If you are under 50 years of age and have not lost money in the stock market I dont think you will find this article interesting. Why? Because you still think you can make a killing in the market. Until you have lost a lot more this method of investment will not interest you.

Dad and Mom can try to get the kids to pay attention, but it is doubtful that they will. Each will have to learn on his own, but maybe a few will see the wisdom of slow but sure.

Every professional trader I know (I was an exchange member and floor trader for 17 years) will tell that you must have a plan for both buying and selling. Any plan must minimize risk for the professional and for the nonprofessional it must be so simple that even a retired widow with no market knowledge can execute.

Wall Street prefers to keep investors confused with financial terms so they will have to go to a broker or financial planner for advice. Advice from a broker is a eulogy for your money. They have been taught by the big brokerage companies and they have been taught wrong. They do not make you rich; they get rich off of you.

Now lets go through the steps to make money and protect your investments. This very simple method is as foolproof as any I have ever seen. It is one you can do by yourself with no help from any broker. In fact, most of them will not want you to do this as there is no commission and very little trading.

Turn on your computer; make the connection to the Internet. In the address box type in www.bigcharts.com . In the white box type in JAVLX. That is the symbol for a mutual fund. Click on the red box. On the left is a blue column. Under Time frame select the down arrow and click on 1 decade. Scroll down. Click on indicators. Scroll down a little more. Click the down arrow for Moving Averages. Select SMA. In the box to the right type in 200. Go back to the top and click on Draw Chart.

Note when the 200-day line turned down (November 2000) it was a sell signal and time to put your cash in a money market account. Wait. Collect interest. When the line turned up (April 2003) it gave a buy signal. Buy your no-load fund back. (Only buy no-load, no commission funds.) This buy/sell 200-day line will work for almost ANY mutual fund. Follow the little red line to wealth.

Go back. Check this out for any mutual fund or index fund you might have owned in 2000. Being in cash from 2000 to 2003 would have saved your retirement account; a money market account had a greater return than being invested.

Never lose money in the stock market again.

Al Thomas

Albert W. Thomas has spent most of his life in the field of finance. In 1965 he founded an insurance holding company, Security Dynamics Investment Corporation, after having been an agent and General Agent for several life insurance companies. In 1970 he became cofounder and president of Real Life Estate, Inc., that marketed a unique real estate and life insurance package.

After he became interested in commodities he bought a seat for his personal trading on the Chicago Open Board of Trade, which is now known as the MidAmerica Commodity Exchange. Later he became a full time trader and also acted as a commodity broker for a few select clients. By fellow floor traders Al is considered to be an excellent technical analyst much of which is outlined in his book IF IT DOESN'T GO UP, DON'T BUY IT! It became a best seller on Amazon.

In 1981 he sold his membership on the Exchange and with his wife, Carolyn, lived full time aboard their 41' ketch, the Aumakua (which means guardian angel in Hawaiian). They sailed in Florida and the Bahamas for two years.

He founded World Trading Group in 1984 that grew to the seventh largest introducing commodity brokerage firm in the U.S. with 35 offices from coast to coast, Alaska and Canada. It was sold in 1992.

Al is a graduate of Northwestern University with a B.S. degree in Commerce and is a member of MENSA. He is now president of Williamsburg Investment Company that syndicates his weekly financial column since 1999 to more than 300 newspapers and writes a financial market letter called Over My Shoulder that is quoted in Barron?s and many other publications. A 3-month trial subscription is available on his web site. He is a regular guest on several financial radio talk shows.

His favorite pastime is fishing.

Mr. Thomas is available for speaking engagements. Please call 321-453-5300 for more information.