealer leases a car to someone. The way these leases work is that the buyer pays $X a month for a set period of time and at the end of that time period they have the "option" or the "right" to buy the car at the agreed upon price.

If they choose not to buy the car and want to turn it back in, they lose out on all the money they paid the dealer. However, if they choose to buy the car, they pay the agreed upon price and the dealer has to deliver the car to them. The dealer now has one less car on his lot, but he/she is not worried because they get to keep the lease money that was paid while the buyer drove the car for the first few years.

So How Does Selling Covered Calls Work?

You're selling stock options, more specifically a call option. This type of option gives the buyer the right to buy stock from you. You have to already own the stock though. So if you own 100 shares of company XYZ, you would sell 1 call option to someone giving them the "right" to purchase the stock from you. In exchange for selling these rights, the buyer is going to pay you money. This money is yours to keep no matter what happens in the future.

You can repeat this strategy every month and earn a nice monthly income. Over the span of a year it can amount to a double-digit return on your investment.

If the buyer decides not to buy the stock from you then you keep your stock and the money you were paid for selling the option. Otherwise, you would have to deliver them the shares of stock.

To fully understand how covered call options work and to learn how to trade stock options, visit Learn-Stock-Options-Trading.com.

http://www.learn-stock-options-trading.com/ is a free web based options trading course that provides a way for beginners to understand the complex world of options trading.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_W
http://EzineArticles.com/?Covered-Calls-Are-a-Great-Way-to-Earn-Additional-Income-From-Your-Stock-Portfolio&id=2549306

Ino.com and Marketclub Review

For those who are interested here is a short Ino.com and Marketclub review. It list some of the services they offer.

Regards, Travis

Stock Trend Analysis - Save Time by Automating Your Trend Analysis Routine

Stock Trend Analysis - Save Time by Automating Your Trend Analysis Routine
By Travis W

Performing a stock trend analysis can be a time-consuming task. It's well worth the amount of effort, but nonetheless it takes a lot of time. I've found a way to automate the process and I never realized how much time it would save.

Another routine task that I've put on automatic pilot is finding quality stocks so I can trade their stock options. In the past I would review the Investor's Business Daily looking for companies that were in the top 1% of their industry.

This would take roughly 20 minutes or so a day. Now I have the results e-mailed to me and I just upload the symbols to my trading platform. This task alone saves me about 2 hours or more a week.

From this point, I usually would perform my daily stock trend analysis by reviewing the stock charts looking for possible trading opportunities. I am a trend trader so I trade in the general direction of the trend and I hate to waste my time looking at, or dealing with, stocks that are not trending.

Each night performing my stock chart analysis I would review 100 or so charts. Now I have someone else do the stock trend analysis, send me the results, and I only look at the charts that show promise.

So to sum things up here is what a normal trading routine would look like:

1. You first spend a lot of time researching company fundamentals in order to find a group of quality stocks. They are usually the best stocks that money can buy. The best stocks to buy usually have the most attractive stock options.
2. From this point, you do a bit of stock chart analysis and keep only the stock charts that show promise.
3. Out of the charts that you keep, you will perform stock trend analysis each night or weekend looking for potential trading opportunities.
4. After you find a potential trade you further analyze the chart and then pre-select the option that you're going to buy.
5. If things continue to go in your favor, you make the trade and then manage it effectively.

I've always been told that I should outsource, or automate, as much as my trading as possible so that I can spend my time doing the things I enjoy most, like spending time with my family.

I admit, I was a bit skeptical, but I coughed up the money and automated a few parts of my trading routine.

Here is what my automated routine looks like:

1. A list of top stocks to trade are e-mailed to me and I upload the symbols to my trading platform.
2. Each evening after the market closes, I have the trend analysis results e-mailed to me and I only look at the stock charts that show promise.
3. Once I'm alerted to a possible trade opportunity, I make the trade and sit back and wait for an e-mail or text alert signaling me that my preset criteria has been satisfied. This is both for entries and exits of my trades.

Life is great! I have so much more time on my hands and my wife is certainly happy, because the time saved is now spent cuddling with her on the sofa.

Automate Your Trading Automating parts of your trading routine is the key to a stress free way of trading. There are many free, or low cost services available to outsource your trading needs.

Due your due diligence and find a service that you can trust.

