Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Warren Buffet Way

Hey

I would like to put in my two cents on "The Warren Buffett Way. The book is simple, clear, and to the point. I fully believe that using this book's steps will make you very wealthy. It won't do it very fast. But if you have a period of 15 to 20 years, you will have enough to retire on.

This book is the basis for all my retirement investments. Period. If the company doesn't fit the Buffet profile, it is not in my retirement portfolio.

For instance the stock I own is Pepsi. Strange that I feel that the direct competitor of one of Buffett's largest investments (Coke) falls within his investing parameters.

The four rules are as follows:

- competetive edge (Is it a leader of its industry)
-solid management (This cannot be underemphasized)
- healthy financials (does it make money)
- price of investment (What is its current value)

If it is a leader of its industry, has solid honest management, makes money, and is at value or undervalued, then you buy.

If there is one book to buy, this is it!!!!!

Take care and happy investing

The Wikiwealth portfolio consists of the following:
Pepsi Stock(www.pepsi.com)
Sharebuilder Money Market (www.sharebuilder.com)
Have any ideas, questions, comments, web sites or different blogs to look at? Do you want to be notified when there is a new blog entry? Email at keanemd@gmail.com and let me know.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Following rules

Hey


How many of you decided that making an investment or trade before finding out all the information you are supposed to or not following your rules?

I did recently and it kicked my butt!

I was following Electronic Arts (www.ea.com) for an options trade. In the middle of Feburary, I noticed a wedge forming and settling at $50.00. I thought over the weekend that whichever way it moves, I'm going that way.

That weekend there was a positive story in Barron's about the company and the stock appropriately shot up (see chart below). There was a big move with a lot of volume. So I bought the March 55 calls. Bad move. It was bad because I didn't take a look at resistance at the 53-54 range. The calls were out of the money. I'm not kidding you when I say that one of my rules is to buy in the money calls or puts only. I could have bought the 50's, but being greedy, I bought more of the 55's. I actually still had a profit for a couple of days. But then the stock corrected and I lost out and option price hit my stop loss target . At least I put in a stop loss! Otherwise, this was a Dumb Dumb Dumb trade and I threw away money.

Remember to follow your rules. If they don't work, change them. But you can't blame losses on the rules when you don't follow them!

My next blog will be to talk about education of options.

The Wikiwealth portfolio consists of the following:

Pepsi Stock(www.pepsi.com)
Sharebuilder Money Market (www.sharebuilder.com)

Have any ideas, questions, comments, web sites or different blogs to look at? Do you want to be notified when there is a new blog entry? Email at keanemd@gmail.com and let me know.

Take care and happy investing!

Friday, March 23, 2007

Options

To begin, I would like to say I am a beginner when it comes to investing in options. I currently have one call option open that is going to expire worthless because I didn't follow any rules whatsoever!

That said, I think that investing in options with clear entry and exit points clarified before making the investment is and will continue to be a huge money maker. I have set aside a small portion of my investment account to trade options. I recommend doing plenty of research (reading, seminars, webinars) before you do. Trading options can be very risky. I believe the key is to know your exit points and have a risk to reward ratio that is acceptable to have some lost trades for every winner.

If you are interested in looking at options, optionsxpress (www.optionsxpress.com) has an amazing website. For disclosure purposes, I do have an account with them. Their education section is second to none. They have practice accounts, risk/reward rations, and everything under the sun. They also embody the collaboration movement and are always looking for ways to improve their site. There are also not minimum deposit. They are traders themselves!

All next week I will be blogging about options and why they can be a great revenue generator.

The Wikiwealth portfolio consists of the following:
Pepsi Stock(www.pepsi.com)
March 55 Call for Electronic Arts (www.ea.com)
Sharebuilder Money Market (www.sharebuilder.com)
Have any ideas, questions, comments, web sites or different blogs to look at? Do you want to be notified when there is a new blog entry? Email at keanemd@gmail.com and let me know.

Take care and happy investing!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Interest Rates

Hey

I wonder if leaving the interest rates alone has something to do with the nation's high percentage of ARM mortgage holders? With all the news with the subprime market correction, you had to have a feeling that Mr. Bernanke would understand what adding a quarter point would do to the mortgage holders that are on the brink. You can look at parts of his speech at www.marketwatch.com.

