Stock Gurus Are Just Not Necessary In Order For You to Succeed

The "stock guru" industry is big business. Millions of dollars are made every year through the sale of instructional DVDs, books, newsletters and chat room memberships.

About ten years ago, I ran a stock market newsletter. I had hundreds of people paying me to find out what stocks I was buying and selling. Many of these people would base their investment decisions entirely on what I was doing.

Why did I quit? I wanted to focus on trading my own account. By trading my own account, I was answerable to just one person - myself. Worrying about the financial well-being of hundreds of other people can be quite nerve-wracking. Try having hundreds of people follow you into a stock, only to have that stock halted for some unknown reason - it's not fun.

Why bring this up at all? I feel that it makes me very qualified to make the statement - you don't need a "stock guru" to do well in the stock market.

What do you need to do well?

1. Time. You need to put in the hours. Research. Read company reports. Study the historical performance of stocks and indexes in certain situations. Trade ideas with other people. Listen to conference calls. You need to put in the time, but it's very worth it.

2. Confidence and belief in yourself. Every successful trader started at the same place - having absolutely no idea what they were doing. It's not easy, but if you believe in yourself, you can become a very successful trader/investor.

3. Intestinal Fortitude. It's one thing to come up with a great trading idea or system - it's another thing entirely to put real money on the line. This ties in with #2 - believing in yourself. You need to believe in yourself enough to put your hard-earned dollars on the line.

Anybody can do well if they put in the time and believe in themselves. "Gurus" are certainly not necessary to achieve long-term success.

Some people shell out thousands of dollars per month paying for various gurus, hoping to find that "Holy Grail" that makes them rich.

The truth is - many "gurus" are not nearly as successful as they make themselves out to be. Many derive the majority of their incomes from their newsletters or advisory services. A number aren't even active in the markets.

If you are considering joining some kind of service, ask the owner of the site if he/she has any kind of a record of their past trades.

If they can't or won't provide you with any sort of a track record, then ask the owner for a free two week trial to test out the site. If they aren't willing to provide you with a trial, then take your business elsewhere. Anybody who is truly confident in their business will be more than willing to give you a trial.

Having said that - you don't need a "guru" to be successful.

If you want to give yourself the best chance of being successful, then buy a comfortable chair and be willing to put in hundreds of hours doing research and learning about the markets.

There are no shortcuts in this game. Do you really want to be dependent on somebody else? Believe in yourself, and the rewards will follow.

Filed under: General Knowledge