For the last almost two years now, you have had the wind behind you. And seemingly everything had its time in the sun.

Mining was strong. Banking was strong. Consumer discretionary was strong. Tech was strong. Crypto was strong. Marijuana stocks were strong. Floats were strong.

Capital raises were well bid afterwards. A lot of stocks that put out bad news still bounced hard off lows. Even travel stocks had time at the party and there were lots of takeovers.

You could be forgiven to think that the stockmarket is easy.

We’re starting to see a few cracks though…

Perhaps you bought FMG because they just declared a mega-dividend, and then promptly dropped 46% of its capital value. Perhaps you read somewhere that banks would be crushed by the rise of BNPL, and missed out on CBA going to new all-time highs.

What do you do in these situations? Do you hold and hope? Do you buy more and hope? Do you sell, even though you’ve torched a large amount of dough – because it could lead to more losses?

You need advice.

(Skip to the end if I’m boring you, there’s $180 of value waiting there for you – but it’ll make more sense if you read through.)

In bullmarkets, every time we have them, your gut starts telling you that you know it all. You are making money, and why give any of it away? You’re out looking for the cheapest platform, the cheapest brokerage, the cheapest way of getting tips, watching your 19-year-old YouTube and TikTok ‘finfluencers’ talk about how they’ve invested for the long term.

Fun fact. Even doctors go to the doctor. Even psychologists have psychologists. Professional athletes have coaches. Even if you are the top of your game you need to be constantly learning and improving, and sometimes you get caught up in your own bubble of self-congratulation – that you celebrate too soon.

Not everyone can be right all of the time, and we carry our own biases very tightly. It’s very hard to admit when you are wrong, especially when there is no finish line!

Just go and read a few chat-room threads. Sometimes you’ll be that guy arguing that your poor performing ‘investment’ is a buying opportunity, sometimes you’ll be the guy that is arguing that the other guy’s poor investment is due to their own stupidity – and that they should sell out and buy the thing you are in.

There’s another option…don’t do either! Both sides can have valid points, but neither is a professional investment adviser and they are always ‘talking their own book’ behind fake names and can’t be trusted to have your best interests at heart.

Some things to look for in an adviser and their ‘advice’.

Experience.

Markets move in very long cycles. The reason for the crash we had for Covid was different to the one we had for the GFC was different to the one for Sept 11 or the tech crash. You don’t really want to know if they were ‘right this time’, but that they’re right ‘more often than not’ and ‘over the long term’.

Because believe me, if you are truly ‘in the stockmarket’ there will be some very dark days. You’ll want someone who has seen it all before.

Regular and reliable.

If you’re in direct shares, do you want to be the guy that hears about the next big opportunity first, or last? How many phone calls do you think a stockbroker can make in a day?

Do you think your good-nature and wit automatically make you the first phonecall? Do they ring you three times a day? Do they contact you when they aren’t pitching a trade or a placement to just let you know what’s going on?

Or are they always on holiday, or on their boat and you end up talking to their PA more often than them…

Conflict.

Herein lies the biggest problem with financial services. Stockbrokers are normally paid a fee when you make a transaction. Hell, online brokers, with the notable exception of Marketech, all make a profit from your transaction so they benefit more when you trade more shares.

The pooled online brokers model is potentially even worse – as they make more money when people herd into the same stock! So I often wonder how many of the meme-creators on reddit are employed by pooled online brokers…

So, maybe you have a good broker. Maybe, they just want you to make money, and in making more money, they will benefit from a longer career and you’ll recommend some of your rich mates to them too.

But in the back of your mind, you always ponder that one time they switched you from NAB to WBC on the last Friday of the month just before they went on holiday. Good advice? Or brokerage…

Now you aren’t 100% sure if that advice is in your best interests. So perhaps you stop taking all of it. And then the advice is worthless – like only taking some of the pills your doctor gave you.

And that ‘research’ that you get from your online broker who is owned by a bank or by a normal stockbroking company. Is it there purely as a show of good faith, for your benefit, or is there a reason a major institution would want to keep major companies happy when they all raise large amounts of capital through banks and brokers, with the large fees that are associated…

 

How to get free, experienced, regular, reliable and non-conflicted general advice

First, go to the Marketech website and register for a trial.

