Jake Bernstein - Stock Market Strategies That Work

CHAPTER 1
BEGINNINGS

“’Tis always morning somewhere in the world.”
Richard Henry Horne
Let’s begin by understanding a few important concepts. This chapter will
introduce you to several of the essential ideas. We will then build on the basics
to give you the tools and skills you need to invest profitably. But before we do
that, let’s establish a few facts that are vital to your effective use of the lessons
you will learn in this book. Some of you may not agree with our conclusions.
In fact, some of you may take offense at what we say. If this is the case, then
please accept our apologies in advance. Remember that this book approaches
the topic of making money in stocks from the practical point of view.

We aren’t going to bore you with scholarly arguments or economic
theory. We’re simply going to tell things to you the way we see them
(which is the way we think things really are). In so doing we will undoubt-

edly make a few enemies and alienate a number of people within the stock
market community. But we do not do so intentionally. We merely believe
that every industry has its vested interests and groups of individuals or
organizations that want to keep information from being disseminated to the
general public. In stating things as we see them, we will open the doors to
success for those who have the motivation and persistence to cross the
threshold of knowledge. 
Those within the investment community who feel that new players in
the game may threaten their potential income are likely to object vehe-

mently to what we will say and teach in this book. Be forewarned that the
traditional investment community does not commonly accept some of the
methods and approaches we teach in this book. So let’s not waste another
moment. Let’s begin alienating people immediately!
THE BIG LIE
There are those who believe that in order to be successful in the stock mar-

ket you need to gather as much information as possible about a given com-

pany. They believe that you need to know a company’s earnings, products,
quality of management, market share, growth prospects, finances, and
accounting procedures. They further believe that any inside information
you can get will also be helpful. This type of fundamental information can
be useful; however, there is no guarantee that it will work any better than
the purely technical approach you will learn in this book. 
If you tell your friends or family that you don’t care about what a com-

pany does, or worse, that you have no idea what they do but you’re buying
their stock regardless, then you will surely be considered either a fool or
reckless. After all, it is commonly accepted wisdom that you need to know
what a company does in order to make money by investing in or trading in
its stock. 
That’s the first big lie about investing. While such information can
make you money in the long run, there are no certainties. The history of
the stock market is replete with examples of such information being ren-

dered utterly useless by intervening or unexpected events. The dot-com
debacle of the early 2000s is a classic example of how the best analysts and
brokerage houses in the world miscalculated, misunderstood, and misad-

vised their clients about the growth prospects of an industry group that was
touted as “the wave of the future.”

Jake Bernstein - Stock Market Strategies That Work