There are literally thousands of stocks out there and there is absolutely no way you can go through all of them before you make your final decision on one and you want to actually invest/trade the company.  Even if you can perform solid due diligence by hand, why waste your time when you have stock filters and research tools that help identify the good companies from the crap.

Assuming you already use stock filters and research tools, when you compile that list of companies that meet every criteria you are looking for, do you invest in all of them?  Heck no.  You still have to dig a little deeper.  Usually that digging requires a little technical analysis.

Depending how strict you created your stock filter, the number of  companies that get spit out at the end may vary greatly.  If you’re list is extremely large, you’re going to want to create a method of TA that simply allows you to blast through the list.

Follow these quick steps to take down your TA time:

1) Switch to Candlesticks.

It’s cleaner and easier to read.  Quite subjective I know, but you get every attribute an OHLC chart has and more in candlesticks.

2) Trend Analysis:

Create trend channels.  The trend is your friend and going against it hurts more than it helps.

3) Identify the Support and Resistances

Remember the cardinal rule: Broken resistances become the next level of support and broken supports become the next level of resistance.

4) Pattern Catching

There are so many types of stock patterns and formations.  Get to know a few and know them well.  The top ones to know are reversal patterns.  For example: Double tops, double bottoms, triple tops, triple bottoms, etc.  Other good patterns to know are continuation patterns such as pennants, ascending/descending triangles, and even the cup & handle formation.

5) Look for Volume Hints

Look for increasing volume trends or explosions in volume.  These are easy tells for action.

6) Minimize Your Usage of Technical Indicators

MACD, RSI, STOCHS, FIBONACCI BANDS, OBV, DMI, VOLATILITY, etc.  There are so many indicators out there and all they do is create information overload.  Follow 2-3 and leave it to that.  I use MACD, STOCHS, and Simple Moving Averages.

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Once you get good following these 6 steps, you’ll have your TA time down with the quickness.  Just keep it simple.  The hardest part is recognizing chart patterns, but that will all come in time and repetitive practice.

Photo Credit: epicharmus

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This may be a complete shock to most of you bargain hunting fanatics, but the best cyber deals out there you will NEVER see.  Just because you frequent the likes of fatwallet.com, slickdeals.net, or any of the hundreds of bargain hunting sites out there, what you see within the forums are really leftovers or deals that many bargain hunting “secret society” members do not deem as “HOT”.

I probably will receive some anonymous emails from various bargain hunting site owners if this article reaches a greater mass of the deal world, but I’m willing to take the heat.  I believe that if more people know about the existence of these secret forums, the post quality would improve with this new found information.  Everyone wins.  Traffic will pick up, lurkers have more deals to leech off of, and site contributors will be able to provide to the community with constant deal-worthy posts with the incentive that they may be rewarded one day with an invite to the private forum.  Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still find your normal deals like $20 off a $149 Name Brand Blu-Ray player or FREE (Name your widget here) product after you jump through three burning hoops posts.  You will just see more bargains that are actually WORTH your time.

What are you talking about?

If I wasn’t blunt enough, I am saying that there are several bargain hunting sites out there that have private forum access.

How do I get access?

I only know of 2 major ways to get access

1. Contribute and present deals normally and over a long period of time. Try to position yourself such that you bring value to the community. So if you leave the deal site for another, your previous home would have a significant impact.
2. Monetary contributions. I know that defeats the purpose of saving money, which is one explicit reason as to why people actually venture into bargain forums, but it shows that you support the site. (FYI, this is not recommended without the benefit of the doubt that the site actually has a private forum)

How do you know this?

I was a bargain hunter for many years (like I said in my intro, my life is all over the board).  I had special site access to 2 different deal sites during the “hey day” of my bargain hunting career.

I was kicked out of both of them due to inactivity.

What makes these private forums so special?

1) The deals last.  They don’t expire as fast as deals that get submitted to the open forum.  Remember the rule, for every logged in member, there are 3 lurkers.  While you are busy responding to a “Hot Deal” thread, there are 3 lurkers that are hitting “submit” on their respective checkout page.

2) The deals are unique. You won’t see multiple DELL deals with various coupon stacking loopholes or B1G1 (buy 1, get one) free CD-R spindles. However, you will find things like scarves that go for $30 retail and will resell for $120 on eBay.

3) You’ll be in good company.  Access to these special forums are given to proven deal finders. The members that contribute the most and scour the internet the best are usually amongst the privileged.

4) Saves you time.  You’ll have a high concentration of great deals in one place.  You don’t have to trudge through a myriad of useless deal posts.

Why is it such a secret?  Who loses out?

The members that are part of  these private forums ultimately lose out.  The larger the private forum becomes, the lower the value of the deal.  Many of these members are eBay sellers.  Therefore, the more people that are in on the deal, the more saturated their market becomes.

What sites were you part of?

I will not say. Sorry. But they both are on the list I pointed out in this post.  I will not respond on it if it is brought up in the comments below.  Maybe eventually, I will disclose the information, but that’s for another post.

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You thought you knew, but you had know idea.  Or did you?  Have you heard of these secret deal forums before?  Comment below and share with me your experiences.

Arrivederci (Itallian)

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Photo Credit: said&done / Faraz

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I like to call this my “Creme Brulee Theory“.  This theory answers one question:

Are 2 guys able to share a Creme Brulee dessert at a restaurant?

Below, I have provided a small diagram to assist with my explanation.

Let’s start at the TOP LEFT with the full oval shape.  This is my rendition of Creme Brulee.  Yeah, I know I suck at drawing, get over it.  So if two or three girls can share a Creme Brulee, why not 2 guys?

