No problem

Very Thanks for sharing this best ever thing with us-
Also Check Calendar June 2018 and July 2018 Calendar with Notes

Aug Split Calendar

COCA-COLA CO KO AUG 13 2-for-1

BROWN-FORMAN BF-A AUG 13 3-for-2

BROWN-FORMAN BF-B AUG 13 3-for-2

GOOGLE GOOG TBA 2-for-1

TRONOX LIMITED TROX TBA 5-for-1

Current split calendar

AMETEK INC. AME JUL 02 3-for-2

THE TORO COMPANY TTC JUL 02 2-for-1

UNDER ARMOUR UA JUL 09 2-for-1

CME GROUP CME JUL 23 5-for-1

RAVEN INDUSTRIES RAVN JUL 26 2-for-1

RAVEN INDUSTRIES RAVN JUL 26 2-for-1

TRONOX LIMITED TROX JUL 26 5-for-1

AZZ INCORPORATED AZZ JUL 31 2-for-1

Current Split Calendar List

ONEOK, INC. OKE JUN 04 2-for-1

DORMAN PRODUCTS DORM JUN 18 2-for-1

BLYTH, INC. BTH JUN 18 2-for-1

THE ADVISORY BOARD ABCO JUN 19 2-for-1

DOLLAR TREE DLTR JUN 27 2-for-1

AMETEK INC. AME JUL 02 3-for-2

THE TORO COMPANY TTC JUL 02 2-for-1

UNDER ARMOUR UA JUL 09 2-for-1

CME GROUP CME JUL 23 5-for-1

RAVEN INDUSTRIES RAVN JUL 26 2-for-1

GOOGLE GOOG TBA 2-for-1

COCA-COLA CO KO AUG 13 2-for-1

AMETEK INC. AME JUL 02 3-for-2

COCA-COLA CO KO AUG 13 2-for-1

Google chart April 26 2012

Three more splits for May including GOOGLE!


DELTA NATURAL GAS DGAS MAY 02 2-for-1

FMC CORPORATION FMC MAY 25 2-for-1

GOOGLE GOOG TBA 2-for-1

The list is building fast!

Here are a few more.

SHOE CARNIVAL SCVL APR 30 3-for-2

ASURE SOFTWARE ASUR MAY 01 3-for-2

VALHI VHI MAY 11 3-for-1

COPART, INC. CPRT MAR 29 2-for-1

ASCENA RETAIL GROUP ASNA APR 04 2-for-1

Understanding Stock Splits

ONEOK, INC. OKE JUN 04 2-for-1

DELTA NATURAL GAS DGAS MAY 02 2-for-1

HOMESTREET HMST MAR 09 2-for-1

ALK Chart

ALASKA AIR GROUP ALK MAR 19 2-for-1

DCI Chart

RES Chart

DONALDSON COMPANY DCI MAR 26 3-for-1

RPC, INC. RES MAR 12 3-for-2

MNST Chart



Tuesday January 17 2012

Tuesday morning gapper!

CMN Chart



Looking like a breakout here with CMN

TJX Chart



Nice extended up trend here!

COG Chart

MONSTER BEVERAGE CORPORATION MNST FEB 16 2-for-1

CANTEL MEDICAL CORP CMN FEB 02 3-for-2

THE TJX COMPANIES, INC. TJX FEB 02 2-for-1

CABOT OIL & GAS CORP COG JAN 25 2-for-1

MAGICJACK CALL DEC 19 2-for-1

HORIZON BANCORP HBNC DEC 12 3-for-2

Europe spooks U.S. markets

Dec 08 12:15pm:


U.S. stocks fell Thursday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi wouldn't commit to doing as much as investors hoped to help prop up troubled eurozone countries and emphasized "substantial downside risks" for the European economy.

On this the split date for SXL

Trend continues up the stock chart, looking good for continued up trend IMO





Cheers Traders and all playing SXL \_/

SXL Today!

The pre split run appears to be underway today with only one more trading day before split date!



Cheers Traders \_/

How to Trade Stock Splits

A stock split increases the number of shares outstanding, which decreases the market price per share such that the before and after market capitalization of the company remains the same.

