Page 1011 - How to Make Money in Stocks Trilogy

4 HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN STOCKS—GETTING STARTED

The Basic Game Plan for
Making Money in Stocks

®
We’ll go through the CAN SLIM Investment System in the next chapter,
but for now just understand that by using this approach, you can:
• See when the market trend is changing so you’ll always know if it’s
time to buy stocks or take defensive action.
• Identify stocks with the most potential by looking for 7 traits the
biggest winners typically display just before they launch a major price
move.

Then, using the routines and checklists in this book, you’ll see the specific
steps you can take to make money in:

• Individual stocks
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that cover the Nasdaq and S&P 500
• Or a mix of both stocks and ETFs

The focus of this book is on individual stocks. The biggest winners in a
strong bull market can go up 100%, 300%, even 1,000% or more. In the bull
cycle that started in March 2009, Apple, Priceline, Lululemon Athletica,
Ulta Beauty, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Chipotle Mexican Grill,
Rackspace Hosting, 3D Systems, Michael Kors, and many others did just
that. In other words, the huge, life-changing gains are made by zeroing in on
the true market leaders—and you’ll see how to do that using the Simple
Weekend Routine and Buying Checklist.
That said, you can generate solid gains following the ETF approach we’ll
go over in a minute, and it takes less time.

Should You Invest in Stocks, ETFs, or Both?
The choice is up to you. There is no right or wrong answer, and you can
always do both: Put a certain percentage of your money into individual
stocks and another portion into an index-based ETF.
Many CAN SLIM investors follow a mixed approach, and I think it’s an
excellent way—especially for new investors—to get started.