Simple Investing Advice: Buy What You Know

This week I thought I’d continue with a theme I started last week, where I looked at stocks I’m buying myself.

But first, a look at the market, and despite all the whining about the selloff, I still don’t see that the market has incurred any serious damage.  Instead, I see a logical retreat to support and overall sideways movement.  This type of action is typical after a run-up like we had earlier this year, and actually bodes well for a future upside move later this year.  In other words, I’m bullish.

Now, as for stocks I’m buying, let’s revisit my theme of “buying what you know.”  The first stock has seen a pullback recently, but I never see a store empty, and the uptrend is intact.  It’s my old favorite, McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD).

The second stock is one of the two brokers I use.  People think you have to be fancy when you trade, but I find Ameritrade (NASDAQ:AMTD) works out just fine.  Fast fills, low prices, and since I use limit orders to enter and exit, I can’t complain about my fill quality.  So, per my theme: if I’m a user of the company, I usually like the stock on a dip.  AMTD has certainly seen that.

I guess my overall theme, then, is to use the news to your benefit, especially if you really like a company.  As long as you’re patient, you can make some decent profits in the long run.