Building an ETF portfolio - It only takes a few ETFs to give you broad and granular exposure to the US stock, bond and real estate (“REIT”) markets, plus the stock markets of the largest developed and emerging economies. A simple and small portfolio offers the same flexibility and diversification as large core portfolio. My model portfolios are a good example of index funds and sector funds. The model portfolios also track the current year-to-date 4-week price performance trend. Consider  adding international ETFs to your portfolio. Despite their volatility, allocating a small portion of your portfolio to emerging markets stocks can increase your diversification and lower your geographic risk. It can also give you exposure to countries that are expected to grow faster than the USA and Europe and whose stocks may be cheaper using traditional valuation metrics. Here are some of the advantages of funding an ETF portfolio: lower cost, greater tax efficiency, easier asset allocation, easier portfolio rebalancing, no fraud and you can short ETFs.
  more...| ETF Securities | Index Funds Portfolio | Sector Funds Portfolio |

Choosing an online brokerage - Pick an online brokerage based on the cost per trade, the ease of managing your portfolio, the ability to identify tax lots and track realized and unrealized gains and losses, and the availability of banking products to maximize the interest earned on cash. Expect the largest online brokerages to introduce tools to make asset allocation and portfolio management easier, and to offer increasingly sophisticated online banking tools.

How to manage you portfolio - Make sure you assemble your core ETF portfolio in an online brokerage account, where the trading costs of managing the portfolio are low. Consider tax-loss selling (moving sideways into a similar ETF) whenever an asset class moves dramatically lower. Portfolio rebalancing offers two significant benefits for investors: it reduces the risk of your portfolio by preventing over-concentration in a single asset class, and it imposes a "buy low, sell high" rule on your trading behavior. Rebalance your ETF portfolio by setting regular time intervals, or (better) percentage limits for each asset class as rebalancing triggers. Don’t let tax-loss selling and rebalancing turn you into an active trader if your transaction costs will rise too much.
more...| Index Funds Allocation | Sector Funds Allocation | Portfolio Funding |

Buy and sell technical indicators - Most times you won't find the perfect entry or exit, so don't worry about it. Many traders waste too much energy looking for that perfect trade. Also don't subscribe to expensive trading software, their cost just reduces your potential profits. I use a free of charge  stock chart and 2 technical indicators, namely a 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) and Wilder's relative strength index (RSI). I't's simple and it gives you current state of the market trend (there is no crystal ball that can predict the future stock market move). The chart indicate overbought, oversold, sideway movement and indicates up or down trends - that all you have to know to make a reasonable trading decision. When the trend goes sideways, take some of the top (provided you have some profits); when the stock trades below the 20-day EMA set your 7% stop exit from the highest closing price; when stock trends higher enjoy the gains, it's that simple.
more...| Technical Indicators | Profit Taking | Free Stock Chart |

At last, don't let a failed short term idea turn into a long term lemon - Over the long haul, what separates the best traders from the also-rans isn't winning on every trade but the discipline to close out the losers. It's hard to admit you're wrong but traders know that once the catalyst is over, the trade is done. Remember... hope is not a viable investment thesis.