Everyone seems to have their own secret or strategy or trick to making money in the stock market. Here are two strategies that have helped many people.

         1. It's your time, how do you want to spend it?

         Some people suggest high risk investments and watch them all day. Others say that simply buying good quality mutual funds and hanging onto them for a long time is the best option.

         One of the deciding factors for you in developing your investment strategy should be the amount of time that you are willing to spend on monitoring your investments. There is nothing wrong with investing in high-risk investments if you have the time to spend researching, analyzing, and monitoring the price movement. There's also nothing wrong with the "buy and hold" method, if you do not have the time to spend on watching your investments.

         The people who have been very successful in investing are able to match their investment style with the amount of time they can spend on investing.

         2. It's your money, how much can you risk?

         The people who have lost everything on the stock market were not careful at managing their money. The stock market is not a gamble, if you're careful. But you need to be careful in what you buy and how much you buy.

         You can decide what is right to buy based on the amount of time you want to spend in the market. Knowing how much to buy is another issue. Don't put more into your higher risk stocks than you're willing to lose!

         You may find greater safety in buying mutual funds or bonds and if you have money you don't want to see disappear, those are probably good options for you. If you are sitting on your children's education fund, you probably do not want to be sinking that in stocks that could potentially gain or lose as much as 50% in a day!

         Knowing how much time you have to spend on your portfolio and how much you are willing to risk are two strategies that can help you make wise financial decisions when it comes to investing.

         Jeff Lakie is the founder of Investing Resources a website providing information on Investing