BECOME A SUCCESSFUL INVESTOR LIKE YOGI BERRA.

Yogi Berra as a successful investor?

Yogi Berra is known as much for his unintentional words of wisdom as he is for his excellence as a baseball player. He is credited with saying, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” If he followed his own advice, I bet Yogi was a successful investor.

Being consistently profitable in investing is all about having a plan. It gives you direction and discipline, and it gives you an edge. It needs to be written out, otherwise you won’t follow it, at least not as closely as you should. It should be a plan that you have researched, tested and proven profitable over at least one to three years, enough time to provide exposure to a few market cycles, the best of times and worst of times.

So, why don’t more investors take the time to create a plan? Maybe they think it’s too hard; it takes too long; or they don’t believe what worked in the past will necessarily work in future, so why bother? Some, like my brother-in-law, say they don’t need a plan. He would rather “trust his instincts”. I know I touch a nerve whenever I ask, “How is that working out for you?” My wife does his taxes.

Many investors just don’t know where to begin. That’s why we offer several free webinars and training videos each year that provide good basic information. If you need more, you’ll find it in our comprehensive paid courses like the Income Investing for Retirement Workshop and Better Investing Seminar.

For ongoing help, join a User Group. Currently we have the World User Group Portfolio Challenge. The Challenge gives UG members the opportunity to work together and learn how to create winning trading plans while competing for outstanding cash prizes. You need to belong to a physical group to be eligible, so check out the UG listings in tonight’s Views to see if there is one near you.

Finally, to create a winning plan, you need the right tools for research and testing. VectorVest gives them to you in spades (no pun intended).  Here they are.

UNISEARCH.

This is a search engine that enables you to find stocks that are consistent with your investment style and objectives. You can use a pre-programmed VV search, modify a search or create your own.

QUICKTEST.

This feature determines an overall gain or loss over a defined period, usually from a bullish signal to a bearish signal. For example, run UniSearch on a C/Up call and QuickTest to the next C/Dn. It’s quick and easy to run several searches, Quicktests the top 5 to 20 stocks, and record your results.

QUICKFOLIO.

Here you can take your best QuickTests to another level. QuickFolio creates a portfolio of stocks right from the date of your search. From there, it tracks the daily performance going forward, displaying an equity curve.  Take your smoothest, best percent gainers to the BackTester.

BACKTESTER.

Here’s where you can test different ideas for your trading plan such as Timing, Stop-Prices and other portfolio management techniques. It’s easy and intuitive, not to mention a lot of fun. Once you have identified the two or three plans that tested the best, move them into the Portfolio Manger for the next step. In Backtester, click the Convert button to instantly set up your portfolios in Portfolio Manager.

PORTFOLIO MANAGER.

This tool allows you to paper-trade your best performing trading plans. Let them run at least a few weeks to see which ones do the best in real-time.

There are plenty of resources in your software for you to learn about each of the testing tools. There are videos on the Backtester and Portfolios tabs. In VectorVest University, the VV Online tab has a great video titled, Testing Your Ideas. Check out the Special Presentation, SOTW videos of 12/29/17, 11/9/12 and 4/8/11. Need more help? Call Support at 1-888-658-7638.

When you’ve done your research and testing, your trading plan should make you a more confident and disciplined investor. You will have a plan that you can use to BECOME A SUCCESSFUL INVESTOR LIKE YOGI BERRA.

Become a successful investor—just like Yogi! Try VectorVest for 30 days, only $9.95!