Just Say 'NO' to Your Stock Broker

We 've all heard that slogan that started back when Nancy Reagan was in Washington . It was all about drugs . Now I want to remind you this is your slogan if you are one of those telephone requests a foreign broker or even your own broker acting a little strange . By this I mean that he wants you to buy something .

Currently we are in an advancing scholarship and we all hope it's going to go higher and higher . None of us , certainly including me , know for sure where it will end this year . Barron's , the financial weekly publication , on their front page stated that " THE BULL IS BACK " . They are guessing. But it feels good .

I wonder when I study the fundamentals of the economy, how they came to this conclusion . Unemployment an uptick just had , most companies have yet to declare a dividend is the U.S. dollar loses value against many foreign currencies , manufacturing capacity utilization is still low and shows no signs of increasing , the trade balance is much in the war and - and .

Yes, there is some good news . Many companies are " beating the treasure" . This means that they appear more sales and profit than the brokers on Wall Street thought they would have . This is a good press and usually has the effect of pushing stock prices higher . Many of these gains are better at the cost of laying off hundreds, if not thousands of workers . And worst of all we do not know whether these gains are true. Many are profoma meaning management is guessing.

If you " even" you are going to find one of those people who hopes that the market will go up again , so you can get that hope is the most expensive word in the dictionary . But what can you do ? You are now given the opportunity to save what 's left of your retirement account . All stocks or mutual funds you have it would be a gamble to say that this is the place to sell . It is smart to listen to the market and do what it tells you .

For each equity torn To set up a trailing stop - loss order and move it up every week if your stock advances . Suppose you bought a stock at $ 100/share and saw it drop to $ 15 . Quite daunting! It has now risen back to $ 30 and your broker , you will surely continue to rise . Maybe. But what if it does ?

Tell your broker to put in a stop - loss order about 10 % below the current price . He will say that you do not have to . This is where you just say 'NO' . Agents do not see any but their biggest and most active accounts . He must do what you ask as prescribed.

Put in a stop - loss order today. Protect your retirement account with a simple 'NO' .