5 Golden Principles in Investing
The principle we all know in belief systems is the ethic of reciprocity. This is commonly known as the golden rule: "Treat others as you would like to be treated." In the world of investments, this rule can be redefined as the expectation of getting returns that are equal to or greater than the risk we take.
Let's take an example to explain this better. If you invest $500 in a stock, you want to make sure that you not only get your initial investment back but also a significant profit. You have confidence in the stock's potential returns based on your research, so you expect that the returns will be equal to or greater than the investment.
The concept of "Do unto others" is only practiced when people expect reciprocity in return. This applies to both positive and negative actions. In the world of stock trading, why not apply the same principle? If you believe in a stock, invest in it, and expect returns in the future.
Enough with the philosophical discussion. This article is about the "golden principles" of investing. We use the golden rule to remind traders and investors to expect profits when they invest in quality stocks. The principles that follow will help achieve that goal.
Principle #1: Diversification
Investors should not be one-dimensional when building a portfolio. Some sectors perform better than others, and diversification helps minimize the risk of losses in one sector by spreading investments across multiple sectors.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) is a system of eleven primary categories recognized by major indexes such as the S&P and MSCI. These categories include:
- Energy
- Materials
- Industrials
- Consumer Discretionary
- Consumer Staples
- Health Care
- Financials
- Information Technology
- Telecommunication Services
- Utilities
- Real Estate
Professional analysts typically conduct deep dives into twenty-four industry groups, sixty-nine industries, and one hundred fifty-eight sub-industries. However, most investors stick to the eleven primary sectors.
It is crucial to consider all market sectors to succeed in the long term. Social movements, government changes, and market conditions affect all sectors, positively or negatively. To prepare for anything, diversify your portfolio.
Principle #2: Set Clear Financial Goals
Investors have a long-term view, and their goals are different from day traders who focus on executing several trades daily. Investment portfolio managers focus on three areas: Accumulation of Principle, Rate of Return, and Disbursement Strategies.
- Accumulation of Principle involves consistently building your portfolio, even during down markets when stock prices are low. Allocate a specific amount of money every week to your portfolio regardless of market conditions.
- Rate of Return could be a specific percentage or a comparison to market indexes. By monitoring return percentages, investors can decide when to reallocate their portfolio.
- Disbursement Strategies are important because investors ultimately want to withdraw their gains. Ideally, withdrawals should be lower than gain dollars, ensuring the portfolio keeps growing.
Investors should consider their life goals too. Money-making is a goal for everyone, but what are your specific goals? A new home, a comfortable retirement, or the ability to travel? Define your goals to stay motivated.
Principle #3: Risk Tolerance
This principle applies to both investors and traders and encompasses various factors. Risk tolerance can refer to the amount of money you're willing to invest or how long you're willing to hold a position before selling. Setting goals in both these areas is critical to any investing or trading plan.
Firstly, it's important to consider the monetary value of your investments. Similar to advice given at a casino, don't invest money that you can't afford to lose, not because you're going to lose it, but because you cannot use that money elsewhere. Creating a budget can help you determine how much you can allocate towards investing, after covering living expenses, incidentals, and unexpected life occurrences.
Once you know how much you can afford to invest, evaluate your appetite for risk. Determine how much you're willing to lose or risk losing before pulling out of a trade or investment. This varies by individual and is influenced by life circumstances. To make informed investment decisions, learn to separate your emotions from stock trading. While there's an element of chance involved in the stock market, using tools like Tickeron to analyze trades and investments based on data and science can help you set goals that align with your risk tolerance levels.
Principle #4: Look for Undervalued Stocks
Undervalued stocks are stocks that are selling at a price significantly lower than their intrinsic value. Their value is based on predictable future cash-flows, which can be assessed through additional research on the company. Tickeron can assist you in this process. While there's a huge potential upside to finding the right undervalued stocks, not all of them will turn out to be winners for you. Some may have a low valuation for a reason, such as excessive debt or inefficient management. Additionally, market conditions can also impact the price of a stock. It's important to seek expert advice in this area to make informed investment decisions.
One useful indicator of whether a company is undervalued or overvalued is the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, which compares a company's earnings to its share price. Generally, undervalued stocks tend to have lower P/E ratios, with the average P/E on the S&P being 15.
Principle #5: Respect Market Capitalization and Profit
When evaluating stock potential, price-to-earnings ratios aren't the only consideration. Investors must also respect market capitalization and profits. Market capitalization represents the cumulative value of all outstanding shares on the market, while profits indicate the company's ability to pay off debt. Investors can calculate the debt-to-income ratio themselves from company financial reports, but market cap and P/E ratios are generally sufficient to make informed investment decisions.
When it comes to market capitalization, the significance of a share's price can be limited if the number of shares available for trading is restricted. This is particularly evident in an IPO (initial public offering), where the share price is predetermined before trading begins, and only a limited number of shares are sold.
For established companies, a higher market capitalization is typically observed. For instance, let's take eBay as an example. Currently, eBay's share price is $50.68, and its market capitalization is $35.47 billion. The trading volume is 6.343 million, which indicates that the company has a strong presence in the market.
