January 2005 SFO Magazine

I just finished flipping through the January 2005 Stock, Futures and Options magazine (free subscription required) and found these articles that look like good reads:

• New Year, New Trading Plan: Ask Questions and Don’t Skimp on the Answers! – Before you begin trading next year, devote a great deal of thought to the plan. Here’s one trader’s method of planning that will get you thinking.
• Globalization and its Discontents: What Traders Need to Know about World Markets in 2005 – Learn some guidelines to keep your investing on a solid footing.
• ETFs – The Next Bigger Thing: More Individual Investors Expected to Jump in This Year – Those who said exchange traded funds were a mere flash in the pan were wrong, so what will the New Year bring?
• Trend or Range? You Better Know the Difference – Successful range trading requires money management skills that are completely opposite those of trend trading. But the 2.5-percent stop loss as an inviolable rule applies to both. (2.5% seems high to me! I use a lowly 1%.)
• Don’t Be a Sheep: Go Ahead – Be Contrary with Sentiment Indicators – Jason Goepfert, winner of the 2004 Market Technicians Association (MTA) Dow Award, sees firsthand that logic is not the primary driver of decisions.
• Emotions Headed for New Highs in 2005: Time to Keep a Firm Grip on Fear and Greed – The urge to recoup gains without losing any money in the process has inspired widespread anxiety in today’s stock market.