Page 480 - How to Make Money in Stocks Trilogy

350 INVESTING LIKE A PROFESSIONAL

uses only one finger, has never heard of a chord or foot pedal, or doesn’t read
sheet music, so he never knows when to speed up, get loud, or get softer.
Investor’s Business Daily is more than a newspaper. It’s also a gigantic
radar set that monitors every variable that’s important to the successful
investor. And it lays all the information out for you daily, both in print and
electronically, with the version that’s available on the Internet.
The electronic version lets you have the information sooner—within
hours after the market closes. Investors who like to prepare for the next
trading day find this especially convenient. Others prefer a paper they can
carry with them, make notes on, and use as a valuable guidebook.

How to Use Investor’s Business Daily
Whether she uses the print or the electronic version (or both), each reader
probably has a different way of reading the paper. My preference is to start
with the front page and then proceed page by page to the end.

Front Page Comes First
The first feature I check on the front page is the short, quick market sum-
maries at the top, above the paper’s nameplate. These show price and vol-
ume changes for the S&P 500 index, the Dow Jones Industrials, and the
Nasdaq, plus brief, two-line comments on market highlights. Brief notes on
fixed income, currency, and commodities are also shown.
For example, the comment under NYSE volume reads, “Volume above
average, up from previous day.” In 40 seconds I look at these briefs to make
sure I didn’t miss anything important from the day’s action.

S&P 500 INDEX DOW JONES IND. NYSE VOL. (MIL) NASDAQ NASDAQ VOL. (MIL)
845.85 8063.07 1,619 1546.24 2,549
+13.62 (+1.6%) +106.41 (+1.3%) +230 (+16.5%) +31.19 (+2.1%) +324 (+14.6%)
MasterCard, Akamai GM, Wal-Mart Stores Volume above average, 50-day line retaken; Best upside volume
explode on upside lead blue chip rally up from previous day chips up for fourth day since Nov. 21 low

“IBD’s Top 10” Stories
The second thing I read on page 1 is “IBD’s Top 10,” a quick, time-saving
way to stay informed. In briefs of only seven to nine lines each, the ten most
important new stories are summarized. Today, for example, the number two
story tells how same-store sales were down last month at most retail chains,
but Wal-Mart’s were not only up but better than expected. In the number
three spot is “Senate Nears Vote On Stimulus,” an update on Congress’s
efforts to come up with an economic recovery plan.