Example:
JKL Company splits its stock 2-for-1. Peter holds 1,000 shares before the split and each share priced at $20. So, Peter has $20,000 worth of stocks (1,000 * $20).
After the split, Peter will own 2,000 shares, the new price of the stocks on the market will be adjusted to $10 per share, and again, Peter has $20,000 worth of stocks (2,000 * $10), which is the same as before.

How to trade stock splits? There are many sources that will provide you with the list of future stock splits and related information, such as the Yahoo! Finance's stock-split calendar. There are such splits as 2-for-1, 3-for-1 or 3-for-2. You have to do some research and keep an eye on these stocks. It is advisable to purchase stocks before the split is executed in case you pay the broker according to the number of shares bought.

ROSS STORES ROST DEC 16 2-for-1

QSII Chart 11/16/2011








This could be the last chance for a run up for QSII IMO. Today’s chart could be forming a double bottom followed by a nice bounce or could be starting a serious down trend here. Since the original up trend was fueled by funding from the fed in the first place and now that funding is drying up it could very well be bail out time here traders.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings but I have my finger on the sell button here traders.



Cheers \_/

How to Trade Stocks

Trading in the stock market can be very profitable or painfully unprofitable. Many professional traders can make a few hundred to a few hundred thousand dollars a year - depending on the traders competence, the system used to trade, also referred to as the traders game, and whether you trade on your own, you trade with losers, or you trade with winners. So can you; you just have to know what to do. Other traders, relying on old-school trading systems can suffer huge losses, quickly and for some tragically as they wipe out their trading account.

By the way, this article has a bias toward Day Trading Stocks, as opposed to Swing Trading or trading Investor styles.

Learn to read charts - learn how to use technical analysis effectively and profitably. This is simply using past index and price action to anticipate future results. For instance if a stock has been going up for the last 6 months it is important to assume it will keep going up unless the chart action tells you otherwise. Technical traders trade what they see not what they feel will happen next. Arrogance kills.

Understand Tension, or the concepts of support and resistance. Support and resistance are considered critical indicators for price continuation, stalls, or reversals. These are visual charted tops and bottoms of a stock. For example, say that a stock trades between $55 and $65. Next time the stock is trading at $55 (support), you would expect it to go back up to $65 (resistance), and vice versa.


If this stock goes up to around $68, far beyond resistance of $65, you would no longer expect it to go to its old support at $55. Instead you would expect $65 to be its new support and for the stock to go to new highs. The opposite would be true if the stock broke below $55.

Be consistent with your rules for trading. This is essential for profitability. You must have systemic rules, rules for your trading game, that you must follow. These rules tell you when to get in and when to get out. Follow these rules strictly even if it means taking a loss now and then.

Here's the key to success as a stock day trader - for you to have the possibility to develop a lucrative career and a very profitable business - day trading stocks. Stop trading on your own.

Like world-class professional athletes, at the top of their game, they learn to win with the help of a world-class consultant / coach

Start day trading a game that's at least winnable.

Over 95% of traders follow the losers, as they read obsolete books, buy old-school systems and indicators of the day without knowing that all this obsolete stuff is used by big money to kill the little guy.

There's a new trading game in town and it's your job, if you want to survive and then be profitable, to find it, practice it, learn it, and develop your competence with it.

Eventually you too can become a winner, a consistently profitable winner, not on your own this time but with outside support and guidance, actively trading with winners.

Focus on learning, not the money.

Build your confidence, develop your competence, and settle for nothing less than trading at your optimal level of performance excellence.

There are 4 Types of Losers:
· Winners - hopeful, but not yet profitable
· Bored - break even trading results, at best
· Losers - blowing out trading accounts
· Repeat Losers - crash (emotionally) and burn (financially) - over and over again
Then, of course, there are want-to-be traders, with or without adequate risk capital, who put up with whatever they earn on their current job, career, or business – unable to make the leap to trading stocks, for whatever reasons. Their loss – major opportunity income as stock traders.

ESTEE LAUDER posts 1.93 billion $$$ sell after hour’s trade!






