5 year measurement of the Dow. The Yellow line is just below the 15,000 mark. Currently at 10,174 as of todays opening bell

For years I have always heard the axiom “Buy low, sell high”

Well it’s about as low as it can get given the status quo.

I have a portfolio. It’s nothing major. I’ve been buying since the 2009 drop.

My best performer is without a doubt Ford (F). My return is close to 250% currently.

My other big winner is a surprise to some, Dynegy (DYN) with a almost 70% return. I bought it in January at its lowest.

A lot of folks are screaming “Sell!” right now, and that’s fine. The more they sell the more the price drops and small market guys like me can pick up major companies at half the original price.

I won’t make a lot of money immediately but in the long term, say 2 to 3 years, I stand to make a good share.

“Provided those companies do not go bankrupt.” you say?

Yes there is some risk. But here is my rational:

Plenty of people play scratch off tickets or lottery. Figure you spend $5 to $10 on lottery tickets per month, just a guess. Or perhaps you buy cigarettes. $5 bucks a pack average depending on where you live.

If I buy American Apparel (APP ) at .74 cents per share, and buy maybe $10 bucks in shares, and the price drops …I’m truly only out my $10 dollars.  About what I would spend at McDonalds for me and the kiddo for lunch.  But if it goes up? I make my money and then some.

My rules? Do not put your eggs in one basket. Buy a little bit of several stocks across the board. Don’t worry as the stock drops. Just keep investing a little at a time, $10 here, $20 there. Your pay off is not a immediate thing, you will not become rich over night. Investigate your companies carefully. Look at their debt versus their profit. How much do they have in loans? Check the 5 year trend of the company stock price and their P&L.

Little things are important. But as the price goes low, buy more. And wait. Be patient.

The pay off in the long term will be good, at least that’s my take. Just always remember those key words: long term.

If your looking for a instant way to get rich, then this market is not for you.

Portfolio listing after the jump

• APP American Apparell
• TSLA Tesla Motors
• DYN Dynegy
• NOK Nokia
• F Ford
• MOT Motorola
• AMR AMR Corporation
• GE General Electric
• URFRX USAA Retirement Fund
• USHYX USAA High Yield

The last 2 are mutual funds that I have holdings in. Mutual Funds usually require a minimum investment up front of about $3k or so.  Once that’s done you can contribute to them as you see fit. But the pay off is high er in the long term and they earn a rate of interest as well based on market performance. But just  like a stock, buying it while the prices are low is the key to long term success.

Ok I play the stock market. Have for over a year. I’m not a whiz kid but I know enough on the basics that have made a decent sum even in this crappy economy.

However. One of the company shares in my portfolio is currently being investigated by a legal group.

I’ve been in contact with them, and they have sent me a rather lengthy legal document. I can read and understand most of the fine print, but obviously this is something new to me.

Anyone want to help shed some light on this? I have a copy of the E-mail provided to me by the Legal Corp I’ll happily share as well.