A common perception on Wall Street is that October is the worst month of the year for the market. It is true that the month has historically failed to provide stellar returns, but it is actually September that deserves the title of the worst market month of all.

“The ES_F can’t get above the vwap and high volume node.” “SPY –a perfect symmetrical triangle on the one minute.” “Obama jobs report baked in. I’m short until tomorrow’s real report then we get a fluff rally.” The above comments were lifted from a daily internet trading service peopled by day traders and other speculators. [...]

In my 28 years on Wall Street I’ve lived through over thirty stock market corrections worldwide. Not once have I been able to call a market bottom. I gave up trying long ago and it has not hurt my performance at all. Here’s why.

I am about to say something heretical, even life threatening to the investment community. As markets continue to decline and trillions of dollars of retirement money evaporates, an increasing number of investors, myself included, are taking issue with the argument that a Buy-and-Hold investment philosophy is the best approach for all individual investors over the [...]

Many so-called financial professionals as well as academic experts debunk technical analysis or TA: the study of charts in an attempt to uncover future trends in market activity. The venerable Efficient Market Hypothesis, the bible in American Business schools, insists there is absolutely no value in this arcane art. Yet, over the last six months [...]

Overall, Socially Responsible Investing has taken its share of losses in 2008 but has faired no worse than the rest of the market. That runs contrary to its detractors who believe SRI, the investment strategy of combining financial return with social good, is an idea of the lunatic fringe. I disagree.

I first met John Roque in early 2001 while working for a boutique Wall Street investment bank which has since been bought by the French. John was our technical analyst. I had no interest in the subject at the time so I ignored him. That is, until he wrote his first positive report on gold [...]

Over the last six years foreign stock markets have been the place to be if you wanted to capture double digit investment returns. This year overseas markets especially emerging markets have pulled back along with the U.S. markets. I see that as a buying opportunity for long term investors.

By now most companies have probably sent a memo or e-mail reminding us that it’s time to decide how much we plan to contribute to our 401(K), 403 (B) or 457 plan for this year. Most likely many of us will stall until the last day and then contribute as little as possible or nothing [...]