Capital World Investors dumped 1.7 million shares of EL after the bell today. Let me guess, they needed a really big turkey for thanksgiving! Lol…



Cheers Traders \_/

QSII News 11/15/2011


Recognized for Achieving Meaningful Use

Inpatient facilities to be celebrated at annual Users' Group Meeting for
attestation under Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs
HORSHAM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 15, 2011--

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) and a leading provider of healthcare
information systems and connectivity solutions, today will recognize several
critical access hospital clients for their successful Stage 1 Meaningful Use
attestation.

Bullock County Hospital, Union Springs, AL; Crenshaw Community Hospital,
Luverne, AL; King's Daughters' Hospital and Health Services, Yazoo City, MS;
Salem Township Hospital, Salem, IL; and Washington County Hospital, Nashville,
IL, will be recognized at the 2011 NextGen Healthcare Users' Group Meeting for
meeting all measures required under the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive
Programs.

"Rural and community hospitals face distinct challenges relevant to the
adoption of healthcare IT," said Kim Larkin, MBA, CPHIMS, chief information
officer at Washington County Hospital. "Few vendors offer the technology and
resources we require to achieve such milestones, but having NextGen Healthcare
as our partner through this process was critical to our success."

Washington County Hospital selected NextGen(R) Inpatient Clinicals in the
spring of 2010 to complement its use of NextGen(R) Inpatient Financials and to
help the facility secure incentives introduced by the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA). NextGen Healthcare also worked closely with other
external vendors to help ensure a seamless integration with the hospital's
technology infrastructure. Washington County's ambulatory providers are
currently working towards Meaningful Use attestation using NextGen(R)
Ambulatory EHR. In addition, Washington County is implementing NextGen(TM)
Health Information Exchange, a critical tool for fulfilling the data exchange
requirements anticipated in Stage 2 Meaningful Use.

"The majority of Meaningful Use success stories to date come from large
hospitals and physician practices," noted Steve Puckett, executive vice
president and general manager at NextGen Inpatient Solutions. "These clients
are leaders in many ways when it comes to deploying healthcare technology, but
this milestone serves as a significant example to other community hospitals
that Meaningful Use is in fact achievable with the right technology, support
and partnership."

NextGen Healthcare's 2011 Users' Group Meeting is being held at the MGM
Grand(R) Hotel & Conference Center in Las Vegas, November 13 -- 16, with a
record attendance of more than 4,200 participants. The public can follow what
is happening at NextGen Healthcare's Users' Group Meeting on Twitter under the
hashtag #NextGenUGM.

About NextGen Healthcare

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Quality Systems, Inc., provides integrated clinical, financial and connectivity
solutions for ambulatory, inpatient and dental provider organizations. For more
information, please visit www.nextgen.com and www.qsii.com. Follow NextGen
Healthcare on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nextgen or Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/NextGenHealthcare.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding future events,
developments, the Company's future performance, as well as management's
expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, estimates or projections relating to
the future (including, without limitation, statements concerning revenue and
net income), are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws
and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Management believes that these
forward-looking statements are reasonable and are based on reasonable
assumptions and forecasts, however, undue reliance should not be placed on such
statements that speak only as of the date hereof. Moreover, these
forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties,
some of which are outlined below. As a result, actual results may vary
materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Among the
important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those indicated by such forward-looking statements are: volume and timing of
systems sales and installations; length of sales cycles and installation
process; the possibility that the products will not achieve market acceptance;
seasonal patterns of sales and customer buying behavior; the development by
competitors of new or superior technologies; the timing, cost and success or
failure of new product and service introductions, development and product
upgrade releases; undetected errors or bugs in software; product liability;
changing economic, political or regulatory influences in the health-care
industry; changes in product-pricing policies; availability of third-party
products and components; competitive pressures including product offerings,
pricing and promotional activities; the Company's ability or inability to
attract and retain qualified personnel; possible regulation of the Company's
software by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; uncertainties concerning
threatened, pending and new litigation against the Company including related
professional services fees; uncertainties concerning the amount and timing of
professional fees incurred by the Company generally; changes of accounting
estimates and assumptions used to prepare the prior periods' financial
statements; general economic conditions; and the risk factors detailed from
time to time in Quality Systems' periodic reports and registration statements
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A significant portion of the
Company's quarterly sales of software product licenses and computer hardware is
concluded in the last month of the fiscal quarter, generally with a
concentration of such revenues earned in the final ten business days of that
month. Due to these and other factors, the Company's revenues and operating
results are very difficult to forecast. A major portion of the Company's costs
and expenses, such as personnel and facilities, are of a fixed nature and,
accordingly, a shortfall or decline in quarterly and/or annual revenues
typically results in lower profitability or losses. As a result, comparison of
the Company's period-to-period financial performance is not necessarily
meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indicator of future performance.
The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Copyright (c) 2011 NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc. All rights
reserved. NextGen and NextPen are either registered trademarks or trademarks of
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other
countries. All other names and marks are property of their respective owners.
Patent pending.

