Don't take ANYONE'S advice: There are no experts. Don't listen to anyone who will make money from your following the advice. Develop your own fundamentals and strategies before you start. Then stick to them. A dart board can work as long as you don't have to pay a judge to interpret the global implications of your putting a hole through the plaster.

Money cannot be created or destroyed (except by the Federal Reserve Bank). Contrary to what the financial media portray, everyone is not wildly successfully with investments, just the people they choose to interview. The trick would be to interview them before they became successful.

Always know who you are dealing with. Verify, verify, verify all firms, data and people before you get involved.
Corollary: Never do business with a P.O. Box.

Some may disagree, but predicting a trend from within is nearly impossible (global warming), and making predictions for consistent short term gains is more about luck (will it rain next week) than ability.

The exceptions to that last one are the technical investment analysts who expend huge amounts of time and effort to determine what to buy when it is going up and sell when it is going down. If they notice that your hair is getting wet, they suggest opening an umbrella.

It helps to know the industry that you are investing in. For example you could look at companies in the same field that you work in so that when the industry takes a dive, you don't get that raise but at least you have some healthy stock loses.

Short-Term Buy: Tomatoes and Peppers. Insight: they are in season, prices are low. Caution, don't buy more than you can eat. Long-term prospect is bleak for individual holdings; they may turn.
Sell: your ability to create effective web pages.

Next issue: A list of stocks that your probably should have bought last week.

Declaration: The author most likely has a really big garden with lots of tomatoes and peppers. He is also involved in creating effective web pages, which can come in handy when you need some help on that project that everyone assured you would be no problem.

More advice is available at Old Town's Left Bank.

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Or would you like to return to the Crossroads?