Recession Proof Living

As if I really needed another financial obsession, I’ve decided it’s time for me to start trading stocks. I’ve held mutual funds in my 401k and Roth IRA for years, but I am intrigued by the potential of  being able to beat the market by following technical indicators. Yes, I know Dave Ramsey does not approve of peons like me buying and selling single stocks–for obvious reasons like losing my life savings.

However, I’m not exactly going it alone. I’m using Investools. If you’ve ever been to a Get Motivated seminar or seen Phil Town on CNBC, you’ll know the tools I’m talking about. (Hint: Remember the red and green arrows?)

Now, please keep in mind that I have no affiliation with Investools and am not being paid to write about them. In fact, I have researched Investools online and found that many people are put off by their heavy-handed sales techniques. I probably would be put off as well, but I didn’t follow the usual route to getting access to the “good stuff,” meaning the educational material and Investor Toolbox.

It seems that Investools wants you to attend a two-day workshop, in which they spend half the time teaching you about investing and half the time trying to upsell you on extremely expensive investor education.  We’re talking upwards of $20,000 for the PhD program.  The PhD program may be wonderful, but I don’t have that much cash lying around, and I don’t want to listen to some slick cheerleader pressure me to put $20,000 on my credit card so I can partake of this wonderful program.

Rather that enroll in one of their courses, I just subscribed to the website (it’s $159 for 6 months) and am using the excellent educational materials they have online–starting with the Investing Foundations course. I have learned a great deal from it.

The basic premise is to pick stocks that are fundamentally sound, and then use technical indicators to time your entry and exit points.  Three green arrows means it’s time to buy; three red arrows means it’s time to sell.  This isn’t day trading–generally you will hold a position for several weeks or months before selling.

On Monday I used the tools to pick out my very first stock portfolio. I bought AAPL, CKSW, FUQI, and HDB based on fundamentals and indicators from the toolbox. I also bought GOOG as more of a long term investment because it appears undervalued, although my entrance timing was not great. All but HDB have gone up, and the portfolio as a whole is up 3.6% in just three days.

I may be having beginner’s luck, since the markets are having a good week. However, I must point out that the arrows were very accurate in predicting when the stocks were about to jump. It certainly wasn’t any great knowledge or skill on my part.  So I think I’ll keep using Investools and report back in a few months.

So, readers, do any of you use an investing suite or online research service?  Was it worth the money?  Can you do as well on your own for free?  Please share.