CONTACT: NextGen Healthcare

Kristy DelMuto

484-686-4775

kdelmuto@nextgen.com

SOURCE: NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc.
Copyright Business Wire 2011


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-15-11 0931ET

09:31 111511

QSII News


Helps Providers Get Ready for Critical Industry Changes

Record attendance of more than 4,200 participants celebrate Meaningful Use
success and prepare to tackle new initiatives such as collaborative care models

HORSHAM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 14, 2011--

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) and a leading provider of healthcare
information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today the kick off of
its 2011 Users' Group Meeting (UGM) with record attendance of more than 4,200
participants.

The company's clients -- including physicians, hospital executives, nurses,
practice managers and technology specialists -- have gathered at the MGM
Grand(R) Hotel & Conference Center in Las Vegas to participate in more than 200
educational and networking opportunities. President Scott Decker will address
attendees this morning in a presentation that highlights the breadth of NextGen
Healthcare's solutions that help providers get ready to tackle critical
industry initiatives such as collaborative care, health reform and shifting
reimbursement models.

"Many of our ambulatory and inpatient users have attested for Meaningful Use
incentives already and more than 100 clients have earned Patient-Centered
Medical Home designation," said Decker. "Providers must now get ready to face
broader industry drivers such as Accountable Care and 5010/ICD-10 by putting
the right tools in place. NextGen Healthcare's EHR is now faster and easier to
use, and our new, intuitive solutions and enhanced services help providers
measure and act on their clinical and business outcomes. In collaboration with
our clients, and in response to their needs, we have developed a portfolio that
will position clients for true market leadership."

Among the innovations showcased at UGM to support these industry changes,
NextGen Healthcare will reveal a performance management tool set designed to
monitor and measure clinical, financial and operational outcomes for a
healthcare organization. It includes Insight Reporting(TM), which compares a
practice's metrics against others at a local, state, or national level,
providing detailed insight into every aspect of the practice's financial
performance and ways to resolve revenue cycle issues. NextGen(TM) Healthcare
Information Exchange, NextGen(R) Patient Portal and NextGen(R) Mobile will also
be featured as they gain momentum in helping providers advance community
connectivity and patient engagement.

A favorite feature of attendees each year is the UGM Hands-On Room, which
returns with more than 150 workstations running the latest NextGen(R)
applications. Experienced trainers, developers, and implementation specialists
provide one-on-one product tutorials, answer questions, and highlight new or
undiscovered features. More than 20 educational sessions are also scheduled to
help guide clients through Meaningful Use attestation.

Keynote speaker John Foley, former member of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels Flight
Demonstration Squadron, will educate UGM attendees on secrets to achieving high
performance. NextGen Healthcare also welcomes Farzad Mostashari, MD, National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology, to speak at its Users' Group
Meeting. Dr. Mostashari will present Monday afternoon on "Meaningful Use as the
Path to Clinical Delivery Transformation."

The public can follow NextGen Healthcare's Users' Group Meeting on Twitter
under the hashtag #NextGenUGM.

