Stockology

What is stockology? Stockology is the study of human growth hormones, otherwise known as HGH. Wait, what? Really? No. To be honest, what I really wanted for the name of this blog was “investology.” But that was already taken… So stockology it is.

I started this blog because I want to share my knowledge of investing with those who want to learn. By no means am I an expert, but I figure people can at least learn from my mistakes if nothing else.

Obviously, this blog is under major construction not only in terms of content, but also in terms of organization. The best way to share my knowledge would probably be in the format of a book, but how mundane would that be? Instead, it’s a blog. And I think by tagging key words or concepts, and by making them searchable, is a pretty decent way to go about it. At least for now.

Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome. Actually, any kind of feedback would be great.

On with it then! 

The first rule of investing is… Just kidding. There are no rules to investing… Just kidding on that one too. The fact of the matter is, there are way too many rules to investing. I’ve read the basic self-help investing books as well as the down-and-dirty ones. And they’re always preaching rules. Rules to not let your emotions dictate your actions… Or rules to maximize your gains and limit your losses… I mean, they’re all great rules. It’s just that remembering them, and following them, is a bitch. Instead, I’m going to say, “Set your own rules.” So if you’re the type of person that functions most optimally without rules, and “setting your own rules” means NO RULES AT ALL, then more power to you.

The best thing to do is to be adaptive. Be adaptive and be proactive. Being adaptive means being able to adapt. Duh! Ok. It means being able to learn from your mistakes. Able to shift gears and change your game plan when things aren’t working. Simple enough, right? Being proactive is a bit more complicated. I say that because there’s a bit of persistence involved. Be proactive in learning. Subscribe to the Wall Street Journal (or just the online version, and split the cost with a few friends if you’re cheap like me), watch CNBC (or just the clips on CNBC.com if you hate sitting through commercials like me), and study annual reports (or at least get the abridged version via Yahoo! Finance like me).

Investing is not just about buying low and selling high, although that’s a really big part of it. It’s about keeping up with the news and learning what affects what. For example, an oil field explosion in Venezuela will affect oil supply, affecting oil prices, and in turn, affecting the stock prices of oil companies. Investing is also about making money. As the saying goes, “Rather than work for your money, let your money work for you.” Who hasn’t heard that one, right? The two kind of go hand in hand. The more informed you are, the more you’re able to make informed decisions when investing your hard-earned money.

If you think you’re going to be able to pick any stock and make money, you’ll probably be right 50% of the time.

If you think you’re going to be able to pick any stock and make money consistently, you’ll probably be right too, depending on what kind of market we’re in.

Wow, I’m really digging my own grave here… Let’s try again and change it up a bit.

If you want to make money by investing in the market and do it consistently in the long run, you’d better have a plan.

There we go.

So that’s it for now. I don’t want to bog you down with too many obtuse details, at least not for an entry titled “Introduction.” I just kind of want you to get into the mindset of what you need to be prepared for. There’s a lot I need to be prepared for as well. Undertaking a blog to edumacate my audience in investing is no short order. There’s a lot of brainstorming, idea-jotting-down, and all that good stuff to do. So yeah. That’s it for now.

And damn that guy for taking “investology!”