It’s a general tendency to be tempted to buy something that has more than quadrupled in past ten years. People around the world are chasing the gold glitters with the prices soaring higher. But, is it a bumpy ride, or there is something special about this yellow metal? Picking up from where I left in my earlier post, Today I will share with you my reasoning as why gold should not be classified as an investment. I will also share my views on current gold bubble. How long will the rally last? What will be the impact of crash in gold prices on global economic environment?

Stock market can be better understood as an unpredictable world in itself. It is full of surprises at every moment. Many people seem to spot early risks involved with their stocks. When your investments are diversified in stocks of companies varying in size and are spread across sectors, it is likely that you are holding some bad investments. It should be on your regular checklist to spot stocks that may be headed for trouble, and this write-up will help you get started.

Successfully spotting best buy and hold stocks for long term is something every investor would want to master. But there is no definitive method that can help you achieve 100% accuracy. As if there were, everyone would invest in those companies and then returns would drop down dramatically. Some believe that buy and hold is a dead strategy which does not work nowadays. But I am of a different view.

On a more serious tone the threat is much more serious and deeply ingrained than what appears. Corruption scares-off investors and companies wanting to set up in new markets. And hence slows down economic progress. India for e.g. has its credibility taking a hit after the recent telecom scam and is now threatening to slow down its economic boom.

One year after the notorious ‘flash crash’ that made the DOW Industrials take a dive going down nearly 1000 points within a matter of minutes, many still question how safe the markets are to prevent a rerun of the ‘flash crash’. The Tabb Group which tracks the exchange industry maintains a view that the Securities and Exchange Commission has done a good enough job to create a security apparatus, but other markets are still at risk of severe flash crash events.

This write-up has it all that a beginner investor might want to know before laying hands on actual trading. Even professional investors can sharpen a few skills by revisiting investing basics time and again.