Page 496 - How to Make Money in Stocks Trilogy

366 INVESTING LIKE A PROFESSIONAL

because some of the sectors in the back half haven’t been leaders recently
doesn’t mean that some of them won’t later possibly become turnarounds.
Lower-ranked and poor-performing sectors in this issue are Computer—
Hardware, Savings & Loans, Apparel, Machinery, Media, Steel, Real
Estate, and Semiconductors.
These rankings can shift over a period of weeks or months. But it pays to
know what’s leading now and which names within each sector have the best
fundamental and market-action variables. That’s where you want to concen-
trate your research.
These tables may take a little time to get used to. But after a few weeks,
you’ll know where your stocks are listed. To make it easier, we also have a
table that lists all of IBD’s 197 subindustries and tells you which of the 33
broad sectors each subindustry belongs to.
One thing that most of us fail to do, but that I would highly encourage you
to do, is read the box (usually on page B7) that explains the various ratings
and measures and how they’re computed and used. By doing this, you will
understand how best to utilize these advanced, very sophisticated tables
that could hold the key to dramatic success or improvement in your future.
Below the how-to-read box is a short list of “do’s and don’ts”—in other
words, what you should be doing to avoid the classic errors people some-
times make when they’re investing without doing their due diligence.

IBD Timesaver Table
The “IBD Timesaver Table” on the same page is a feature many busy peo-
ple like to use because it picks up all the high-ranking stocks that were up or
down in price in a short table that includes volume and some other rankings.
I always check this and take particular note of the “Stocks Down” list. I want
to be aware of the stocks that have been hit hard because this could affect
others in the same industry. If a stock shows up repeatedly on this list, it
could be that it has topped and is headed for more trouble.
I’ve mentioned that we have 10 different ways you can zero in on the
leading groups. We also have little sector charts under the heading “Lead-
ing Market Indexes.” Each has a daily price and volume chart. Hi-tech,
Junior Growth, Leisure, and Consumer Sectors now top the list.
Alongside, we have the “New Highs” list. This list has also been reorga-
nized. We weren’t interested in just showing which stocks made new highs
and which made new lows. We list them in order of the industry sectors that
had the largest number of stocks making new price highs. When you get into
a strong bull market and find that, say, the medical sector continues to lead,
it will probably be among the top one, two, or three sectors with the most
stocks making new highs.