About NextGen Healthcare

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Quality Systems, Inc., provides integrated clinical, financial and connectivity
solutions for ambulatory, inpatient and dental provider organizations. For more
information, please visit www.nextgen.com and www.qsii.com. Follow NextGen
Healthcare on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nextgen or Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/NextGenHealthcare.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the federal securities laws. Statements regarding future events,
developments, the Company's future performance, as well as management's
expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, estimates or projections relating to
the future (including, without limitation, statements concerning revenue and
net income), are forward-looking statements within the meaning of these laws
and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Management believes that these
forward-looking statements are reasonable and are based on reasonable
assumptions and forecasts, however, undue reliance should not be placed on such
statements that speak only as of the date hereof. Moreover, these
forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties,
some of which are outlined below. As a result, actual results may vary
materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Among the
important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those indicated by such forward-looking statements are: volume and timing of
systems sales and installations; length of sales cycles and installation
process; the possibility that the products will not achieve market acceptance;
seasonal patterns of sales and customer buying behavior; the development by
competitors of new or superior technologies; the timing, cost and success or
failure of new product and service introductions, development and product
upgrade releases; undetected errors or bugs in software; product liability;
changing economic, political or regulatory influences in the health-care
industry; changes in product-pricing policies; availability of third-party
products and components; competitive pressures including product offerings,
pricing and promotional activities; the Company's ability or inability to
attract and retain qualified personnel; possible regulation of the Company's
software by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; uncertainties concerning
threatened, pending and new litigation against the Company including related
professional services fees; uncertainties concerning the amount and timing of
professional fees incurred by the Company generally; changes of accounting
estimates and assumptions used to prepare the prior periods' financial
statements; general economic conditions; and the risk factors detailed from
time to time in Quality Systems' periodic reports and registration statements
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A significant portion of the
Company's quarterly sales of software product licenses and computer hardware is
concluded in the last month of the fiscal quarter, generally with a
concentration of such revenues earned in the final ten business days of that
month. Due to these and other factors, the Company's revenues and operating
results are very difficult to forecast. A major portion of the Company's costs
and expenses, such as personnel and facilities, are of a fixed nature and,
accordingly, a shortfall or decline in quarterly and/or annual revenues
typically results in lower profitability or losses. As a result, comparison of
the Company's period-to-period financial performance is not necessarily
meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indicator of future performance.
The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Copyright (c) 2011 NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc. All rights
reserved.

NextGen and NextPen are either registered trademarks or trademarks of NextGen
Healthcare Information Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other
countries. All other names and marks are property of their respective owners.

Patent pending.

CONTACT: NextGen Healthcare

Kristy DelMuto, 215-657-7010 or

484-686-4775

kdelmuto@nextgen.com

SOURCE: NextGen Healthcare
Copyright Business Wire 2011


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-14-11 1103ET

11:03 111411

What are stock splits?

A stock split simply involves a company altering the number of its shares outstanding and proportionally adjusting the share price to compensate. This in NO WAY affects the intrinsic value or past performance of your investment, if you happen to own shares that are splitting.

A typical example is a 2-for-1 stock split. A company will announce that it's splitting its stock 2-for-1 in one month. One month from that date, the company's shares (having traded the day before at, say, $30) will now be trading at half the price from the previous day (so they'll open at $15). The company, which had 10 million shares outstanding, now consequently has 20 million shares outstanding. The price has been halved in order to accomodate a doubling of the share total.

The most common splits are 3-for-2, 2-for-1, 5-for-4, and 3-for-1. But they can happen any which way: 5-1, 10-for-9, etc. They can even happen in "reverse": 1-for-10, etc.

But why the heck would a company do this?
Hey, excellent question. A few reasons. First, as a stock price skyrockets, some people will be psychologically unwilling to pay that "high price" so a stock split brings the shares down to a more "attractive" level. Again, the intrinsic value has NOT changed, but the psychological effects may help the stock. Second, a stock split generally occurs in the face of new highs for the stock. Thus, it's an event dripping with positive connotations and associations. . . it's makes bulls snort and roar to suddenly have "twice as many shares" as they started with, for example. Third, and final, with lower-priced shares, a stock's LIQUIDITY (FAQ topic, see LIQUIDITY) increases, often reducing the BID/ASK SPREAD (FAQ topic, see BID/ASK SPREAD) and making it easier to trade. This is always good.

I buy 100 shares of ABC Inc. for $10 shares. Six months later the stock is at $20 and splits. Now I own 200 shares at $10 each. However, do I also halve my base purchase price to $5---or does my original, base purchase price remain $10?
Yes. Your cost basis (ignoring commissions) is now $5/share. Not to worry! Your money can't evaporate into thin air!

What happens if you buy a stock after the "record date" for the split but before the listing change?
The "record date" means virtually nothing to the stockholder. If you bought the stock before the split, your shares will split the same day everyone else's do, regardless of the record date. You won't lose on the split.

