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108 HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN STOCKS SUCCESS STORIES

tive secretary. Barbara was nearing retirement and thought it was
unlikely that she would be hired at the income level she had been receiv-
ing. She also knew Social Security would never take care of her financial
needs.

An Uptrending Market and Focusing on the Rules Pays Off
Knowing she would be laid off from her job in 2004, Barbara paid off her
house and car loans using the extraordinary profits she had made from
trades during the booming 1990s: 1,300% in EMC, 200% in Gap, 254% in
Oracle, 235% in Intel, and 44% in Cisco.
Though she went through a very difficult emotional period after losing
her husband and being laid off from her job so soon afterward, Barbara has
advice for investors facing similar challenges. “Have self-confidence in your
own abilities,” she says, “but you must study, and you must learn to read
charts. Chart reading is a visual art. What do you see? What is the chart
telling you? Then act accordingly. You also have to let the overall market
trend be your guide as to whether it is a good time to be in stocks or not.”
Barbara modestly adds that she had no financial background whatsoever. “I
sold real estate and was a secretary, so if I can become a successful investor,
anyone can.”
Barbara says she learned the most from the IBD workshops, which she
has attended regularly throughout the years, and always walks away having
learned something new: “It is the continual process of learning that is so
beneficial. And the paper is also full, every day, with educational materials
to help people become better investors and better chart readers.”

A Good Routine Can Be Profitable
Barbara follows a solid routine every morning, and this assures her that she
won’t miss a market leader as it’s breaking out.

1. In the pre-market, Barbara checks The Big Picture column and the
Market Pulse to see if the market is in an uptrend or a downtrend.
Barbara circles leaders that are up in volume from this section and adds
them to her watch list.
2. Next, she runs two MarketSmith screens.
a. The first screen that Barbara runs is the William J. O’Neil screen,
which brings up stocks with the CAN SLIM criteria. Barbara clicks