How to Time the Stock Market

When investing in the Stock Market, timing is everything. There is a method to all the madness that is Wall Street and to be successful you must have reservoir of both good timing and patience.

The patience part, you'll need to channel your inner being to help you with that; this article will help you with the timing aspect.

The Stock Market has created a plethora of millionaires, but it has also crushed myriad dreams. Therefore it's critical that you not invest to get rich, but do it because you enjoy the challenge and you have it in your budget to take a few financial risk.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Portfolio
• Budget
• Patience

1. Create your own Portfolio and start out with only a few small investments. This way you can easily organize, analyze, and research your investments without having to worry about losing money.
   
   You can get ideas on creating your own Portfolio at sites like Fidelity.com, Ameritrade, Scottrade.com, and the most valuable one of the all, MSN Money. Follow MSN's "Market Report: Stock Ticker" religiously and take note of the trends. You should spend at least an hour everyday perusing the MSN Money website.

2. As you get better acquainted with the Market you will want to look into diversification. That is, "don't put all your eggs in one basket." Diversify by associating your finances with Money Market accounts, Mutual Funds, Stocks, Bonds, Gold, and more. Learn as much as you can about the various Indexes such as Philadelphia Semiconductor, Nasdaq, S&P 500, and the Dow. Along with studying the Indexes, learn as much as you can about the Interest Rate and how and why the Federal Reserve lowers and raises the Interest Rate. Keep your eyes on the European Central Bank and its Interest Rate as well.

3. Take advantage of the many free online Trading Tools. InvestorIdeas.com offers quite a few online trading tools that will benefit you immensely. Jim Cramers' Mad Money Blog also has a list of free trading tools.

4. Do not set your expectations too high as a new investor. You can get lucky your first time out but don't allow beginners luck to force you into bad decisions. Create your game plan that will be incorporated into your portfolio and stick with it. You'll tweak your portfolio as you educate yourself. This is why step 2 is crucial to your success or failure. You must study the market and trends to be successful. Investing in the Stock Market is not about playing hunches as one would do if he/she plays the lotto. Successful traders know what they are doing.

Resources

• Free Online Trading Tools
• Investment Tips