“In 1581, Galileo, while attending services at the Cathedral of Pisa, observed a chandelier swinging back and forth. Energized by shifting air currents, the chandelier moved in a variety of arcs and amplitudes. Thus was born the concept of the pendulum which Galileo used as a time measurement device in his later experiments”

The pendulum formula is a belief that, in any investment area, the herd instincts of greed and fear are prevalent, that virtually all extremes return to a natural equilibrium point or gravity center, and trends and cycles of these tendencies can be identified and measured.

SIX STEPS and the IRREFUTABLE LAWS of the MARKET Every Investor and Trader MUST KNOW to Succeed.

Volatility is considered the most accurate measure of risk and, by extension, of return, its flip side. The higher the volatility, the higher the risk - and the reward. That volatility increases in the transition from bull to bear markets seems to support this pet theory. But how to account for surging volatility in plummeting bourses? At the depths of the bear phase, volatility and risk increase while returns evaporate - even taking short-selling into account.

"The Economist" has recently proposed yet another dimension of risk:

Technical analysts have flourished and waned in line with the stock exchange bubble.

In American novels, well into the 1950's, one finds protagonists using the future stream of dividends emanating from their share holdings to send their kids to college or as collateral. Yet, dividends seemed to have gone the way of the Hula-Hoop. Few companies distribute erratic and ever-declining dividends. The vast majority don't bother. The unfavorable tax treatment of distributed profits may have been the cause.

A correction is a beautiful thing, simply the flip side of a rally, big or small. Theoretically, even technically I'm told, corrections adjust equity prices to their actual value or “support levels”. In reality, it’s much easier than that. Prices go down because of speculator reactions to expectations of news, speculator reactions to actual news, and investor profit taking. The two former "becauses" are more potent than ever before because there is more "self directed" money out there than ever before. And therein lies the core of correctional beauty! Mutual Fund unit holders rarely take profits but often take losses. Opportunities abound!

Stock market is an inquisitive place for many. It is because the place has given birth to many millionaires and is also responsible for turning millionaires to locals. Thus the bulls and bears have always been charismatic. Now millions of people invest in the stock market to make good money. The aura of the place is such that it is swarming with people any hour of the day and any season of the year. But only few know that how the stock market came into existence or what actually are its origins.

Claud Cockburn, writing for the "Times of London" from New-York, described the irrational exuberance that gripped the nation just prior to the Great Depression. As Europe wallowed in post-war malaise, America seemed to have discovered a new economy, the secret of uninterrupted growth and prosperity, the fount of transforming technology:

"The atmosphere of the great boom was savagely exciting, but there were times when a person with my European background felt alarmingly lonely. He would have liked to believe, as these people believed, in the eternal upswing of the big bull market or else to meet just one person with whom he might discuss some general doubts without being regarded as an imbecile or a person of deliberately evil intent - some kind of anarchist, perhaps."

Stock picking is a very complicated process and investors have different approaches. However, it is wise to follow general steps to minimize the risk of the investments. This article will outline these basic steps for picking high performance stocks.

You buy and price falls,you sell and price rises.Its a common investor problem.Doesi t always happen with you?...Then read.

We've all heard about the investor how bragged about his 100% or 1000% return on a stock or about the guy who made it rich by investing in small caps, undiscovered stocks that made it big. In theory, it seems to be too easy. Invest in a couple of penny stocks, then sell them when they move up. Unfortunately, it is too easy. Too easy to lose money unless you know what to look for.

Picking good stocks is only the first step to become a consistently profitable trader. Those of you that track the performances of stock picks I post on http://www.cisiova.com/analysis.asp know that it is impossible to determine if a stock is good without a good exiting strategy. And for most traders, exit strategy is the hardest part. Many people say that to trade profitably you need to develop the right mentality. Unfortunately, such winning mentality can only be developed through experience. However, there is a short cut to get through the learning curve without throwing thousands of dollars in the process. This short cut is playing POKER.

There are stock exchanges located throughout the world, and it is possible to buy or sell stocks on any of them. Stocks are genrally seen as less risky than most trading vehicles because stock movements are usually more gradual. Most people view stocks as long term investments.