Then, subscribe to our professional grade trading platform for $45 a month with $5/0.02% trades on HIN with live-streaming pricing, live alerts, technical charting, full function mobile app, market movers and more. We make a profit on the subscription, not the brokerage, so we don’t even care if you trade or not!

Then, you will receive free access to the ‘Marcus Today’ newsletter for two months! It normally goes for $95 a month (or less if you commit to a longer term), so there’s $190 free right there if you don’t already think our platform is compelling enough…

We’re not taking a clip if you subscribe, they’re not taking a clip if you subscribe to Marketech – but more importantly, they’re not taking a clip on your brokerage so you know the advice is designed to sell the newsletter over the long term with continual good general advice and opinion – in the same way that we want more people to buy our platform over the long term, so we are driven to make sure the platform is the best.

We’re not paying any money to Marcus Today to recommend Marketech to all their clients – no-one makes the guys at Marcus Today do anything they don’t believe in! And they’re not paying us for telling you about Marcus Today – it’s just a perfect partnership! (We’re actually looking forward to them investing directly into Marketech, and hope you’ll have the chance soon too.)

What do you get from the newsletter?

Morning Summary of the overnight events – including global market data, economic events, company events, a ‘breakfast briefing’ podcast, US market sectoral analysis, what to expect for the day, major headlines, some broader strategy, what was hot/not, major Aust company events for the day, technical trading ideas.

Marcus Midday – what’s happened so far in the trading day, more on strategy, more podcasts, recommended portfolio changes or updates, how the trades are playing out, changes in broker recommendations, company announcements/their effect/and some opinion,

Marcus End of Day – that’s right, a third and final newsletter for each and every day, with all of the above updated again for the close of the market!

But that’s not all! Sheesh!

They have education pieces, more topical articles and regular interviews, forward dividend predictors and a dividend calendar, research on many of the major companies, and even run recommended portfolios for growth, income or ETFs. It’s like a school for trading and investing!

And they “tell it like it is”, which is refreshing in a world obsessed with spin and fluff. (I always ‘tell it like I see it’ but my mum doesn’t think that’s the same as ‘like it actually is’.)

Marcus Today plus Marketech is…

Advice plus live-market data plus trading platform.

Nay!

It’s actually experienced, regular, reliable, non-conflicted advice plus live-streaming market data plus non-conflicted trading – at some of the lowest rates of brokerage in Australia.

First, a free trial of Marcus Today plus a free trial of Marketech equals at least $120 value. (No to free-brokerage, what’s the point if you trade the wrong things? Teach a man to fish… etc etc)

Then, what’s the cost of Marcus Today/Marketech Focus?

If you decide to continue, its as low as $120 a month (go to our websites and read our FSGs if you don’t believe me!). With $5 or 0.02% trades thereafter.

One trade at a full-service stockbroker? $120.

One trade vs one month.

I told you we had some real disruption coming.

Because just making something cheap (by cutting out the really important bits) isn’t disruption – its dangerous.

At Marketech our platform is about technology, providing you the tools and technology to trade.  We encourage our high-function trading platform to get you live pricing, live charts, live market depth to ensure you have the tools and trading capability at your fingertips, and on your mobile phone or PC.

You trade your own stock on your individual HIN. It is your cash in your own Macquarie account where you keep the competitive interest you earn.

Our subscribers get access to brokerage starting at $5, and then 0.02 per cent for trades over $25k.  If you want to trade the market, you need immediate access wherever you are and the seamless Marketech mobile app means you are live anywhere anytime.

For more information, visit www.marketech.com.au. Any queries regarding Marketech should be directed to Marketech and not to Stockhead.

This article was developed in collaboration with Marketech Online Trading Pty Ltd (ACN 654 674 432), an Authorised Representative (1293528) of Sanlam Private Wealth Pty Ltd (AFSL 337927), and a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

All information and material contained herein is general in nature and does not consider your financial situation, investment needs or objectives.
The information does not constitute personal financial advice, nor a recommendation or opinion that a security or service is appropriate for you.
You should seek independent and professional tax and financial advice before making any decision based on this information.