The post below comes courtesy of my friend Blain Reinkensmeyer who runs the very popular Stock Trading To Go blog.

To be a great trader you must be disciplined. Following a set of rules can make the difference between successful story telling versus ruminating on last week’s losses.

Jesse Livermore, one of the best traders of all time, and John Paulson, one of the best traders of the last few years, both have a set of rules they follow religiously. Their success serves as your opportunity to enhance your investment savviness.

Below are the rules of both Livermore and Paulson alongside a bit more background information on who they are (hat tip Minyanville and WSJ).

Jesse Livermore, one of the greatest

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While investors’ attention was focused on global government bond yields marching higher, the holiday-shortened week produced a surprisingly small number of video clips.

Some quality footage was nevertheless produced, featuring the likes of David Rosenberg, now in his new role as chief economist and strategist of Gluskin Sheff, Mohamed El-Erian, Barry Ritholtz, Puru Saxena and Mario Gabelli.

And then there is “out of the box” analyst Marc Faber arguing that the US economy will enter “hyperinflation” approaching the levels in Zimbabwe. “I am 100% sure that the US will go into hyperinflation,” Faber said in an interview with Bloomberg. “The problem with government debt growing so much is that when the time comes and the Fed should increase interest rates, they will be very reluctant to do so and so inflation will start to accelerate.”

The selection kicks off with a humorous take by Emmy

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As to be expected, discussions about the stress tests on the health of the 19 biggest US banks dominated the video airwaves during the past few days, with arguments ranging from whether the tests were necessary to whether they were stressful enough.

For the rest, Warren Buffett held his annual Berkshire shareholders’ jamboree - this year sharing both concern and optimism about the future. And as the nascent stock market rally is looking more tired by the day, the debate intensified on whether this was a “real rally”.

In addition to Buffett and the usual suspects of Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke, commentators featured on camera in this post include Richard Bernstein, Bill Fleckenstein, Nouriel Roubini, Neel Kashkari, Alan Blinder, Russell Napier, Robin Griffiths and Meb Faber.

The selection kicks off with an item in lighter vein - a song entitled

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The housing market disaster is looking like a house of pain these days.

Martin Denholm of the Smart Profits Report shows us how where to find the profits in the wreckage.

This from Martin:

Hey… wake up, Larry. The coffee is ready.

If you were as amazed as I was at the sight of President Obama’s chief economic advisor, Larry Summers, snoozing through Obama’s Fiscal Responsibility Summit on Monday (on the podium, no less), hopefully these numbers will shake him out of his slumber…

The latest S&P/Case-Shiller index shows that home prices in 20 U.S. cities plummeted by 18.5% in December, compared with December 2007. On the back of an 18.2% slide in November, it was the fastest decline on record and extends a decline that began in 2005. The 10-city index fared even worse, sinking by an annual 19.2%.

From its high in 2006, the 20-city index has tanked by 27%, with Phoenix, Las Vegas,

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This post is a guest contribution by Jeffrey Saut, Chief Investment Strategist and Managing Director of Equity Research at Raymond James & Associates.

I believe “income” will be a profitable investment theme for the foreseeable future. Indeed, the baby boomers are retiring; and, the yields afforded them via Treasury securities, money-market funds, and certificates of deposit (CDs) won’t supplement their retirement account incomes enough to support them in the style to which they have become accustomed. Enter stocks, which since 1926 have averaged a total annualized return of 10.4%.

Interestingly, roughly 5% of that return has come from earnings growth, 0.9% has come from price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple expansions – but 4.5% of said return was derived from

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This post is a guest contribution by Minyan Peter (via the Minyanville site).

Dear Mr. Secretary,

Congratulations on your appointment and confirmation. As your administration has said that it welcomes any and all suggestions, and that you are thinking “boldly”, I offer the following recommendations for your consideration:

First, immediately suspend all common dividends for TARP-recipient banks. Even a penny or a quarter is too much, given the circumstances.

Second, immediately suspend all preferred dividends for TARP-recipient banks, including any payments to the government. Inasmuch as regulators consider non-cumulative preferred stock as Tier 1 Capital, then make it act like real Tier 1 Capital. Besides, the underlying documents freely permit up to 5 years’ dividend suspension, and most

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Four ETF Strategies For 2009

This new Investopedia article examines and explains almost every type of investment tack available to exchange-traded funds investors facing a declining market.

It broadly classifies strategies into: more active selling techniques, asset allocation, sector rotation and employing hedges. It doesn't advocate any of these methods, but has tons of links explaining everything from basic terms to more advanced theories in each category. 

You can read the article here.

 

Hong Kong, Shanghai Exchanges Notch ETF Deal

In a severely under-reported move that could help jump exchange-traded fund creations in Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai exchange officials have agreed to jointly work on developing new ETFs and joint-list them across their respective exchanges.

You can read the Reuters wire story here.

 

Slew Of New ETFs Scrutinized

Analysts at TheStreet.com have initiated coverage on 15 ETFs "that accrued a sufficient track record of risk and performance data by the end of

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A must read article on Minyanville.com puts the smack down on General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares, and another one from Bloomberg.com isn't going to help shareholders come tomorrow or the foreseeable future.  GE shares get ready to battle the media. Let's face it, when fear is driven into the hearts of investors, no matter how it gets there, word of mouth, CNBC, your baby's momma -- it's fear none the less. When that happens, investors bail, and the selling could jump start now that the media is tearing GE a new one. General Electric (NYSE:GE) appears to be a "cheap stock" when you consider traditional investing measures: P/E now under 10, at 7.67. Shares are of GE are now $16 down 58% in the last year. It's a company we have all grown up with, same ...

This post is a guest contribution by Bennet Sedacca*, President of Atlantic Advisors Asset Management.

It is often said that “hope is a poor roadmap to success”. Hoping is as useful in investing as it is in nearly every other activity that I can think of. I must admit that I have found myself hoping that an investment or trade gone badly would come back. I must also admit that I cannot recall a time when I have been rewarded with success just because I hoped for it. That is also why I have learned to take losses when they are still manageable - as they say, “good traders know how to take gains, but great traders know how to take losses”.

I am not saying that

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Computer models and stock screens should generate fresh ideas.  We are often surprised by the rankings from our TCA-ETF model, which combines attention to Trend, recognition of Cycles, and a touch of Anticipation.  While the factors are technical, it is always interesting to compare the results with fundamental metrics and prevailing analyst viewpoints.  (For new readers, there is a further explanation of our approach at the end of the article.) Despite the general weakness in the market, some sectors have performed well and even gained strength in the rankings.  There have also been dramatic collapses, including the dollar weakness plays like gold.  These ETF's led the rankings only a few weeks ago. Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Services Sector Index Fund (IYC) Given the current economic weakness and skepticism about the consumer, there is a surprise near the top of the rankings:...