Montana Money: March 2012
Disclosure: Some of the following links are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase a product, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.

Beware of Penny Stock Pump and Dump Scams


buy or sell
Penny stocks can be exciting, nerve wracking and sometimes even profitable if you know what to watch out for. When investing in a penny stock company, you have to do a lot of research on the company. There are many great newsletters that can point you to a good penny stock, but there are also too many bogus penny stock announcements and emails. These pump and dump schemes make certain penny stocks look like can’t lose 10,000% winners. Learn what to be aware of when investing in penny stocks.

How to Invest in the Tech Sector with ETFs


circuit board
The tech sector is an interesting sector to trade or invest in with so many different industries that include computers, software, communications, semiconductors and more. ETFs make it easy to trade part or the entire tech sector. Will the next new invention come out of the scientific research of a tech sector company or will there be another Apple or Google.

How to Invest in Alternative Energy with ETFs


wind farm
Oil prices are once again going higher and everyone is mad about it. The talk has turned back to alternative energy and the funding for alternative energy companies. There are numerous industries in alternative energy including wind, solar, biofuels made from algae and ethanol made from cheaper products like switch grass. You can invest in alternative energy with ETFs. You can invest in only wind or solar or the entire alternative energy sector.

How to Conserve Your Retirement Money with Dividend ETFs


100 dollar bills
After the debacle with the stock market in 2008 and even though it has come back, there is still a real fear of losing our retirement funds and not much of an appetite for risk anymore. Conserving what you have saved for retirement is crucial for your financial and mental health. Nothing is totally safe in the stock market and CDs and Treasuries pay next to nothing, there are some nice areas in the stock market you can feel good about investing your retirement money. No need to chase dividends when there are good solid companies that pay a reasonable dividend.

How to Do Time Card Math


clock
Time card math can be confusing but it sure can come in handy. Some companies have you keep your own time and then turn it in where you manager okays it. There are times when you look at your paycheck and the hours do not seem right. Knowing how to do time card math can really be handy. Even if you just want to keep track of your hours per pay period, time card math will help.

How to Trade the Healthcare Sector with ETFs


medical lab
There are numerous industries in the healthcare sector including medical research, pharmaceuticals, generic drugs companies, hospitals, health care plans, biotechnology and more. ETFs are a good way to incorporate the healthcare sector into your portfolio for long term investing. You can also use these ETFs for short term trading. If this sector falls on hard times, you can use inverse ETFs to effectively short the healthcare sector.

How to Trade the Financial Sector and Banks with ETFs


credit cards
The financial sector not only includes banks, but also brokerage firms, insurance companies, real estate companies, credit services and more. The financial sector can be a good place at times to invest or trade.With the following ETFs, you can trade or invest in the entire financial sector or just the areas you are interested in. You can profit in a bull or bear market with these ETFs.

How to Profit During Stock Market Correction with Inverse ETFs


bears playing

The market certainly has it up days and its down days. It seems just about anything slightly negative in the morning stock market news can send the market down a couple of percents. With inverse ETFs, you can profit on these days when the market is down hard for some reason, or a stock market correction is occurring. So even if all looks bad in the stock market some days, you can make money with inverse ETFs.

Beware of the Compounding Error of ETFs and Leveraged ETFs


calculator

Inverse and leveraged ETFs can make you fast profits but they can also lose your money rather quickly if the market or sector turns against you. Before you trade the inverse and leveraged ETFs, you should understand them and the compounding error of these ETFs.