[See the next figure to the TOP RIGHT]  So lets add in 2 guys to this equation.  Guy #1 starts eating from the left while Guy #2 starts eating from the right.  This is the best Creme Brulee ever made, so lets expect it to be finished.

[See the figure on the BOTTOM LEFT]  Now, here is where we see a demonstration of one of man’s many unspoken rules.  Neither guy can cross the middle into the other man’s territory.  It’s like the border of North and South Korea… you cross into the other man’s land and you’ll start a full scale war… it’s just taboo!  For you confused fellas out there, this is where you STOP eating.

[See next figure on the BOTTOM CENTER]  Let’s see what happens when someone crosses the border.  Guy #2 has crossed the border into Guy #1’s territory.  OMG, Guy #2 just ate a piece of creme brulee that Guy #1’s spoon had touched.  That’s like swapping spit…. like French Kissing.  What you’ve just witnessed was Guy #2 crossing the “point of no return”.  He is doomed to endure the endless ridicule of his male buddies.  Never to be accepted into the straight realm again.

On the flip side, I was about to draw a diagram of Creme Brulee with 2 girls.  But what’s the point?  First, you see Creme Brulee, then the next thing you don’t.  Use common sense: girls don’t mess around with borders and Creme Brulee.

Photo Credit: sanctumsolitude

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A good friend of mine recently got in a car accident and totaled her car.  Fortunately, she and her passengers emerged from the wreckage unscathed.   After her insurance assessed the damage, they gave her a settlement of $9717 which included a registration fee refund and the salvage value less deductible.

So with $9717 in hand and no extra money to spare, she begun her search for a new USED car off of Craigslist; the land of spam & scams to the ignorant or gems & diamonds to the well-informed.  After a few weeks of searching on Craigslist, she ended up purchasing a 2002 Audi A4 1.8T for $6500.

In the end, with the guidance of friends and family, she ultimately found a gem after sorting through a shopping list of cars from private sellers.  Here’s the advice she was given:

When purchasing a car on Craigslist here are some general rules to follow:

1.    1st or 2nd owner at most

2.    Less than 100K miles (depending on the condition)

3.    Clean, not salvaged title

4.    Stay away from “New” or “Rebuilt” engines or transmissions

5.    Tread lightly with used car dealerships.

• Used car salesmen have a bad reputation for a reason. They generally sell auctioned off, repossessed, and cars that generally haven’t been well maintained. Then they fix them up with cheap parts and make them appear as though they are in good condition.

Phase 1: Craigslist search query

1.    Enter the make and model of the car you’re looking for

2.    In the Drop-down, select “cars & trucks – by owner

3.    Enter a minimum and maximum amount.

• I tend to follow a -40% to +40% range of my budget.  For example, if my budget is $10,000, I will type in a range of $6,000 Min to $14,000 Max.

4.    Select the “has image” box.  Seller has no image?  Then it’s not worth YOUR time to pry.

5.    he goal is to create a list of all possible used car candidates.

Phase 2: Research and due diligence

1.    Find out the value of the car (KBB Price)

2.    Research common vehicle problems with the make, model, and year

3.    Scour outside marketplaces (eBay, newspaper ads, etc)

4.    Filter out cars based on your own personal assessment

Phase 3: Contact seller via phone/email

1.    Do not waste yours or the sellers time. Ask questions that are not already on the listing.

2.    Clean or Salvaged title?

3.    Are you the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd owner?

4.    Do you have other pictures

5.    Has it been in any accidents, if so, what happened?

6.    Do you have a CarFax Report?

7.    Do you have maintenance records?

8.    If you sense any deception or fumbling of words, back out.

Phase 4: Dealing with the seller in person

1.    Bring another person that is car savvy for a second opinion.

• Having a companion will also help prevent being strong armed by the seller

2.    Test drive the car

• If possible, take the vehicle highway speeds

3.    Be a skeptic and question any scratch, strange noise, scent, blemish, etc

4.    If you sense any deception or fumbling of words, once again back out.

Phase 5: Negotiate and Closing the Deal

1.    Once you’re comfortable with the vehicle, you can pay the price outright or negotiate.

• It’s up to you from on where you want to go from here.
• You have so many cards to choose from.  Here’s a few
  • I like the car but I’m trying out a similar car for $500 cheaper…
  • Can you throw in the ski rack sitting in the garage?
  • I have to discuss this with my wife/husband, it’s $500 over my budget…
  • etc..
    

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If you have any other tips for our readers, please post them below.  I’m no used car expert, but I definitely know if I’m getting ripped off.

Selamat jalan! (Malay)

Photo Credit: WhosThisValGirl

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I’m sure many of you recognize that code from the popular 1988 NES game call “Contra”.  It gave you access to 30 lives to battle the evil….. umm…. what the heck were they battling anyway?  All I know is you fight a giant brain at the end.  Well, the game was awesome and it became an instant classic.

Here’s the thing, when did it become cool to remember and recognize this code 20 years later?  It’s like “Oh, you remember that code? So do I!  We’re such nerds!” hugs and props inevitably follow.  Then the shirts came and allowed us to bond with strangers as if they were our old gaming buddies.  The instant commonality and gamer nerd history broke ice better than any pickup line I’ve ever heard.  We are truly in a new era: The Era of the Cool Nerd.

Now with the access to the internet, iPhones, and Facebook at the tip of our fingers, it has never been easier or more trendy to be a cool nerd.  So what is the next new geeky turned trendy revival going to be?  I already see thick framed glasses all over the place… what about pocket protectors?  Well regardless, the nerd is here to stay and probably stay a long time.  Actually,  I beat Contra with the crappy -=F=- Gun and without using the 30 lives cheat… what does that make me?

Photo Credit: tico24

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