Show Entire Article
The single most important concept in investing, Cramer said Friday, is diversification.
"If your portfolio is properly diversified, then you can handle just about any setback," he said. "You can come back from any financial disaster."
There are simple ways investors can achieve diversification, Cramer said. Make sure that no one sector or segment of the economy should account for more than 20 percent of your portfolio. If two stocks trade together or seem to move based on the same factors, your portfolio is not diversified. The goal is to spread your money across unrelated stocks, so when something happens that causes one of them to do down hard, the rest should remain relatively unscathed or even go higher. This the "traditional view" on diversification, Cramer said, and it's mandatory.
Investors should also consider the "new diversification" method, as Cramer coined it. For maximum protection and maximum upside, investors need to be in these five areas: gold, a dividend-paying stock with a high-yield, a growth stock, a speculative play and something foreign.
Page 1 of 2 | Next PageShow Entire Article
EGO News & Analysis
No recent news available
DATA IS REAL-TIME EXCEPT NOTED WITH *
* DATA DELAYED AT LEAST 15 MINUTES