Most investors-even some professionals-tend to be "off" in their timing: they buy things when they are hot, not when they are cold. But for the greatest benefit, it should be the opposite. The media doesn't help much when it comes to this buying approach, and let's face it; greed and fear play a large part in most peoples' investment decisions.
In the world of investments, treading into the unknown can be a very hazardous journey. While the majority of investors opt for companies traded on the large stock exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and AMEX, there are thousands, if not millions of people who choose to roll the dice with companies traded on the OTC Bulletin Board, or even more risky, the Pink Sheets.
So what's an investor to do, especially an investor who's really not a professional? For one thing, find a reliable method of gaining information. One that I like is a trend analysis approach that objectifies market behavior. This type of approach is more kinetic in that it doesn't rely on past performance-it relies on past and present performance to indicate a "trend" toward future performance. While that's not infallible in any sense of the word, it is a broader range of information than most guides.