We spoke about it before; and we should have mentioned it more often in this space.

InvestEd, the fantastic event at which a dedicated group of experienced volunteers converges on one venue and teaches folks just the kinds of stuff about investing for the long-term that I promote here, will take place in Salt Lake City, August 7th thru the 9th.

It may not be too late to decide to go. Check here for details.

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Did you ever go to a casino with the idea that you’re going to quit when you’re ahead (or when you’ve lost a certain amount, whichever comes first)? So, you set a figure for each limit and you usually hit the loss limit first. Of course, when you hit the win limit, you rationalize: “My luck has been so good, it would be silly to quit now!” Or, “I’m playing with the house’s money, why not keep on rollin’?”

This is precisely the mindset of most who play the stock market. They set a limit on the high price: “I’ll sell it when it reaches $X.” Or, “The price has gone down to $X, I’d better get out before it goes down any more.” And the results usually are the same. The house, not you, is always the winner.?

Ellis Food for Thought, Investment Concepts, Stock Market Shams, Successful Investing basic stock investing, companies not stocks, gambling, ownership

Last week’s survey revealed a couple of things. The first of which was that the most popular day and time to roll out a talk show would be on a Thursday, in the early evening. So that’s when it will be. This Thursday evening, the 30th, at 7:30PM. 

Click on Take Stock with Ellis Traub to get you there. If you want to join in the conversation, be sure to listen carefully to the instructions you receive when you call in. The number to call in will be (347) 857-3608. And you don’t even have to be sitting in front of a computer to hear the show or participate. Just call that number any time during the show and listen.

Listen carefully to the instructions you receive when you do call in. You will be given a one or two digit number to dial if you want to join the conversation and you will need that number to participate.

I haven’t settled on a topic yet; but, judging by the chatter out there, it would seem we could start with a discussion of the merits of Technical Analysis, just to keep it non-controversial and sedate.

What would you like to talk about? Let me know what you think.

s Food for Thought, Fundamental Investment Views, NAIC Veterans' Lounge, Successful Investing basic stock investing, long-term investing, participation, radio, Take Stock, talk show, voiceblog radio

The rational price of a stock is the price investors would pay if they were thinking clearly. You can learn all you need to know, and more, in my earlier post that deals with “Rational Value.” So I won’t take the time for that now.

This value is very useful when dealing with good quality companies whose operations have been consistently healthy and whose value has grown predictably. With it, you can tell when the stock of that company is selling at, above, or below a reasonable price. Needless to say, the ability to place a specific and absolute value on a share of stock makes the whole process of long-term investing less of a gamble and more of a business—which is precisely what it ought to be. Read more…

Ellis Investment Concepts, NAIC Veterans' Lounge, Stock Market Shams, Successful Investing index, long-term investing, rational market, rational value, S&P500, the herd

Have you been watching the corporate earnings announcements? Two thirds of America’s industries have closed the books on their second quarters and are reporting the results. And it seems to me that a surprising number of the financial headlines have been about favorable earnings reports and about the analysts being pleasantly surprised.

Gosh! Don’t those companies know there’s a recession going on? Read more…

Ellis Food for Thought, Fundamental Investment Views, NAIC Veterans' Lounge American industries, long-term investors, optimism, recession, well-managed companies

Your might have received a somewhat cryptic post this weekend that referred to a video showing some glimpses of the recent Youth Program in Atlanta that was such an inspiring time for me…only to have either a black rectangle on your screen or nothing at all where something should have been. That was just the tip on the iceberg.

During the course of the weekend, my blog site simply evaporated! I couldn’t access it, nor could anyone else who might have been looking for it. And I had to contemplate seeing about six months of work go down the tubes.

Thanks to a very competent and compassionate young fellow named Zulf, a denizen of the Wordpress forum who was kind enough to volunteer to put some hours in on my problem, my data and site were restored and we’re back in business. (If any of you have similar problems, you’ll find him at http://bloginstallationservice.com).