I was wondering if I placed a stop order, then a stock splits and begins trading below the stock price, if my stop order would become a market order. I know this wouldn't make sense but I don't like to take chances.
We checked with Charles Schwab on this. Their policy is to simply cancel the standing order. They do not automatically readjust the stop price to reflect the split. The best thing to do in this case is place the order again following the split date.

They do not, of course, stop you out following the split based on your pre-split stop order. Any broker who did this would likely not be in business long. Call it survival of the fairest!

EL



This stock has great upside Lets look at the chart:



It looks like it is in pullback mode right now or consolidation 11/11/2011

Price
115.06

Support
113.27

Pivot Point
115.58

Resistance
117.89

Good entry might be around that $105.00 range IMO

ESTEE LAUDER EL JAN 23 2-for-1

SXL Today 11/11/11



SXL has hit a new 52 week high two days in a row now and the momentum is building into the split.



Cheers Traders \_/

10 general principles to help investors

While it may be true that in the stock market there is no rule without an exception, there are some principles that are tough to dispute. Let's review 10 general principles to help investors get a better grasp of how to approach the market from a long-term view. Every point embodies some fundamental concept every investor should know.

1. Sell the losers and let the winners ride!
Time and time again, investors take profits by selling their appreciated investments, but they hold onto stocks that have declined in the hope of a rebound. If an investor doesn't know when it's time to let go of hopeless stocks, he or she can, in the worst-case scenario, see the stock sink to the point where it is almost worthless. Of course, the idea of holding onto high-quality investments while selling the poor ones is great in theory, but hard to put into practice. The following information might help:

• Riding a Winner - Peter Lynch was famous for talking about "tenbaggers", or investments that increased tenfold in value. The theory is that much of his overall success was due to a small number of stocks in his portfolio that returned big. If you have a personal policy to sell after a stock has increased by a certain multiple - say three, for instance - you may never fully ride out a winner. No one in the history of investing with a "sell-after-I-have-tripled-my-money" mentality has ever had a tenbagger. Don't underestimate a stock that is performing well by sticking to some rigid personal rule - if you don't have a good understanding of the potential of your investments, your personal rules may end up being arbitrary and too limiting. (For more insight, see Pick Stocks Like Peter Lynch.)

• Selling a Loser - There is no guarantee that a stock will bounce back after a protracted decline. While it's important not to underestimate good stocks, it's equally important to be realistic about investments that are performing badly. Recognizing your losers is hard because it's also an acknowledgment of your mistake. But it's important to be honest when you realize that a stock is not performing as well as you expected it to. Don't be afraid to swallow your pride and move on before your losses become even greater.
In both cases, the point is to judge companies on their merits according to your research. In each situation, you still have to decide whether a price justifies future potential. Just remember not to let your fears limit your returns or inflate your losses. (For related reading, check out To Sell Or Not To Sell.)

2. Don't chase a "hot tip".
Whether the tip comes from your brother, your cousin, your neighbor or even your broker, you shouldn't accept it as law. When you make an investment, it's important you know the reasons for doing so; do your own research and analysis of any company before you even consider investing your hard-earned money. Relying on a tidbit of information from someone else is not only an attempt at taking the easy way out, it's also a type of gambling. Sure, with some luck, tips sometimes pan out. But they will never make you an informed investor, which is what you need to be to be successful in the long run. (Find what you should pay attention to - and what you should ignore in Listen To The Markets, Not Its Pundits.)

3. Don't sweat the small stuff.
As a long-term investor, you shouldn't panic when your investments experience short-term movements. When tracking the activities of your investments, you should look at the big picture. Remember to be confident in the quality of your investments rather than nervous about the inevitable volatility of the short term. Also, don't overemphasize the few cents difference you might save from using a limit versus market order.

Granted, active traders will use these day-to-day and even minute-to-minute fluctuations as a way to make gains. But the gains of a long-term investor come from a completely different market movement - the one that occurs over many years - so keep your focus on developing your overall investment philosophy by educating yourself. (Learn the difference between passive investing and apathy in Ostrich Approach To Investing A Bird-Brained Idea.)