Many types of brokerage services are available. Significant cost differences appear when you factor in all the fees and commissions. Estimate how many trades you expect to make in a year, and all ancillary services you will use. Then you'll be prepared to make an informed decision.

Most of us have heard of stock indexes, but have only a fuzzy idea of them at best. This article aims to clarify some of the basics of stock indexes -- what they are and how they work.

What Is A Stock Index?

A copper mining enterprise Stora Kopparberg first introduced the system of stock in the 13th century. The financial backers and owners felt the need to raise money for investment in the new projects of the same company so they started the method of stock and shares. It was also required in order to ward off the threat to the ownership rights if the company was sold, which would mean complete loss of control.

Why should the rich guys have all the fun? The small investor can seek out huge returns too...if they know how.

Technical analysis that uses statistics for forecasting price fluctuations is one approach. However, because it is difficult to track changes in fractions of a penny, there simply isn’t enough data to be able to analyze. Therefore, you have to keep an ear to the ground when you trade penny stocks.

Option trading is one method of trading that you can partake in. But, in order to take advantage of it, you need to find out just what it is and how it works. This will help you to make decisions that will affect you throughout your trading experience. Here is some basic information about option trading to help you.

Learn the techniques needed to become a successful penny stock trader.

Penny stocks represent an excellent investment vehicle for producing gains, while the risks are equally as high. When you finally decide to get involved in penny stocks, to go 'Beyond the Brink,' there are some things you need to know.

After you have found a profitable trading system that you already back-tested, how can you be sure that this system will produce the same gains in future?
Nobody can predict the future, your system can easily make losses in next years or can be no tradable.
There are some tests you must do before accepting a trading system, these tests swill show the robustness of your system and when passing these tests, it will be more likely to show gain in future.

There are many steps in calculating the fair value of a company. However, before we even do that, it is imperative to know how a company earns its profit. Does it do that by selling to consumers? licensing its technology to other companies? or extracting natural resources from the ground?

A lot of discussions have been devoted towards finding fair value of an investment. The goal of every investors is to find undervalued investment and sell it when it reaches fair value. Admittedly, this is the hardest part of investing. So, what is fair value? Fair value is a point where the price of an investment reflect its earning power.

As turnaround investors, I prefer to invest in companies that are down but not out. This is important because a lot of times, investors misunderstood the two. Often times, these two types of companies are trading near or at their 52 week low. But the similarity ends there.

Earning Season is always volatile to stock prices. Traders jerk in and out depending on the outcome of the report. For example, Texas Instrument (TXN) reported that its third quarter earning of 2005 rising 12% year over year. And yet, TXN fell after hour due to weak forecast. The game now is the expectation game. If the company beats, share price normally rise. If it doesn't, share price plunge.

A lot of opinions had been thrown regarding the benefit of value investing versus growth investing. The proponents of each styles of investing insists that their method is superior over the other.

Investing can be dangerous yet profitable endeavor. Many people have been burnt and decide not to ever invest again. This is the primary fear for investing in anything. They may give you excuse such as 'I don't have enough money' or 'I don't know where to invest'. But the number one fear is always the fear of losing money. If a novice investor knows that he won't lose money, he must have used all means necessary (such as loan) to buy as much investment opportunity possible.

Watching the numbers roll by on the bottom of your screen during a news cast might seem like nonsense to you. Those numbers are very important to many people because they make their fortune with stocks. They steadfastly watch the stock markets wanting to see how their investment is doing.

90% of traders in the stock market lose money most of the time. Find out what consistent winners have in common.

As 2005 comes to an end, investors celebrate the coming new year and bring new expectation with it. As investors, we try to sell our losing investment before the year ends and sell our winning investments after the new year. This is to receive the benefit of early tax deduction and deferring our tax liability. Either way, after selling your investment, you have some spare cash to invest. Therefore, you would need some idea on where to invest your money.

Once upon a time in the world of finance there were three kingdoms the most widely recognized was also the most snobbish and wealthiest its subjects were affluent and known worldwide. Its king was NYSE (New York Stock exchange) the king ruled proudly over his subjects.

Every brokerage firm had a stock ticker to provide their customer with trade information on NYSE listed stocks.