I was asked the question via PM of, "'When should I buy"?

I have been day trading the markets since the 1990's and one thing I have learned from the many ups and downs that the market throws at us, is this. I am far too stupid to buy the bottoms and sell the tops, by the time a bottom is in a stock, its too late to buy it, and by the time a stock tops out, I am always late for the party.

So how does a person decide when the best time to buy a stock is? Well, thats depends on your time frame and what kind of a player you are in the market. Are you a long term investor, or a daytrader?

If your a long term investor, find a stock that you believe is a great stock with potential. Buy half as soon as you identify that this is the stock of your dreams. Wait a week and buy the other half. Sit back and enjoy your stock, come back in 3 months time and see how its doing, forget the day to day stuff. You are a long term investor, why worry what you can't control.

Now if you what to trade the stock of your dreams, you open up a whole can of worms. Hopefully you know how to read a chart and buy when the chart says buy and sell when the chart says sell. Once you do it long enough, forget the chart and go with your gut. Best way to trade a stock is to buy a core position and buy some traders. The idea is to buy low and sell high, repeating this tactic as often as you can. The idea is everytime you make a few cents off of your traders you lower the cost per share of your core position. The goal is to get your core position down to zero cost, this way you have no exposure whatsoever to the day to day stuff that the market throws at you. You can put up with markets like we are enduring currently and sleep well at night.

Not sure if this helps anyone as everyone plays the market different. It's just my way.

Al