The amazing thing is that interest rates are really low. There is also a ton of vacant housing still on the market. This market still has a ways to move down before the problem is corrected.

I have a feeling that other factors (underemployment, credit card debt, inflation, etc.) will tip this over the edge. I am looking at my Pepsi raising prices due to commodity price increases and am wondering when inflation and the housing problems will collide and cause the Fed some real problems related to interest rates. Maybe that time is now.


The Wikiwealth portfolio consists of the following:

Pepsi Stock(www.pepsi.com)
March 55 Call for Electronic Arts (www.ea.com)
Sharebuilder Money Market (www.sharebuilder.com)
Have any ideas, questions, comments, web sites or different blogs to look at? Email at keanemd@gmail.com.

Take care and happy investing!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Finding real estate

Hey

The most recent news on sub prime lenders should make an alarm go off! This is a fantastic opportunity to pick up some decent real estate or stocks of real estate companies that have sold off. I am sure there are mortgage companies and land out there that are selling for less than they are worth. But don't buy just to buy. Do your research first. Remember Rule #1; Know your investment inside out before you put money towards it. I would love to hear of any that you might know.

Take a look at this article from Marketwatch. There is a REIT out there thinking along the same lines.

This is just a thought but I believe Detroit will be a fantastic long term (10 + years) place for real estate.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fortress-managed-reit-steps-subprime-mortgage/story.aspx?guid=%7BD88FBE61%2DEC50%2D43CA%2DA439%2D83BF9B858778%7D

The Wikiwealth portfolio consists of the following:

Pepsi Stock(www.pepsi.com)
March 55 Call for Electronic Arts (www.ea.com)
Sharebuilder Money Market (www.sharebuilder.com)

Have any ideas, questions, comments, web sites or different blogs to look at? Email at keanemd@gmail.com.

Take care and happy investing!

Friday, March 9, 2007

Rule #1

Wikiwealth's Rule #1 - Know your investment inside and out before you give any money to it.

This goes for any investment. It could be school, stock, bonds, a new pair of shoes, whatever. If you don't know your investment, the chances are that you will lose value. Plain and simple.

Military philosopher Sun Tzu (The Art of War, www.amazon.com) is known for saying that if a person knows himself and the enemy, he will almost always win; if he only knows himself or the enemy he will lose one for every win; and if he knows neither, he will lose almost every time (currently see the March 55 call for Electronic Arts, www.ea.com ).

Also, Warren Buffet's #1 rule is never lose money. But he fails to mention that he uses Green Wealth's #1 rule to correctly implement his own #1 rule.

The same goes for investing. You need to know the company that you are investing in. In future blogs, I will start to discuss strategy.

Remember that I am still continuing my own investment education and in no way recommend that any investments in the Green Wealth portfolio are good for everyone.

The Green Wealth Portfolio currently consists of:

Pepsi (www.pepsi.com)
March 55 Call for Electronic Arts (www.ea.com)
Sharebuilder Money Market (www.sharebuilder.com)

Have any ideas, questions, comments, web sites or different blogs to look at? Email at keanemd@gmail.com.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Introduction

Hello everyone

I am writing this blog to help expand the use of credible knowledge of investing in this world. This blog will be used to broadcast different investment ideas and provide reasons why, and when they are used. This blog will also be used to suggest other media outlets (to include tv, radio, print, blogs) that may be helpful.

I have over fifteen years investing experience with the stock market. I've read probably about 50 investing books covering the most basic and conservative to the complicated aggressive strategies. As a disclaimer, I will always mention my personal experience with a particular investment topic I am covering. I feel trading/investing ideas are only truly seen and felt if you experience them yourself.

Make sure and let your feelings on subjects known. I do demand that all ideas/opinions must be expressed in a respectful manner.

Please forward your email address to keanemd@gmail.com so that you can be notified of any new blogs I put out. As always, if you feel that you no longer want to receive posts, just reply to the email with delist as the subject.

I wish all investors good luck and may we all find Green Wealth!