Masonson - All about market timing: the easy way to get started

All About MARKET TIMING

THE EASY WAY TO GET STARTED

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THE EASY WAY TO GET STARTED

Second Edition

LESLIE N. MASONSON

Copyright 2011 by Leslie N. Masonson. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-175378-4
MHID: 0-07-175378-8

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To my parents and grandparents, who instilled in me the appropriate values and a thirst for learning that has helped me succeed in this challenging world.

To my beloved and incredible family.

And to all investors all across America: May you all benefit from the research and strategies in this book to find a smarter and safer way to invest and preserve your hard-earned money.

Chapter 1
The Stock Market = Bull Markets + Bear Markets

Chapter 2
The Buy-and-Hold Myth

Chapter 3
Market Timing: What You Need to Know

Chapter 4
Determing the Markets Trend

Chapter 5
No-Load Mutual Funds: Index, Sector, and Leveraged Funds

Chapter 6
Exchange-Traded Funds

Chapter 7
Calendar-Based Investing: The Best Six Months Strategy

Chapter 8
Combining Presidential Cycle Years with Seasonality

Chapter 9
Using Simple Moving Averages to Time the Market

Chapter 10
The Value Line 4 Percent Strategy versus the Value Line 3 Percent Strategy

Chapter 11
Nasdaq Composite 6 Percent Strategy

Chapter 12
Market Timing Resources: Newsletters, Web Sites, and Advisors

Market timing may be the most challenging approach to successful long-term investing. It can be tough and ugly. I know this well because Ive been a market-timer in the trenches since 1983 both as an investor and as an advisor.

Timing requires thick skin and iron resolve. Because it is generally misunderstood, market timing is almost universally scorned on Wall Street.

Yet market timing can be an important tool for risk-averse investors. When it is used consistently over long periods of time, timing can improve returns dramatically while reducing risk, as Les Masonson has demonstrated repeatedly in this book.

If those in the establishment financial media were to study this book, they would be better able to reduce a tide of misguided negative articles about timing. Too many financial writers have discovered that they can easily prove that timing doesnt work and cant possibly work. However, those authors rarely specify any measurable definition of what would be necessary for a strategy to qualify as one that works.