Today as I viewed a foreclosed house that gave off a weird vibe that had my instincts telling me to stay alert, I’m reminded that investing in foreclosed homes can be dangerous for reasons beyond financial.

Foreclosed homes are often targets for breaking and entering, squatters, and other such illegal activity. As such, you need to take precaution when viewing these properties.

For the majority of people with even the slightest degree of economic intelligence, the real estate bubble’s collapse was like being a beach lifeguard and seeing a massive tidal wave off in the distance. It was frightenly visible, you knew it would create massive chaos when it finally touched down, and there wasn’t a damn [...]

Although it’s debatable whether real estate investing is superior or inferior to stock market investing, what isn’t debatable is that real estate provides a multitude of ways to make money in the long run. There are many reasons to choose real estate investing over stock market investing, and many reasons not to. Personally I believe both are great investments, as diversification is one of my investing rules to success. Have said that, here are some of the major pros and cons of real estate investing:

In times of uncertainty, when many fear the sky is falling and that there is no hope for recovery, the wise investors plant their seeds. The wise investors are not bothered that the seeds will not grow into anything for many years; This is expected and can be considered the price of admission for any good deal.

Sometimes investing can be incredibly simplified using common sense techniques. Applying common sense to your investing usually results with profitable returns. The reason that using common sense works is that for some unexplainable reason there is a lack of it used in the stock market. As such, you can use common sense to somewhat predict/anticipate future stock market moves.

As I write this article, the stock market has taken an ugly tumble downward in the past few days. Fortunately for me I haven’t had so much as a penny invested in any stocks right now. The reason why I have my portfolio positioned 100% in cash is because I anticipated a poor start to the new year. How was I able to do it? I used common sense. Here’s how it’s done…

It’s funny to me when I think back to the first day I opened an account with Ameritrade and bought my first shares of stock. I knew so little about investing, the stock market, and economics at the time. But I couldn’t care less; I was so enthralled by my fascination for the stock market that I ignored all rationale and dove head first into the stock market like a naked man into a sea of hungry great white sharks. This is the pathetically humorous story of my introduction to the stock market.

A commonly used phrase heard throughout the financial media is “the market”. While it seems like “The Market” and “The Stock Market” are the same thing, they actually share little in common and represent two entirely different things. Because of this common misunderstanding, many novice investors often can interpret news incorrectly. So I’m going to clearly define the two and explain the difference.

I can’t get enough of these Stock Market comics. Here’s another comic brought to you by Cyanide and Happiness. Enjoy.

If you’re really into the stock market or know someone who is, then you know how hard it is to find good stock market gifts during the holidays. So hopefully I can give you some ideas with some products I really enjoy myself. Here’s my list of stock market gift ideas:

There is saying that no matter what is going on with the stock market, you can always make money somewhere. But what if the stock market is crashing or prices are on the decline? How then can you make money? This is where the need for short selling becomes apparent. With the ability to both buy long and short sell the market, you are now capable of making money regardless of which direction the market heads towards. But what is short selling and how does it work? Let’s take a look into the less appreciated form of making money in the stock market known as short selling.