I have been helping individuals manage their money for over twenty five years.

Actually longer — if you count the days I spent with EF Hutton, before becoming a licensed stockbroker, and then a fee-only financial advisor in Monmouth County, NJ. I have seen everything, so I will not recount the glory days and the gory days here.
We all have our war stories.

Along the way, I learned how making investment decisions based on news can really kill your portfolio. I have employed point and figure analysis to help manage money for my clients since 1997. The beauty of these charts, if you have followed my work, is they cut through all the noise we hear (and read) on a daily basis. All you see on point and figure charts are columns of X’s going up, and columns of O’s going down. The patterns they form point us into the right choices.

No doubt, 2012 will give us some serious headlines. News that will make us want to vomit, and news that will make us scratch our heads.

And only then most folks TRY to figure out HOW this news will affect their investments. Yikes.

Over the weekend, I saw a very famous photo, courtesy of www.championsgallery.com.
It immediately struck me: this is what we ALL need to successfully navigate 2012.
Look at the photo, below:

Stay Focused, Eyes Straight Ahead — Managing Money Needs Focus

I want you to look at something in this photo: even though Secretariat was THIRTY ONE LENGTHS in front of the competition…
Notice the blinders.
Notice the eyes.
Forward.

I’ll say it again: 2012 will bring some gut-wrenching news. The beauty of point and figure charting is these charts cut through all the noise we hear (and read) on a daily basis. Point and Figure keeps our blinders on, and keeps our eyes focused straight ahead. Not on some far-off dream like they preach at the big firms (“ya gotta be long term”). All you see on point and figure charts are columns of X’s going up, and columns of O’s going down. The patterns they form, point us toward the right choices.

Point and Figure charts have been pointing people in the right direction since they were created over one hundred years ago, in the 1880’s. These charts do NOT follow the news. They follow the ultimate indicator: prices. News often breaks well after people have placed their bets. In other words, charts will begin moving up (or down) well BEFORE the news is learned. By the time they are talking about it on TV, it is too late.

We remain focused on what is happening in the market, and what is happening with your investments in particular. We are keeping the blinders on, vowing NOT to be distracted.