"BUY! BUY! BUY!"

I've recently dipped into Peter Lynch's One Up On Wall Street, a book in which Lynch reveals that any average investor can beat the big whigs on Wall Street by using the simple information in their everyday lives. While still working on this interesting read, which is hard to come by in today's investment world, I believe one of the most important lessons in the book is in its first fifty pages. As Lynch chronicles his own personal investment learning, and a few stories of his friends (both fortunate and unfortunate) he makes one thing clear, the stock market is not nearly as complicated as the average person believes. Lynch tells readers that most of the hot investments can be found in the companies that lie in your kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, closet, etc... What Lynch is saying is that the average investor can 'whomp' on Wall Street by investing in those companies that they see "hot" in their everyday lives, as opposed to what's read in magazines, news papers, or seen on television - point being, if you're reading that its "hot" by the time you're buying it, its already cooling down. While this is not necessarily true 100% of the time, in an extremely volatile market its likely more often than not.

One of the examples Lynch uses is L'eggs by Hanes. When Roger Ferriter released his L'eggs design with Hanes in the 1970's, he "introduced a unique trade dress by placing its product in white plastic chicken egg-shaped containers egg." Unique? CHECK! Increased shelf-space? CHECK! Booming interest? CHECK! Women were flocking to this new product, raving about its packaging, functionality, and convenience creating one of the most successful product launches in history. One of Lynch's friends' wives returned from the store after the release of this product, going on and on and on about how "hot" the item was going to become. Said friend decided to go with a stock already hot on the market. Result? Hanes stock skyrocketed as a result of the product, and his friend's stock, well, it fell through the basement and into the storm cellar.

Just by walking down the street, seeing stores with lines to the sidewalk, looking at products jumping off shelves, or fishing through your home to find items you religiously purchase, chances are you're sitting on stocks that have pretty good potential returns. What to do? Just as Lynch says, don't go purchasing stock blindly. Do some research, talk to your broker or someone you trust with knowledge of investing. Check out some quarterly earnings numbers, watch the volatility of the market overall, and do some intrinsic calculations. There's nothing easier than letting your money make even more money for you.

While reading One Up On Wall Street I decided to jump harder into my mock stock portfolio. I am a BIG technology fan, and as a result a BIG technology stock fan. However, as any market vigil knows, technology hasn't been the greatest of investments steadily in the past 18 months. Long term - I feel technology stocks should be watched closely, purchased with care, sold strategically, but DEFINITELY invested in. While a mock portfolio allows you to play with any amount of money you prefer, the returns are still of proportion as no matter what your numbers are of "hard" relativity. In my technology craze, I jumped back on the GOOGLE wagon, earning me a 7.25% return over about 3 months. Once deciding to sell (my general rule is sell between 7-9% depending upon market volatility), my girlfriend's mother tipped me off on Kellogs. I thought Kellogs? But eventually decided to go with the old phrase "mom knows best" and subsequently purchased some - along with CISCO of course to fill my technology lead... Thus far it's worked in my favor, boosting portfolio returns from 7.25% to 7.37% in 5 days. Though the short term is no way a great indicator of a stock's real strength, it just goes to show that an average investor who pays attention to what's going on around them can strike bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and all other good things in market.

Next up on the purchase list? Make-up. Why you ask? My girlfriend tells me in a down-turned economy women spend less money on clothing and expensive items, but still need that "pretty me up" fix. She says the buy make-up because its cheap, makes a woman feel good, is sometimes a true shopping addiction, and allows a woman to continue indulging in those little self-improvement rituals. When you think about it, a case of lipstick can range from $4-$20, but is an easy quick grab while at any consumer goods outlet.