My suggestion would be to lock away a few high quality dividend stocks as long term investments. There is no shortage of recommendations by more-or-less credible sources on the web.
I'm still looking for that perfect balance between long term holds (I'm holding SIRI and LBY among them.) These six or so longer terms holds comprise about 1/3 of my holdings, and unless one of them "goes Kodak" on me (which is not too likely because people eat, they drink, they drive, they ship things by sea, and they listen to Howard Stern) I'm holding.
While we're on the subject, some stocks I would not consider for the longer term would be book retailers (e.g. BAMM at $3.08, and BKS at $18.12) because online retailers like AMZN (now at $225.08) are revolutionizing publishing. I would not be surprised to see a day arrive when ordering an actual copy of a book in print (that is on paper) will become an expensive luxury.
In any case, about 1/3 of my holds are short term swings (one to several weeks) while the remainder are quick flips on pink sheets stocks. (I am ever-vigilant not to become an accidental day trader).
You know how some people try to Feng Shui their living environments; well, I'm trying to bring Koyaanisqatsi to my stock portfolio. Maybe I need to work on both simultaneously to attain the proper balance?