4. Don't overemphasize the P/E ratio.
Investors often place too much importance on the price-earnings ratio (P/E ratio). Because it is one key tool among many, using only this ratio to make buy or sell decisions is dangerous and ill-advised. The P/E ratio must be interpreted within a context, and it should be used in conjunction with other analytical processes. So, a low P/E ratio doesn't necessarily mean a security is undervalued, nor does a high P/E ratio necessarily mean a company is overvalued. (For further reading, see our tutorial Understanding the P/E Ratio.)

5. Resist the lure of penny stocks.
A common misconception is that there is less to lose in buying a low-priced stock. But whether you buy a $5 stock that plunges to $0 or a $75 stock that does the same, either way you've lost 100% of your initial investment. A lousy $5 company has just as much downside risk as a lousy $75 company. In fact, a penny stock is probably riskier than a company with a higher share price, which would have more regulations placed on it. (For further reading, see The Lowdown on Penny Stocks.)

6. Pick a strategy and stick with it.
Different people use different methods to pick stocks and fulfill investing goals. There are many ways to be successful and no one strategy is inherently better than any other. However, once you find your style, stick with it. An investor who flounders between different stock-picking strategies will probably experience the worst, rather than the best, of each. Constantly switching strategies effectively makes you a market timer, and this is definitely territory most investors should avoid. Take Warren Buffett's actions during the dotcom boom of the late '90s as an example. Buffett's value-oriented strategy had worked for him for decades, and - despite criticism from the media - it prevented him from getting sucked into tech startups that had no earnings and eventually crashed. (Want to adopt the Oracle of Omaha's investing style? See Think Like Warren Buffett.)

7. Focus on the future.
The tough part about investing is that we are trying to make informed decisions based on things that have yet to happen. It's important to keep in mind that even though we use past data as an indication of things to come, it's what happens in the future that matters most.

A quote from Peter Lynch's book "One Up on Wall Street" (1990) about his experience with Subaru demonstrates this: "If I'd bothered to ask myself, 'How can this stock go any higher?' I would have never bought Subaru after it already went up twentyfold. But I checked the fundamentals, realized that Subaru was still cheap, bought the stock, and made sevenfold after that." The point is to base a decision on future potential rather than on what has already happened in the past. (For more insight, see The Value Investor's Handbook.)

8. Adopt a long-term perspective.
Large short-term profits can often entice those who are new to the market. But adopting a long-term horizon and dismissing the "get in, get out and make a killing" mentality is a must for any investor. This doesn't mean that it's impossible to make money by actively trading in the short term. But, as we already mentioned, investing and trading are very different ways of making gains from the market. Trading involves very different risks that buy-and-hold investors don't experience. As such, active trading requires certain specialized skills.

Neither investing style is necessarily better than the other - both have their pros and cons. But active trading can be wrong for someone without the appropriate time, financial resources, education and desire. (For further reading, see Defining Active Trading.)

9. Be open-minded.
Many great companies are household names, but many good investments are not household names. Thousands of smaller companies have the potential to turn into the large blue chips of tomorrow. In fact, historically, small-caps have had greater returns than large-caps; over the decades from 1926-2001, small-cap stocks in the U.S. returned an average of 12.27% while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500) returned 10.53%.

This is not to suggest that you should devote your entire portfolio to small-cap stocks. Rather, understand that there are many great companies beyond those in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and that by neglecting all these lesser-known companies, you could also be neglecting some of the biggest gains. (For more on investing in small caps, see Small Caps Boast Big Advantages.)

10. Be concerned about taxes, but don't worry.
Putting taxes above all else is a dangerous strategy, as it can often cause investors to make poor, misguided decisions. Yes, tax implications are important, but they are a secondary concern. The primary goals in investing are to grow and secure your money. You should always attempt to minimize the amount of tax you pay and maximize your after-tax return, but the situations are rare where you'll want to put tax considerations above all else when making an investment decision (see Basic Investment Objectives).

Conclusion
There are exceptions to every rule, but we hope that these solid tips for long-term investors and the common-sense principles we've discussed benefit you overall and provide some insight into how you should think about investing.

A stop loss should take into consideration the market you are trading, your trading goals, your trading time frame and your risk level.