Sorry for the mis-cue. Let me know if you still haven’t seen those pictures. They’re worth the trouble.

Ellis Food for Thought

Here are a few glimpses of what I was speaking about in my earlier post about the kids. You can’t look at the faces of these kids and their parents—engaged, eagerly learning the simple things they need to know about basic stock investing—and not find good reason to feel good about our nation’s future!

Thanks and credit to David Smith of Grand Junction, CO, for all the best photos in this video.

s Food for Thought, NAIC Veterans' Lounge Better-Investing, BINC, financial literacy, kids, learning basic stock investing, teaching investing, Youth

Whenever there’s a prolonged down market—beyond the normal nadir of the business cycle—invariably a cold chill of doubt creeps into the hearts and later the heads of even the most stalwart practitioners of our brand of basic stock investing. Today represents a real challenge to us to stay the course and not give in to the notion that the rules have changed. They definitely have not!

The naysayers tell us that the times have really changed this time. (As they have said so often before.) “We’ll never again see the kinds of gains we saw in the past.”

The argument is made that we have turned the corner from being a society of conspicuous consumers to one where the hallmark of financial wisdom is frugality. Savings are commencing to increase. Frivolous spending has dried up. And we are seeing, for the first time in a long time, some recognition that things commonly considered necessities are really the luxuries they are. Parents are even beginning to say “no” occasionally, though still not often enough. And all this, “they” say, is driving corporate profits down to lower levels where they will stay. Read more…

Ellis Food for Thought, Fundamental Investment Views, Successful Investing basic stock investing optimism, employment, long-term investing, naysayers, new rules, no change in rules

I was just introduced to some technology that would let me go on-line with a talk show format to discuss basic investing—all the things I enjoy talking about on this blog. The way it would work would be for the listener to simply bring up the show on her computer, select the “station,” and listen in.  In fact, you should be able to access it from this site.

Any listener would be able to simply dial into the queue (the number is displayed on the screen), and ask questions or argue with me, just like “downtown.”

Let me know if you have any interest in my doing this. It’s free! And we could try a fifteen or thirty-minute format and see how it goes. Then go from there, depending on how it’s received.

Shows can be archived, so they would be accessible on this site for anyone to repeat or download. Whatcha think? Like the idea?

Note: Response to this suggestion has been wonderful. Please answer a few questions for me by clicking here.

s Food for Thought, Fundamental Investment Views, Investment Concepts, NAIC Veterans' Lounge investing talk show, radio, talk show

Some years ago Patricia Edwards, a fine lady for whom I had—and continue to have—a great deal of respect, came to me with an idea for a book. It seems that she and her friends had enjoyed the benefit of having formed an investment club, had struggled with all of the decisions that needed to be made, and after a number of years were ready to declare it a success and pass on their acquired wisdom to others.

She asked if I might help them get their book published, which I agreed to do. But, for a number of reasons, I was unable to follow through with all they needed. And so, having allowed too much time to pass before doing so, I finally had to acknowledge that I couldn’t help them and suggested they might consider self-publishing.

I can’t tell you how delighted I was when, in Atlanta last weekend, I ran into Pat and had a look at the result of their labor of love! Several weeks ago, I wrote a  piece in which I suggested that some of my readers consider forming investment clubs in order to facilitate their learning to select quality stocks and invest in quality companies for the long term. I would now go a step further and add that I recommend that those who do want to make that step latch onto this wonderful book, brimming over with sound advice, offered with good humor, and in a very practical and easy-to-understand way!

Although belatedly, I want to congratulate Pat and her Beanstalk associates for having had the tenacity and will to overcome the obstacles and get such a delightful handbook out to their intended audience! [“In Search of the Green” may be obtained on Amazon.]

s Food for Thought, How to Invest, Investment Concepts, Successful Investing books, club, In Search of The Green, investment club, other efforts