A Great Gift for the Socialist in Your Family

A big hat tip to our buddy Brian Hunt at The Daily Crux for finding this gem of a t-shirt - pick one up for the socialist in your family this holiday season!

You can order this beauty - and other fine items - at Liberty Shirt Market.

Why "Paper Trading" Is Worthless

What's the best way to get your feet wet trading/investing?

Many folks will tell you that trading on paper is the best way to get started. Our buddy Brian Hunt writes today that this advice is crap!

Becoming a good trader isn't just about learning about charts or buying cheap assets. It's about suppressing the desire to "make it all" on one big trade... learning how to take small losses... and learning when it's time to simply sit out the game for a while.

Paper trading doesn't get you any "live fire" training on overcoming your emotions. It's like trying to learn how to hit a baseball by swinging an imaginary bat. So what's the new trader to do?

Read the rest of Brian's article on paper trading...

I agree wholeheartedly with Brian. When I was a senior in college, my good friend Joe and I each opened up a Scottrade account with $500, the minimum amount allowed.

We loaded all of our eggs in one basket - he bought Bally's Total Fitness, and I was fortunate enough to buy Dick's Sporting Goods.

Every day, every hour, we'd watch the tickers on our respective stocks. If DKS ended Friday on a positive note, I'd be on a high through the weekend. When Bally's tumbled, I was razzing him on his lack of investment prowess.

It was great fun, and addicting, and most important of all, educational. My stomach would churn if DKS slumped a few bucks - at one point my paper losses almost totalled $80! Fortunately for me, DKS rallied and by the time graduation had come around, I had nearly doubled my initial stake.

So if you find yourself watching a market from the sidelines, please realize that the best way to learn it inside and out is to actually get in the game! You don't have to put a ton of capital on the line - just start with a small stake, and see what you can make out of it!

Uh Oh - Leading Indicator Baltic Dry Index Turns Down

I have no idea what's going on with the markets right now. Just when things look most ominous, they fire up again this week big time...isn't that the way markets always work!

Well for what it's worth, our friend Brian Hunt made an astute ovservation that the Baltic Dry Index has turned down once again...this classic shipping measure is often a leading indicator of economic activity. The BDI turned lower ahead of the last downturn...actually falling right through the floor...so this could be an ominous sign for the stock market, today's rally not withstanding.

Oil Service Stocks are Breaking Out

Brian Hunt, Editor in Chief at Stansberry Research, writes that oil service stocks are breaking out to 6-month highs, according to the chart of OIH, the ETF of major oil service companies.

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View the full OIH chart at Wikinvest

Brian writes: "If oil continues the slow and steady rebound it's been enjoying since February, the oil services could run much higher. Just don't forget your trailing stops once the rest of the crowd figures out."

An interesting trading play on oil that you may want to keep your eye on.  Brian is a very astute trader/investor - I had the good fortune to recently connect with him, and since I've started penning some guest pieces for Stansberry Research's new website The Daily Crux.