Thought it might be appropriate to do a follow up on one of our more popular articles of the year entitled Should Investing Be Effortless? The quick answer to that question after reading the article is obviously “No”. We don’t make any such outlandish comments, because we know that investing/trading can be very difficult and unforgiving. The best example of which, is occurring before our very own eyes with the global market crash that is occuring. Fortunes are being lost and greed is being exposed.

A recent emails that was sent out as a marketing effort by GorillaTrades on August 2, 2008, made an attempt to convince their mailing list that now is the time to go long and that “the stars are aligned to near perfection!” and that “it may not get any better than this.” How much money was lost on these types of ludicrous predictions. They even stated that the excesses have “been wrung out of the market” and we could be looking at a run to 14650 in the Dow, 2840, in the Nasdaq, and the S&P at 1600. All in an effort to acquire new subscribers to their overpriced service. Since that email was sent out, the Nasdaq has dropped -27.8% and the S&P has dropped -28%.

Those who make a career out of calling market tops and bottoms they will wipe out their portfolio in the process, but what is even worse is that in an effort to drum up a following or to get people to buy into their system of trading causes others to take a beating in the process. You have clowns like Jim Cramer out there running around calling a monthly bottom in the market, and then when he’s proven wrong (which isn’t a hard thing to do at all) he yells fire in a crowded movie theatre on national televisions telling investors to take their money out of the markets all together.

Folks, let us be clear, whether it is a up or down market, success takes dedication and hard work. No one can do it for you. We’re here to help by offering you access to our system of trading. But ultimataely, success is dependent upon you. Our goal is to make you such a good trader that you will no longer even need our services, but instead ready to take on Wall Street all by yourself.

In order to do that though, you have to be willing to spend time reading on a regular basis – get your hands on any book you can from Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch, to William O’Neill and Steve Cohen; these guys provide content that at times, you can barely keep your eyes open and read, but it is necessary for your personal growth and success in the markets. You don’t even have to agree with their style or personal view points, but it is good to learn and apply whatever lessons you can to your own strategies. We do however recommend you stay away from anything entitled Rich Dad/Poor Dad or anything by Jim Cramer. These guys are more into the publicity and the art of selling books rather than the content that is in between the front and back cover.

Read, study as many charts as you can, create and experiment with screeners and learn from your mistakes – the latter of which is the most important. If you do you won’t fall prey to these groups that want you to think there is a “free-lunch” out there somewhere.

Here’s the gorillatrades email that was sent out on August 2, 2008:

It would not be surprising if your latest retirement plan statement showed that your account was down 20% or more so far this year. That is how severely poor the 2008 stock market has been! There is no doubt that seeing such a loss might cause most investors to panic. The stock market has dropped at an alarming rate this year. After all, such huge losses (even if only on paper) can shake even the most informed and experienced investors, or at least lead them to believe that their retirement has just been postponed several years!

Most investors, regardless of their experience in the market, fully understand that the stock market moves up and down, and sometimes the “down” is drastic, but it doesn’t stop you from feeling your blood pressure rise, as you begin to panic. And, we all know that pulling your money out of the stock market when it is tanking is just not a good idea. Many inexperienced investors seem to di this just BEFORE the stock market makes a stunning rebound.

It’s times like this when you have to keep in mind that investing means taking risks. As one clever financial educator put it, “Think of investing as being on a merry-go-round. There are going to be ups and downs. However, if you aim for steady growth by diversifying your assets, then it won’t be a roller coaster ride. When you get off the merry-go-round, you aren’t sick to your stomach.”

So, what is positive about the market’s huge pullback? Well, all of the excesses have been wrung out of the stock market AND the Federal Reserve and the government is doing everything it can to avert a disaster. Folks, it might not get any better than this. The stars are aligned to near perfection!

At the start of the year, the Gorilla made some financial predictions for 2008. Among his major predictions, he predicted that the Dow would trade as low as 11,850 this year, the S&P 500 would trade as low as 1340, and the Nasdaq would trade as low as 2297. The Gorilla was not pessimistic enough. The Dow is now 500 points below his predicted level. The S&P 500 is 80 points below the 2008 low the Gorilla predicted, and the Nasdaq is only 13 points above the low that the Gorilla predicted.

The Gorilla also predicted that the Dow would trade as high as 14,650 this year. The Nasdaq would trade as high as 2840, and the S&P 500 would trade as high as 1600. If the Gorilla is correct, as of Friday’s close, the Dow will rise 29% by the end of the year, the Nasdaq will gain 23% from here, while the S&P 500 will rise 27% from its current level. It’s quite possible, and what a perfect time to invest money into the stock market, especially if you use a market-tested strategy like the one the Gorilla offers through his GorillaTrades stock-picking service. We hope to see you back in the jungle today!

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