Corporate companies outsource their work so they can effectively build their business and focus on the key areas that are important to the business.

Traders should do the same.

Find someone you can trust to handle a few simple task. Once you have more free time you can spend it doing the things you enjoy most, or use the time to further advance your trading skills.

Treat your trading like a business, and it will be as profitable as a business.

I've created a video outlining how I used my trend analysis tools to open a trade. Within a few days I had a gain of $6,200. It also helped that I had a list of the absolute best stocks to buy.

"Work smarter, not harder."

Save time by having your stocks analyzed for free. Go to http://www.learn-stock-options-trading.com/stock-chart-analysis.html for more details.

Travis W. has been an avid options trader for years. His website is designed as a free web-based options trading course that provides a way for beginners to understand the complex world of options trading.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_W
http://EzineArticles.com/?Stock-Trend-Analysis---Save-Time-by-Automating-Your-Trend-Analysis-Routine&id=2583162

Relative Strength Index Trading - Generating Reliable Buy Signals With the RSI

Relative Strength Index Trading - Generating Reliable Buy Signals With the RSI
By Travis W

The relative strength index is a very simple, but powerful momentum oscillator used by investors who invest in the stock market. Over the years it has proved to be a reliable technical indicator to help traders enter and exit trades. It is often called the relative strength indicator or RSI for short.

In this article we will only focus on the buying side of the trade.

The relative strength index is classified as a momentum oscillator. For this particular momentum oscillator it measures price momentum. Is the momentum increasing in the "up" direction or is the momentum increasing in the "down" direction?

The relative strength index works just like all the other momentum oscillators:

• It indicates whether the market is moving to new highs, new lows, or is just meandering in the middle
• It uses recent price and volume data to aid in assessing whether a recent change in trend will continue or revert to its prior state
• And last but not least, it's used to pin point overbought and oversold signals

The RSI is plotted on a scale ranging from 0 to 100. The magnitude of the stock's recent price movement (gains vs. losses) is compared and then that relationship is translated into a number ranging from 0 to 100.

The center line for the RSI is 50. Above 50 represents bullish territory and below 50 represents bearish territory.

If the number produced is 50, it means that the stock is sitting in the middle. It's trending neither up nor down; it's sitting somewhere in the middle.

The RSI is only reliable if it's used on trending stocks.

Making Money with the Relative Strength Index

There are three conditions you look for before you enter a trade with the RSI:

1. Overbought: A technical condition that occurs when there has been a lot of buying and the price of the stock is considered too high and susceptible to a decline.
2. Oversold: A technical condition that occurs when there has been a lot of selling and the price of the stock is considered too low and a rally in prices is anticipated.
3. Divergence: When the stock price is going in one direction and the technical indicator is going in the opposite direction.

With the RSI, oversold conditions are indicated by values in the 0 to 30 range and overbought conditions are indicated by values in the 70 to 100 range.

Sometimes you'll see traders use 80 and 20 for overbought and oversold signals. I use 70 and 30.

1. If the stock has been trending up, but the relative strength indicator starts to trend down, there is a divergence and you would prepare to enter a bearish trade (down direction). It's the vice versa for bullish trades.
2. Traders look to establish bullish positions (up direction) when the relative strength indicator dips below or touches the 30 line and then rises back above it.
3. Traders look to establish bearish positions (down direction) when the relative strength indicator rises above or touches the 70 line and then falls back below it.

Once the stock becomes overbought, oversold, or has price divergence you should always wait for some type of confirmation that a price reversal has indeed occurred.

Do you want to see proof of how well the relative strength indicator works? If so, I've found one stock in particular that caught my eye. Boeing Inc. had an 85% gain in three months after the RSI triggered for a buy signal.

Now those types of trades don't happen all the time, but they do happen nonetheless. I've illustrated this example on my site to give you a visual example of how the relative strength index works.

Check out the relative strength indicator in action.

Don't miss out on these types of gains again!

The author is chief trader and founder of http://www.learn-stock-options-trading.com Learn-Stock-Options-Trading.com is a free web based options trading course that provides a way for beginners to understand the complex world of options trading.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_W
http://EzineArticles.com/?Relative-Strength-Index-Trading---Generating-Reliable-Buy-Signals-With-the-RSI&id=2520821