This is simply the most comprehensive, practical and easy-to-read book about online investing in existence
Don't place your first (or next) trade through your online broker until you've read this book!
It's amazing when I look back on it.
I've been a broker for over eight years with one of the leading online investing firms and I get to say I was there when it all began. How many people get to say in their whole lives that they were part of something revolutionary? Investing through the Internet with an online brokerage firm gives you so many advantages: you get rapid transactions, instant access to real time quotes and news, continually updated account information, from the convenience of your home or office PC, and all for an absurdly dirt cheap price.
There's just one catch. For the most part you're on your own - this is do-it-yourself stuff. If you don’t have the skills, you'll have to acquire them, and some people have to learn them the hard and expensive way. I know - I've worked with thousands of clients. Some of them lacked basic computer skills or because the stock market doesn't work the way they thought it did.
You will get exactly what you ask for, so you must learn how to ask for what you want. Your computer and the Internet are the tools of your trade, and like any power tool they'll produce outstanding results when you use them well, and they can injure you if used carelessly. And you have to play by the rules, whether you know them or not.
I know all the pitfalls of online investing...because I've spent years pulling people out of pits.
I've been a stockbroker, financial planner and technical support rep, all rolled into one. The fact is I did this every day for over eight years, I've talked to tens of thousands of investors, I've seen the same things come up again and again. I know what you need to know. What you don't know can cost you time and money, sometimes a lot of both.
But online trading is easy with just a bit on know-how. And it's all here in one convenient package.
This book contains everything you really need to know.
The Ultimate Guide to Online Investing is filled with real-life experiences and anecdotes that make sure you are prepared to get on the computer and take direct control of your own financial future. This is not theory, or a collection of nice-sounding but vague concepts. This is real nuts-and-bolts, here's-how-you-do-it stuff.
I'll give you an example. There is a special type of order called an "All or None" order, and anyone who marks their buy or sell order with an "All or None" qualification is giving very specific instructions to his or her broker, and the firm will act on those instructions accordingly. Unfortunately, this is just about all anyone is ever taught what that "All or None" order means before they place one...
All or None: A buy or sell order instructing your broker to fill your order in its entirety or not at all.
That's a nice little textbook definition; but what did it really tell you? Certainly not what you really need to know. When yould you use such an order? Why would it be necessary to make that distinction? Why wouldn't you use an All or None order? To find out what an "All or None" order really means, and about the client who learned it the hard way, please read this sample chapter.
Get all my years of experience for the price of a single trade.
I've answered thousands of phone calls and emails from all kinds of investors -- from cautious first timers to highly experienced traders to big shots who thought they knew it all (surprise, surprise!). I already know what questions you will have and I know how to answer them. Everything I've ever discussed with my clients is crystallized here in a nearly 300 page e-book.
| Richard Victor's easy to read book is a comprehensive guide to on-line investing. Whether the reader is a technical novice or an on-line pro, he or she will carry away from this enjoyable reading experience a valuable education in mastering technology's newest trading tool. Alan Monczyk President, Synergy Structures New York, NY |
Simple, not simple-minded
I wanted to make this book the most complete, most definitive guide ever written on the subject. Everything is clear, easy to understand, and ready to be put to use just as if I were talking to my clients. Having this book is like having an experienced broker sit next to you while you're at your computer.Some of the things you'll find in this book include:
- Real help for the technologically challenged. If you're reading this you must know how to use the Web at least a little. But if all you really know is how to turn your computer on, point and click, you'll learn what the Internet is and how to use it.
- How to be your own technical support (I haven't forgotten Mac users)
- How to stay secure on an unsecured, open network
- Select the right online brokerage firm for you
- How to read your account portfolio, transaction and balance screens, how all those margin account figures are calculated, and what things like buying power and market value short actually mean
- How to read stock quotes, and what numbers you must look at (hint: the last trade and amount up or down are not the critical numbers, even though those are the ones usually quoted)
- The difference between market orders, limit orders, stop orders and stop limit orders, the other options available for different types of orders, and what you are really asking your broker to do for you - like I said, you'll get what you ask for
- How the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq actually work (they don't work the same way)
- Information on so-called "penny stocks", ones that don’t qualify for exchange or Nasdaq listing and trade on another market called the "Bulletin Board". These are the murky waters of the trading world, and many investors got hurt because they jumped in without looking first
- How pre-market and after-hours trading differ from the regular session, and how Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs) operate
- The regulations you are expected to know, whether you know them or not
- A complete chapter on how to use options, with complete explanations of several option strategies, including covered calls, married puts, naked option writing and spreads.
- How to deal with corporate reorganizations...things like stock splits, mergers, and takeovers.
- Plus a complete chapter on margin trading from the square one basics to advanced concepts even your broker may not know.
Open any other online investing book and read what it says about margin trading and it will probably tell you one thing: don't. They don't even tell you clearly what it is you're not supposed to do. Personally, I don't think it's an author's place to tell you what you should and should not do. I will, however, tell you what you need to know, such as:
- What margin trading is 's easy - it means borrowing money from your broker, putting up the value of your investments as collateral, in order to buy more shares)
- How to determine how much you can borrow
- How to calculate the minimum level of equity you must maintain in your account based on regulations and your broker's policies (hint: if there are two sets of requirements, you must meet the higher of the two)
- And just in case it comes down to it, how to handle a margin call, going step-by-step through the calculations
Easy to read, this book includes some real life situations my clients have gone through, and you have the chance to learn from other people's experiences. You can avoid the problems they had and save the money they may have lost just because you know what to do and what to look out for.
This book is comprehensive, and you can select what you need, when you need it. If you are interested in options or trading on margin, you'll find the most complete and most accessible chapters ever written for beginners and veterans alike.
Available in paperback or download (Adobe Acrobat)
You can have the best of over eight years of in-the-trenches experience presented clearly and concisely. This is knowledge that you can't find anywhere else (unless you get hired as a stock broker too).
But don't take my word for it; try before you buy! Click here to view sample chapters.