Avoid Making “Amateur Mistakes” in This Bull Market

by Robert Williams, Publisher
Friday, December 4, 2009

As I write this morning, the S&P 500 pushes toward another 52-week high. And I’m seeing a lot of bullish indicators hit the wire…

• U.S. employers cut the fewest number of jobs in November since the recession began more than a year ago. Payrolls fell by only 11,000 workers, trumping even the most optimistic forecasts.

• The jobless rate was expected to hold steady at around 10.2%. However, it surprisingly declined to 10%. (Hey, in this economy, that 0.2% means a lot!)

• U.S. factory orders notched its sixth gain in the past seven months, also surprising forecasters. The data gives bulls their proof that the manufacturing sector is beginning to emerge from the storm…

• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) just raised $19.3 billion – at $15 a share – in the largest sale of stock by a U.S. public company since the dawn of the millennia. It’s been nearly 10 years since we’ve seen a successful sale of that magnitude.

On November 2, I explained that the economy would need to provide the impetus for stocks to continue their march higher, since most of the cash on the sidelines had found a home.

And that scenario is indeed playing out.

But as Marc Lichtenfeld explains, we’re collectively more bullish on stocks than we’ve been in two years. And the “best of breed” stocks have posted enormous gains since the March lows.

Given that, you should have a strategy in place to protect your gains. In fact, not doing so is one of the biggest mistakes novice investors make. Fortuitously, Marc’s got three ways to protect profits in his article.

Ahead of the tape,

Robert Williams

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