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There’s no question that the stock market these days is ugly. The Dow is over 20% off its highs. The looming financial crisis continues to be headline news and housing and consumer confidence continues to suck wind. As a stock investor, I continue to search for ways to boost my returns. Today, I’ll talk about two things I have done recently to boost my return even while some of my stocks are losing value.

Stop Paying For Trading Commissions

A few days ago, I switched my account from Charles Schwab to Zecco. The reason? I went from paying $12.95 a trade to paying nothing. With Zecco, you can have free commissions on your first 10 trades each month. I average about 5-8 trades a month so this is definitely a nice way to cut costs and boost my return on my account.

Let’s assume I was averaging 6 trades a month at $12.95 a trade. I was incurring a cost of $77.70 a month. This comes out to $932.40 a year!! What the joke! This was substantially impacting my overall return on my account. Well, no more.

Are you paying for trading commissions? Even if you don’t trade but a few times a year, why are you paying for them? I am extremely pleased with the service and quality of my account with Zecco. I would encourage you to check it out.

Learn A New Trading Strategy

In a previous article, I mentioned a new strategy for me with regards to trading. This strategy works independent of the direction of the market. This trading method shorts overhyped penny stocks based upon clear, technical indicators or buys penny stocks poised for a break out. The tough part is finding these perfect setups.

I get my setup alerts through TIM. Skeptical?  Check out one of my successful moves with regards to this strategy.  My goal is to implement this strategy when notified of the ideal setup to help make some quick cash on short term movements.  This cash will help boost my returns and is a nice way to diversify away from my long term value investments.