Business, Business...Invest and Run

Over the past few months I've been investing more time understanding the stock market and other forms of trade so that I can begin investing a little of my income into money making opportunities.

It's a tough gig honestly, but it's not difficult. You don't have to be numbers oriented, you don't have to be super intelligent, you just have to be decisive and aware of what's going on.

I'm not trying to take any credit from the experts. By all means, they are experts for a reason. They've been doing this a long time and understand the market well. They get it, but there's no reason you can't get it.

Here's some of the simple things to remember:

• Buy Low, Sell High
• If it's going up, it's going up until it hits it's high. Then you need to sell, sell, sell. 
• Check the charts. All of them (yearly, quarterly, monthly...if it's available look at it).
• Play off the charts, if it's running near the lowest it's ever been...buy it. 
• Watch an unsteady chart, if it's bouncing around a lot...be patient
• Read the news, new product announcements, stores, or changes can be a huge booster. 

Although it's difficult to predict, the market can be predicted. Often a steady chart will prove to remain steady. If it's going up, it'll go up more (unless it's at the highest it's been). If it's going down, wait for it to go to the bottom. 

Go For the Good Stocks

J.C. Penney Company (JCP) 4.29.13

Let's take a look a the chart above. This chart represents the J.C. Penney Company chart from April 29th, 2013. JCP recently become one of the hot stocks on the market after the announcement that George Soros (yes the Democratic Party backer) purchased a large stake in the company. 

Following the announcement and other changes (re-hiring their former CEO) have caused the JCP stock to become a hot buy. If you analyze the chart above (the past year of trading) you'll notice JCP has been on a fairly steady downward slope. This came on the heels of a hot, hot Q1 2012 when JCP hired former Apple Executive as their new CEO. The store saw significant changes to price structure and marketing. In my opinion it was quite good, but my opinion didn't count as the masses of consumers complained there was a lack of coupons. 

If you shop regularly at JCP you know the coupon's were a big deal a few years back. The constant in-store sales combined with a coupon seemed like a great deal. However, you were actually paying less when the coupon model was scratched. Now, enter the former CEO, and you see the return of coupons and higher in-store prices. 

This will likely lead to a good Q1 for JCP. Why? Consumer confidence will return with the coupon model. They'll buy more and shop more because they think they are getting good deals. On top of that, George Soros' purchase brings in a big financial backer who will likely help push JCP back into the limelight. 

As an investor, the time to buy now. This past week JCP saw an 11% increase alone. Their stock is currently going for around $17 with the 1-year high being around $36. Buy several shares at $17 and wait for it to hit around $33 and let it fly. There's a good return on investment here if you're interested. Take advantage of it. 

But What About the Bad Stocks

There are a lot of bad stocks out there, in-fact a lot of the businesses out there are bad. That explains the constant stock issues and dire conditions for their place in the market. Let's take a look at a few of the businesses, I think, that are destined to fail in 2013.

1. Best Buy (BBY)
• Sure, Best Buy recently hit their 1-year high but their business is failing. Have you been to a local store? It's dead, no one is shopping there and they aren't changing their problems. Poor customer service, poor organizational structure, lack of store appearance change, and store policy changes that are unannounced is running the consumer off. 
2. Gamestop (GME)
• Gamestop is another one of those businesses that have hit it's top. With it's 1-year high only hitting recently, there's good reason for concern. Recently Gamestop announced store closings around the US. There is also the new video-game console issue (not playing used games) that is striking fear into Gamestop Exec's. Combine that with the store slowly changing it's identity into an electronics store and you'll notice a company destined to fail. 
3. Logitech (LOGI)
• Do you notice a trend here? All of these companies are electronic gaming companies. There's a series change coming in the market and it just so happens to cause some disturbance. Logitech, who recently announced company changes, has seen a 52-week low in the past week. With them leaving the console peripheral market as well as ending several of their more popular lines, it raises the question "how long will Logitech remain"? 

What Will You Take From This? 

As I said, these companies show signs for concerns. While looking at the charts you would figure these companies (BBY and GME) were good for selling while LOGI was good for buying (52-week low). However, if you combine their stocks with the news from these companies with their stocks you'll understand the value in them. 

If you're in the market of buying, steer clear. 

If you own one of these, sell it. If you haven't sold it already it's going to be too late. They won't be growing soon. Logitech is a dying brand, their stocks are going to continue to drop. Gamestop and Best Buy had good Q4's saving their face right now, but don't expect the same thing come Q1 (a good rule of thumb is buy retail stocks in Q3 and sell in Q1). 

I hope this will help you understand a little about the stock market and help you invest wisely. It's in my best interest to remind you to invest time into buying, but not too much. You must look into the organization and their consumer base. See what people are saying, see where it's trading, and then make a decision. 

There's no foolproof method in the Stock Market, but you can do it. I wish you the best.