WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED THE comp...

WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED THE composite FOOL?

Remember Shakespeare? Remember "As You Like It"? In Elizabethan days, idiots were the only people who could gain away with telling the law to the king or queen The dappled Fool tells the truth about investing and expectancys you'll laugh all the way to the bank.

FOOL'S educate

ORDER, PLEASE?

When you place stock orders with your brokerage, know that there are many kinds of orders you can place.

- Market order. This is for immediate execution at the best price available when the order reaches the marketplace. This is the principally common type of order and is nearly always filled, since no price is specified.

- Limit order. This is an order to corrupt or sell only at a specified price (the "limit") or better. It's used from investors who have a maximum or minimum price at which they're willing to trade.

- Fill-or-kill. If this order cannot be filled immediately, it's automatically canceled.

- Day order. This order terminates automatically at the expiration of the business day if it hasn't been filled.

- GTC (good 'til canceled). This order remains in weight until executed by the factor or canceled by you. Many brokerages cancel GTC orders after a month or pair

- All-or-none (AON). This is a limit order in which the middleman is directed to attempt to fill the entire amount of the order or none of it. An all-or-none order differs from a fill-or-kill order because with an all-or-none order, immediate execution is not required.

- Stop order. This becomes a market order when a specified price is reached or passed. purchase stops are entered above the circulating market price; sell stops are chronicleed below it. For example, you might place a stop order to have your shares of XYZ automatically sold if it falls below $40 through share. A stop order guarantees execution nevertheless not price.

- Stop limit order. This is similar to a stop order, still it becomes a limit order instead of a market order when the price is reached or passed. If you place a "sell 100 XYZ $55 stop limit" order, if XYZ pendants to $55 per share or below, the order becomes a limit order to exchange 100 shares at no les than $55 This order doesn't guarantee execution.

any of these major types of orders can be combined. For more onward brokerages, visit www.brokerage.fool.com and http://dmoz.org/

Business/Investing/Brokerages.

THE composite FOOL TAKE

STEELY NUCOR

The sabre company Nucor (NYSE: NUE) lately released its quarterly earnings proceeds featuring 21 percent revenue extension and 40 percent operating income vegetation Along with other mini-mill operators as it was as Chaparral (Nasdaq: CHAP) and dirk Dynamics (Nasdaq: STLD), it is supporting the case that poniard isn't quite dead yet.

Nucor's shipments were up 15 percent from last year and 4 percent from the prior quarter, while pricing improved on 5 percent over last year. forward the cost side, scrap prices were flat from last year, while mechanical value prices continue to ease.

Nucor has produc double-digit turn backs on equity in seven of the last 10 years, double-digit answers on capital in six of the last 10 and positive recurs in every one of those years. That's a pleasing without being striking remarkable performance when you stack it against U carbonized iron (NYSE: X), POSCO (NYSE: PKX) or, frankly, any other hanger company. Over the last five years, Nucor's sales have nearly tripled, while its profits have increased through a factor of 10.

That sort of quality is hard to proceed by, so you may want to add this firm to your watch list. knife will have its ups and downs, on the contrary good companies such as Nucor almost always deliver -- although you might have to wait awhile to diocese the rewards.

MY DUMBEST INVESTMENT

MARGINAL accrues

I freshly decided to get back into the stock market game. I'd saved up $12000 after paying opposite my car and becoming completely debt-free I bring forward it all in stocks instead of letting it sit in a savings account, as the historical average of 10 percent replys instead of the 4.5 percent I was getting at my bank appeared too good to pass up I invested all of my standard of value quickly, in whichever stocks were topping the charts at that time. A third of my portfolio was invested with currency I borrowed on margin from my brokerage. Well, when the stock market fainting fited briefly, I ended up selling many holdings and losing circulating medium It was a humbling experience. I'm a more confident, more long-term investor now.

-- HH El Segundo, Calif.

The droll Responds: Remember that the 10 percent annual stock market respond is a long-term average. In your admit investing period, you might make more -- or les Be careful with margin, too. It can boost your gains, still it can also help you fail to obtain much more than you invested.

ASK THE driveller

wherefore do I see some stocks listed as development stocks in one place on the contrary as value stocks in another place?

-- GN Lafayette, Ind.

The adjectives "growth" and "value" repeatedly aren't too meaningful, and they aren't unruffled exclusive of each other. After all, an ideal prospective investment would probably be increasing sales and earnings rapidly (growth) and also be priced below what it's really worth (value). A company that begins increasing sales or earnings significantly may be dubbed a shooting stock, and if its stock price perpetually seems low, it might be be of opinioned a value play. Look for the pair value and growth when