A more in-depth analysis of eBay shows a P/E ratio of 7.85, and according to Tickeron, the probability of an uptrend is 73%. This presents a strong buy signal. As an investor, eBay seems like a good investment opportunity for me, given that it aligns with my risk tolerance and has the potential for long-term growth.
Patterns and Consistency Lead to Investing Success
Tickeron focuses primarily on providing insights for traders. Consistently following a trading plan is crucial for them, as neglecting it can lead to significant losses during the market's active hours. This harsh reality is well understood by traders.
On the other hand, investors operate with longer time horizons. Therefore, it may not be immediately evident whether a plan is effective or not. It is advisable to adhere to the plan until sufficient data is available for analysis. If necessary, modifications can be made at that point. Meanwhile, implementing these essential principles can increase your likelihood of success.
Tickeron's Products
The main idea behind technical analysis is the ability to find recurring price patterns and trends and use them to predict the direction of future market trends. We started with the creation of AI-based Engines (Pattern Search Engine, Real-Time Patterns, Trend Prediction Engine) that allow us to effectively analyze market trends. We then have explored almost all existing methods (price patterns, trend indicators, oscillators, and many others) using neural networks and deep historical backtests. As a result, it was possible to form a pool of trading algorithms that together allow our AI Robots to effectively determine the key points of change in market trends.
Contributor
Sergey Savastiouk, Ph.D. has a degree in Applied Mathematics from Moscow University and has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, investor, manager, and mathematician. His professional expertise is in applied mathematics, mathematical modeling, system and pattern analysis, and software and hardware system integration. He has served as the CEO of several hi-tech start-up companies and nonprofit organizations, which has given him proven capabilities in business strategy for high-tech start-up companies, market assessment, company formation, team building, product development, marketing, and sales. He has published numerous articles in journals and magazines on related fields. As a retail investor, he spent 15 years developing his proprietary trading and quantitative algorithms (now Tickeron’s A.I.), which brought him significant returns in trading the stock market. His current work and goal in founding Tickeron is to bring professional, sophisticated stock market analysis capabilities to retail investors via an easy-to-use interface.
EBAY's MACD Histogram just turned positive
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for EBAY turned positive on August 25, 2026. Looking at past instances where EBAY's MACD turned positive, the stock continued to rise in 31 of 43 cases over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are 72%.
Technical Analysis (Indicators)
Bullish Trend Analysis
The Momentum Indicator moved above the 0 level on September 10, 2026. You may want to consider a long position or call options on EBAY as a result. In 57 of 90 past instances where the momentum indicator moved above 0, the stock continued to climb. The odds of a continued upward trend are 63%.
EBAY moved above its 50-day moving average on September 16, 2026 date and that indicates a change from a downward trend to an upward trend.
Following a +4.51% 3-day Advance, the price is estimated to grow further. Considering data from situations where EBAY advanced for three days, in 210 of 315 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are 67%.
Bearish Trend Analysis
The Stochastic Oscillator demonstrated that the ticker has stayed in the overbought zone for 5 days. The longer the ticker stays in the overbought zone, the sooner a price pull-back is expected.
Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further. Considering past instances where EBAY declined for three days, the price rose further in 50 of 62 cases within the following month. The odds of a continued downward trend are 59%.
EBAY broke above its upper Bollinger Band on September 17, 2026. This could be a sign that the stock is set to drop as the stock moves back below the upper band and toward the middle band. You may want to consider selling the stock or exploring put options.
The Aroon Indicator for EBAY entered a downward trend on September 14, 2026. This could indicate a strong downward move is ahead for the stock. Traders may want to consider selling the stock or buying put options.
Fundamental Analysis (Ratings)
The Tickeron SMR rating for this company is 22 (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating very strong sales and a profitable business model. SMR (Sales, Margin, Return on Equity) rating is based on comparative analysis of weighted Sales, Income Margin and Return on Equity values compared against S&P 500 index constituents. The weighted SMR value is a proprietary formula developed by Tickeron and represents an overall profitability measure for a stock.
The Tickeron PE Growth Rating for this company is 26 (best 1 - 100 worst), pointing to outstanding earnings growth. The PE Growth rating is based on a comparative analysis of stock PE ratio increase over the last 12 months compared against S&P 500 index constituents.
The Tickeron Price Growth Rating for this company is 43 (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating steady price growth. EBAY’s price grows at a higher rate over the last 12 months as compared to S&P 500 index constituents.
The Tickeron Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for this company is 46 (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating well-balanced risk and returns. The average Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for the industry is 94, placing this stock slightly better than average.
The Tickeron Valuation Rating of 89 (best 1 - 100 worst) indicates that the company is significantly overvalued in the industry. This rating compares market capitalization estimated by our proprietary formula with the current market capitalization. This rating is based on the following metrics, as compared to industry averages: P/B Ratio (10.672) is normal, around the industry mean (57.057). P/E Ratio (23.496) is within average values for comparable stocks, (39.827). Projected Growth (PEG Ratio) (1.601) is also within normal values, averaging (1.801). Dividend Yield (0.011) settles around the average of (0.017) among similar stocks. EBAY's P/S Ratio (4.182) is slightly higher than the industry average of (1.321).
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General Information
a provider of online market places for the sale of goods and services
Industry InternetRetail
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