While this is how most traders learn about and use stop orders, there are some other ways that they can be used to help your trading. For instance, you can use a buy stop order to get into a long position. If the security has been trading in a channel, or is trading in a range between support and resistance, you can place a buy stop order just above the resistance or upper channel line. While the price continues to be constrained this has no effect, but if there should be a breakout to the upside, the buy stop order will become a market order to buy, and you will get in early on the new uptrend. Even though it may seem strange to wait for the price to go up before buying, if there is no breakout then you will have saved the cost of trading.

If you're looking at a possible short position, you would do the opposite. In this case, you would set a sell short stop order under the support level, and this would trigger if the price broke out to the downside. You can see that in practice it is very similar to the protective stop loss order, which would be placed under recent support to take you out of the position if your long trade was to fail. If you are trading short, then your protective stop would be a buy stop order above the entry price.

Making use of Stop Loss Orders

A stop loss order is by far one of the most popular order types used by traders to manage risk. Many traders and investors use stop loss techniques to put a cap on the absolute risk. Using this risk management technique, traders can specify the level of loss at which a trade is automatically closed.

Most traders have heard of stop orders, and it's usually recommended that you use them frequently to prevent runaway losses if your trade does not go in the direction you anticipate. They are commonly called stop loss orders in this function. A stop loss order simply consists of an order to close a position that is set at a price below or higher than the prevailing market price. What you do is to enter a stop order to sell just under the current market price, if you're taking a long position. If the price doesn't go up but instead goes down, when it hits the level you set in the stop order, the order becomes a market order to sell. Basically, here you are placing an order to sell at a price that you're willing to shut out your open position. If you're taking a short position, then the idea is the same with the stop order above the entry price.

Nobody can watch their trading positions on a 24 hours basis so it is important to make full use of all the different types of automated orders so you do not get caught out. Although this can be painful at the time, the disciplined use of stop loss orders helps overcome the natural tendency of investors and traders to stick with their losses in the hope of a turnaround.

Stock Splits

Traditionally viewed as a bullish signal, stock splits have established an almost cult following in the States. Often, it seems that the stock price afterwards a split is drawn back towards the original price, regardless of whether there was a split to create more shares or a reverse split (consolidation). Another reason for share prices to rise after a stock split is that demand increases, as more traders see the shares as affordable. A recent example of this is the split in Warren Buffetts company the 'B' shares in Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/B) were split 50 for 1 in early 2010, and many investors seem to have been impressed enough by this buying opportunity to force up demand and push the price up to around $80 each. Berkshire Hathaways other shares, which have never been split, the 'A' shares are still beyond the reach of many investors - they have traded up to $140,000 each!



More likely, is that stock splits exaggerate a current stock trend. If the price is reaching a level from which a stock split seems the right thing to do, then it must have enjoyed a prolonged uptrend. So a stock in a strong uptrend that splits its stock from say £30 to £3 for liquidity issues is very likely to re-list at above £3 after the split. However a stock that has reached a plateau and is now performing indifferently is less likely to outperform after the split. Of course stock splits do not in any way change the value of a company, just the public perception.

There are several phases to a stock split, and you need to understand them to know where to trade for the best returns. The most profitable time is before the announcement of the split, and you can only guess at this stage which companies are likely to consider splitting their shares. There are some Internet services and reports that claim to highlight likely candidates, or you can do your own research.

When the announcement comes, the share price often jumps, and may increase over the following days. To capture this move, you need to be quick on the draw. It helps if you have previously shortlisted possible candidates, and are ready to trade accordingly. It's important to move your stoploss, particularly if you entered the market before the announcement, as many stocks will tend to drift after the initial flush of enthusiasm. It takes a strong stock in a leading market sector to continue the climb.

You will normally see a run-up in price when the date for the split is coming near, and you can play this by keeping an eye on the stock so that you can jump in when you see this short-term trend starting. When the split actually occurs, the price usually climbs quickly. Investors who waited for the stock to split to what seemed an affordable level will now be buying in, increasing demand and pushing the price up.

The final price movement caused by the stock split is often a decline. The excitement of the split tends to make the new stock overbought, and inevitably there is some consolidation later. If you are so minded, it's quite possible to short sell the shares at this time, and profit from the pullback. This is a relatively low risk strategy after the increased demand has dissipated.