Why You Should Be Using Stop Loss and Limit Orders

Investing is a percentage game. The lower you can buy a stock and the higher you can sell, then the more money can be gained. But in reality finding the exact bottom or the exact top of a stock is impossible, and most investors will tell you when to sell is the most difficult decision. The key is to use charts to buy a stock near its 52-week low and then firmly decide when you are going to sell (or buy and hold). Using Stop Loss and Limit orders helps you achieve these goals, and protects you from downside risk. …

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Why Dividend Cuts May Be a Good Thing for Investors

Life isn’t perfect and for whatever reason, we purchase stocks we shouldn’t have bought, lured in by the high yield, or still hang on to stocks we should have sold. Investor confidence in a company can be sudden and swift. In the case of TransAlta Corp (TA) for example (which I don’t own) this was pointed out in a recent post by John Heinzl. Management decisions over the sale of the  Sundance coal plants, and the looming threat of a dividend cut have pummelled the stock price. TA closed at $16.81 per share today, down -20.5% from a recent high …

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Loyalty – One of the Biggest Stock Picking Mistakes I Make

I am loyal to a fault. I will stick with a company that I grew up with and love all the way to the bitter end. While being loyal may be a great trait, it often gets me into trouble as an investor. The Dividend Ninja’s recent recap of his Dividend Growth Index and individual stock picks reminded me of a recent friendly debate that we had. The Ninja is a big fan of PepsiCo Inc, but I personally love and own shares in Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. Like the wise Ninja predicted, that hasn’t worked out well for me …

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When Issuing a Dividend Can Be Dangerous

A dividend can actually be a huge red flag depending on where the company gets the money for it. If you know what to look for, a company paying or increasing its dividend is not always a good sign. How does your favorite dividend paying company get the money for those annual or quarterly payments? Have you seen the statement of cash flows and income statement? Do you bother to dig deep to learn as much as you can about the companies that you are investing in? You definitely should take the time to understand where the money is coming …

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