The aim of investing in stocks and shares is to buy at a low and sell at a high, but knowing when, is the problem. Many investors attempt to time the market: they try to figure out when the market is going up and buy into it before it does, and then figure out when it is going to crash and sell everything just before it does. Unfortunately such spot on accuracy is usually impossible to achieve, so what you can do is try to catch a portion of each big swing. You buy when the upswing has begun, and sell as the downswing starts. But for this to work, you must be able to control your greed, as you do not know exactly when the top or bottom is reached.

The stock market can be said to be driven by two emotions: greed and fear. People get caught up in the boom fever and pay silly prices for unworthy shares - this is greed driving bull markets. In bear markets, people get carried away with the ruling negativity and are overeager to believe the worst rumors - this is fear dominating bear markets. You must step away from the crowd and not let them take over your rational reasoning and action.