| With the stock market reaching new all time highs, | | | | stocks it is a safe way. The safety in question has to |
| you are probably wondering if it is a good time to be | | | | do with the fundamentals, be it the fundamentals of |
| in stocks. | | | | the entire economy or a particular stock. It is for this |
| That is certainly a great question, the answer to | | | | reason that you want to abstain from holding stocks |
| which is surprisingly simple: there is almost always a | | | | during a general recession, as noted above. It is of |
| good time to be in stocks if you know which ones to | | | | equal importance to to buy stocks that are |
| buy and when. | | | | fundamentally sound and the best time to do it is |
| The "almost" qualifier has to do with those times | | | | when they happen to be depressed, preferably |
| when the general stock market is going through one | | | | because of general market conditions. |
| of its bearish phases that happen every 8-10 years, | | | | Relying on fundamentals seems to be somewhat of |
| although smaller corrections dependent upon global | | | | a forgotten art as these days most trading in stocks |
| developments can happen at any time too. Those, | | | | is based on technical indicators. If only for this reason, |
| however, should be used as an opportunity to buy. | | | | taking into account fundamental indicators can give a |
| Some recent examples of such circumstances are | | | | trader a considerable edge. |
| the Russian financial debacle of 1998 or the Asian | | | | Successful trading requires one to be selective, an |
| crisis of 1997. | | | | element that most beginners and oftentimes even |
| Buying stocks when the economy is about to enter a | | | | more advanced traders tend to ignore. There are |
| recession period is one of the worst times to enter | | | | really not that many good opportunities out there, so |
| the stock market. It is advisable to wait 18-24 | | | | being choosy in one's decisions helps weed out poor |
| months after the recent peak in the stock indices to | | | | candidates. It is in this respect that fundamentals |
| buy into stocks. | | | | come in handy again. |
| If there is one truly best, golden, way to trade | | | | |