Greatest Tool To Experiencing Success In The Stock Market – An Efficient Watch List
I wanted to start this post basically listing off all the successful stocks I have played in this very early part of 2010, but then again, with the way the market has performed over the last couple of days, if you haven’t made any good trades then you may want to reconsider what you’re doing.
What I’m about to share is the greatest tool to experiencing success in the stock market, or at least what I feel has worked best for me…
Build a solid watch list
It really is as simple as that. If you follow this site on a regular basis, then you are well aware that I pretty much analyze and reanalyze the same stocks over and over again. It’s not because I don’t know anything else, but it is because I have tracked these stocks for so long that I have a good feeling of what’s to come based on previous history.
For those that don’t know, a watch list is a collection of stocks that you follow on a regular basis. Whether you can track them all in once place through some widget or check each individual one, it doesn’t matter, but you want to make sure you have a good list of stocks that you monitor.
On the other hand, if you have any experience with the stock market then you know what a watch list is, but you may not be using it wisely.
Personally, I have a phobia of clutter, so if the list gets too long, then I tend to go crazy. Also the longer you’re list the less efficient it becomes. It is obviously easier to track 10 stocks then it is 20. You also want to make sure to keep some quality control on your list to prevent any unwarranted trades.
My watch list breaks down like this:
I have a handful of stocks that I continually trade in and out and/or watch on a long-term basis. These are often the stocks you see me talk about on this site (i.e. Netflix (NFLX), Bank of America (BAC), Ja Solar (JASO)). These are basically my go-to stocks and companies I have tracked for months to years.
A small group of stocks that casually move in and out the watch list. These are pretty much stocks that are you are looking to play because of a current trend. An example of this would be retail stocks expected to move because it is the holiday season. From time to time, a stock might be upgraded to the core group, but more often than not you follow it for a while, maybe trade it, and then let it go once time has passed.
Yes, obviously this seems like a relatively simple process, but you’d be surprised how many traders easily overlook the importance of their watch list. By constantly tracking companies (even if you aren’t trading it), you get a good idea of what makes the stock move and eventually you execute trades that casual followers of the stock would never even see.
Below are a couple stocks that are on my watch list right now:
What are some of your favorite watch list stocks?
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