The Journal
Blog
Market insights and trading education from the Alpha Sentinel team.
A Tax Checklist Before Realizing a Large Gain
Before realizing a large gain, check holding periods, cost basis, the total tax effect and alternatives. A five-point list for your tax professional.
A Checklist for Before You Buy a Stock: Questions to Answer in Writing
A written checklist slows impulsive stock decisions. Work through five questions to answer before any purchase, from the business to position size.
Reading Candlestick Charts: Open, High, Low and Close Explained
Each candlestick packs the open, high, low and close of one period into a single shape. Learn how bodies, wicks and colors are read, and their limits.
Trend Concepts: How Analysts Define Uptrends and Downtrends
Analysts define uptrends and downtrends by the sequence of swing highs and lows. Learn six concepts that give you a shared vocabulary for trends.
Support and Resistance: The Concept and Its Limits
Support and resistance describe where a stock has paused before, not where it must pause next. See how the levels are drawn, and where they fail.
Technical Analysis in Perspective: What It Can and Cannot Tell You
Technical analysis describes past price behavior but cannot predict the future. See what it does well, where it falls short and how to use it humbly.
Portfolio Turnover: How Frequent Trading Affects Costs and Taxes
Portfolio turnover drives trading costs and taxes. Learn how to measure yours, how short-term gains are taxed and how fund trading reaches you.
The Bucket Strategy: Organizing Money by When You Will Need It
The bucket strategy sorts money by when you will need it. See how to set up, size and refill three buckets so a downturn never forces a sale.
How to Read a 10-K: Where to Start and What to Skip
A 10-K can run past a hundred pages. Learn which sections to read first, which to skim, and which footnotes explain the numbers behind a company.
Glide Paths: How Risk Can Change as Goals Get Closer
A glide path lowers stock exposure on a schedule as a goal date nears. Learn how it works, its trade-offs and how to set one for each goal.
Price-to-Sales and Price-to-Book: When Each Valuation Ratio Is Useful
Price-to-sales and price-to-book fill the gaps left by earnings-based ratios. See what each measures, where each fits, and where each misleads.
Short Selling Explained: What It Is and Why Losses Can Be Unlimited
Short selling explained: how borrowing shares works, why losses can be unlimited, and what squeezes and buy-ins mean. Know the mechanics before the risk.