As this very long politics season is finally coming to a close (and I am so glad it is) I have found something else that really has caught and kept my attention. Until early October this year, I always assumed the Stock Market was for those people with huge amounts of money and plenty of money to lose. But after watching how volatile and dysfunctional (hence the false name of this hub) this market has become quite interesting to follow (if you have the stomach for it) and I do think a smart, well timed investor, even with a small bankroll, can really take advantage of this current market. Being a gambler myself, I liken the Market to Roulette except we have hundreds if not thousands of indicators every spin. It definitely has become about as predictable as that wheel as the market has violently swung up and down in historical fashion these last few weeks many times with very little explanation.

Regardless of the swings, I do find the market very interesting and in my few weeks of study of the market and my recent stuides of '87 & '29. I myself have opened an etrade account and have started dabbling myself. I listen to all the analysts I can for some advice but its become pretty obvious to me no one knows what exactly is going to happen next. I do believe one adage very strongly in what they say though. If you need the cash in the next 5 years do not invest it in this current market. I think that's great advice as even the best and brightest traders have taken a major beating this last year as the Dow has come down from 14K to its recent bottom of 7800 (Oct. 10th). But based on the history of the last 10 Bear markets I see a lot of potential in this market.

I do reiterate though this Market is extremely volatile and dysfunctional and probably not for everyone right now. One site that I like to play around on which is basically a stock portfolio with fake money but very real in every other way is a site called Wall Street Survivor. Before jumping right in, if you want to try your hand in this market I would dabble on the Survivor first and see if you like it. They offer some great prizes but I think you'd have to be one lucky person to win one of those prizes but its free to play and pretty fun even though its not real money.

If you like your chances I think its a good idea to give a company like etrade a chance but as you can see from my stock picks at hardrisk, I am yet to find out the answer to my question above.

As my last few stock plays have sizzled I have found 2 stocks which I love because of how cheap their stock price is now after this last Bear rush and also how high their dividend yield has become. Windstream (WIN) is a solid company and has over a 12% dividend yield which stock analysts assure me will not be cut (which is as good a guarantee as I expect to get).

Altria (MO) is an even more solid company that now has an 8% dividend yield and both of these have become my most recent plays as if this recession stays for a long time I can live with those dividend yields.

My most recent play DXD is a special stock that performs inverse of the DOW. I expect this late November Bear Rally to cycle down soon so I have bought some DXD to take advantage as that as if the DOW falls my stocks lose value but the DXD play becomes a profit. Home Depot (HD) is a dividend capture play as the ex-dividend day is 12/2 and I am trying to make a small profit on the stock as well as get paid a small dividend for owning the stock at the right time.

CBS is now my most recent play as I grabbed some shares just in time to qualify for their crazy 18% dividend. I also got in at a great price thanks to this volatile Monday in the market which brought CBS down over 10% on the day before its ex-dividend date.

I haven't been able to find an embeddable video of where to watch the market but if you google: Cenac survival stock the first result will be a video of Wyatt Cenac and his tips for watching the stock market.

Here's a quick recap of my first stock plays:

• 10/27 Bought ACV @ 21.50 Sold 10/29 @ 23.35

   

• 10/28 Bought YHOO @ 11.45 Sold 11/4 @ 13.25
• 10/30 Bought AVP @ 20.45 Sold 10/31 @ 23.00
• 11/4 Bought THC @ 3.25 Bought more @2.55 (2.90 AVG)currently holding as stock is still down
• 11/7 Bought GM @ 4.25 Bought more @ 3.25 (APPS $3.67) sold 11/26 @ 4.50
• 11/7 Bought GOOG @ 326.00 Bought more @314.97 (APPS $320.48) still holding
• 11/25 Bought MO @15.50 still holding 
• 11/25 Bought WIN @ 8.00 Sold 12/3 @ 8.79
• 11/26 Bought DXD @ 72.51 Sold 12/1 @ 81.00
• 11/26 Bought HD @ 22.99 Sold 12/5 @ 24.10 
• 12/1 Bought CBS @ 6.0117 12/2 Sold @ 6.13 (qualified for 18% dividend)
• See Hardrisk.com for the rest of my stock plays

As a disclaimer to my Jim Cramer video below. I think Cramer is a genius and fun to watch but does have a tendency to make some bad stock picks. Don't buy a stock he recommends without doing your homework first.