Our Friends are Blogging For You

There are many visitors to Better Trades every day. No single visitor is the same; they are all unique. They all seek exclusive content and want to view the news through their own set of personal lenses. Topics that interest one trader might cause another trader to yawn and move on to another site.

In order to make the Better Trades website a better source of information, we have taken on the task of finding a variety of subjects that may be of interest. That educational material is readily available on this site, where it is designed to fill a desire or a need in your personal learning plan.

Better Trades does this through blogs. These blogs, a contraction of the words web and log, have become quite popular over the last few years. Blogs offer a forum to individuals who seek an avenue to comment on the day's events through items that are published on the web. Bloggers describe events or their personal views primarily through the printed word, but have become more and more adept at using graphics and video to get their word out.

Blogs are a great place to visit if you have a fear of trading, want to cut down on your daily preparation time, if you're new to the notion of buying and selling stocks and options, if you desire more fundamentals, or if you're looking to shift gears and take your trading plan into the fast lane. These stock and financial blogs are designed to make you a more effective knowledgeable trader.

It's estimated that more than 112 million blogs now exist. Most of these are traditional text-oriented blogs, but the micro-blogs (like Twitter) are becoming more accepted and more common. Still, most people want more impactful content when they visit a blog.

There are many issues involved with blogging. You must ask yourself some of these questions before putting a lot of faith in a blogger's opinion:

• Is this person knowledgeable about the subject?
• Does this blogger write in a way that makes sense and conveys the gist of the material in a communicative manner?
• Is the blogger ethical or are they willing to cut a few corners in order to make more money or join some sort of inner circle?
• What values does this blogger share and do they match or mirror your own?
• Does the author of the blog have legitimate points or are they using their forum to exact revenge? Maybe they're seeking retribution of some sort.
• Has the blogger ever been guilty of defamation? If so, their objectivity goes out the window and they can't be viewed as legitimate.
• Is there editorial independence? In other words, do they lean toward a certain product or company because of financial support? A blogger who is beholden to someone else cannot be counted on to be independent. Their view will be skewed.
• Does this person have the credentials to write about the subject? For example, just because a person played a financier in a production at the neighborhood playhouse doesn't give them the credentials to handle your portfolio.

The bloggers at Better Trades are of the highest quality. These reviews feature concepts that are understandable and useful to all levels of traders, from novices to those veterans who have been around long enough to remember when General Motors wasn't a penny stock.

Better Trades tries to keep its list of featured bloggers current. New blogs are spotlighted on a regular basis, with the three most recent additions holding a place of prominence on the home page. All the others are indexed on the right-hand side of the page. As new blogs are added, the older sites are added to the index. They don't go away; the site just continues to get richer.

But rather than simply set up a series of links that carry a visitor to a blog, Better Trades has taken the additional step to help familiarize its users with the blogs that are featured on the site. One of the financial writers from Better Trades will write an introductory paragraph about the blog. This general information gives the viewer an idea of what communication they can expect to find on the blog. A cursory glance at the material may intrigue the reader and induce them to read more. But if a visitor isn't interested in the subject matter or feels it is too far over their head (or too far below their level of knowledge), they can go ahead and move on to another site.

If interested in the blog, a visitor can read the in-depth interview that was conducted with one or more of the bloggers connected with the website. Often this will be the creator of the site. It's a great way to find out how they got started, why they write the blog and what they want the blog to become.

Many questions answered by the bloggers deal with the topic of trading. Often they'll respond to questions about how they began in the stock market and how long they've traded. These bloggers will divulge their favorite trading strategy and offer timely advice for newcomers to the market. The bloggers will usually present some sort of a prediction for the short-term and long-term future of the market. They'll generally disclose the stocks or indices in which they're looking and give their reasons for potential trades.

The diversity of these opinions can be helpful when a trader begins to consider a possible course of action. A person who uses technical analysis to diagnose trades will find several useable blog sites here. Someone who likes to watch global markets will find a like-minded blog. There is analysis of inexpensive stocks and blue chips, as well as technology stocks and exchange traded funds.

All of these are items of consideration to anyone who comes to Better Trades. These friendly bloggers know you're hungry for information and they're willing to help feed your need. Better Trades has assembled the site for your benefit. Now it's up to you to take advantage of the material. Happy blogging.