Going to the Stocks

[Shawn]

Never really traded much before, I have ING Direct, so I'm trying their sharebuilder service to buy and sell some stocks. When I was like 18, I bought some Petsmart stock cause my dad knew alot about the company and I tripled my investment in a month. Not expecting the same results here, but figured I'd give it a try to have some fun with. I have a few limit orders in place so we'll see how it goes on Monday:lol2:

[pdisme]

I've found that, like most things in this country, a 'good' company doesn't always translate into a good stock. :) I bought shares once in a networking company whose products I absolutely loved, and so did everyone else who tried them, and no it wasn't Cisco, but their stock ended up losing half its value from what I paid for it and after 18 months I gave up hope that it would ever rebound to where I bought it so I got out. That was my first and last trading experience; now I just give all the money I can to my financial planner and let him do the right thing with it.

[Shawn]

Yeah Im more talking about day trading them. Just setting the limit orders for real low and then setting the sell orders for a little over that once bought. We'll see how it works :) I'll probably lose it all:lol2: :lol2:

[AgentTripleX]

I think it's a good time to get in long term. I say that because stocks are low now. They may drop some more, but I dropped my crystal ball. I don't have time to day trade.

[roytoy2003]

The BEST THING to do...

Give me all your cash!! I will give you a guarantee 4% return AND all your cash back in say 36 months...??:grinning-smiley-003

[cantwait2]

Shaun, any updates on this as I'l trying to research whether to get it and build some experience on a small amount of $$...any luck so far?

[Shawn]

I have some limit orders of a couple different stocks, but nothing has traded yet, I set the buy price pretty low, but when it does get there (and i think it will) I'll set a sell price limit right away. I'm going to place some more buy orders for some other stocks, hopefully one of em will trade soon. I think it's fun to dabble with it :)

[Shawn]

The BEST THING to do...

Give me all your cash!! I will give you a guarantee 4% return AND all your cash back in say 36 months...??:grinning-smiley-003

:lol2: :lol2: DEAL!! I want my investment to be pearl orange :)

[cantwait2]

are you looking for small % gains on quick trades or are you going to hang in...what's your exit strategy

[Shawn]

Yeah more quick trades at small gains. The long haul stuff I'd better leave to the financial planner. I'm just playing around with changes in the market. On smaller value stocks even small changes can make (or lose lol) a lot of money.

[Shawn]

whohoo stock crash today brought my stocks down enough to trigger my buy orders :) Now I set my sell orders, so we'll see:headbang:

[RAiMA]

Hope you do well Shawn :)

[Matt]

google stock almost at a one year low. $18 change just today.

3 month high of $715.99 since december its dropped steadily, today its at $439 and change.

edit: actually it seems they might actually be at a year low.

[Shawn]

Imo, it will go down even more. And I wouldn't buy it anyway, not at the tech bubble prices they are at.

[pdisme]

Couldn't happen to a better company.

[Matt]

looks like most of the tech industry is taking a pretty big hit.

[Shawn]

Update - lost like $5k so far, went below what I bought it for:lol2: It'll go back up!! Where's tom been??

[Shawn]

whoohoo, sell order executed:crazy:

Imas gonnas bes a days traders:grinning-smiley-003

[bdasbul]

guys if i can make a suggestion . I am in the industry for quite some time now and hell has it been a rough road with tons of volitility since the new year started especially . I have not played an individual compnay since the new year started , just the etf's(exchange traded funds) . Companys can come out and have been ie. the big banks , retail etc.. with big unpredictable news over night that causes dramatic changes in the stock virtually in a matter of hours . ie. bear sterns , etfc ...... the indexs are alot more predictable than cos. at this point in my opinion , and i have been making money for clients by moving in and out of ( trading ) the same 4 - 6 stocks since the new year with great success . They are ddm, dxd ( they track the dow jones indu . index ) the sds & the sso ( s&p 500 index ) and the qid & qld ( nasdaq ) . The beauty of these is that they move 2:1 what the index does . If the index goes up 2% the shares go up 4% and vice versa of course . But heres the trick . The 2 shares that track each index plays both the upside and the other plays the downside momentum . Meaning that you have the ability to make money not only when the mkt. goes up but when it goes down as well without having to bet on an individual co . !!!
Now i follow the s&p index the closest since it is the best gauge of the overall mkt. ( 500 cos. ) the dow is only 30 stocks and the nasdaq is more tech. weighted . The s&p has moved in a channel the last 4 months . From the lows of about 1250 to 1400 on the upside . Back and forth . I move into the etf's that plays the upside between 1250 - 1275ish on the s&p and move out of that , book a profit and move into the etf's that plays the downside around 1350 -1400 . It has been working great ( knock on wood ) . Some of these shares have made me 20% in a matter of days to a couple weeks .
Another great thing is that these etf's cannot be upgraded , downgraded , miss or hit an earnings report and most importantly come out with news . If the mkt. goes up they do and if the mkt. goes down the right etf goes up as well . Its a more conservative stratagy i feel to implement in this environment but does not rob you what so ever of making big money quickly ...
Just thought i would offer some advice to those trading the mkt. right now .

[Shawn]

Thanks for the info. What is an example of a etf?

[bdasbul]

its an Exchange Traded Fund ( etf ) it is a basket of stocks in 1 individual share . Could be sector specific or track the indexs like the ones i mentioned . For example the ones i am in now for clients are up in a down mkt. They are qid and sds . One tracks the nasdaq ( qid ) the other tracks the s&p 500 ( sds ) these both go up when the indexs go down . But the move usually 2:1 from what the index does ....

[Craftsman]

You and I think alike bdasbul. I've been doing exactly this since the end of Jan. Been so busy with it this is one of the few times I've checked in over here and then I find this post. Agree 100% about the relative safety of using these index etf's. I'm also using the Proshares ultra series for twice the index move. I have had some nice gains purchasing shares in whichever side is at the bottom of it's range then sell when it gets near the top and immediately use the proceeds to buy into the opposite fund and do it again. Works as long as we are in a range bound market but if we start trending again it could get ugly, so I watch it closely and keep tight stops. I am now considering starting to build a position in UWM which tracks the Russell 2000 (long) so that if we have reached a bottom the up move should start with the small caps. These funds can easily move more than 2 points in a day, sometimes multiple times a day. In a month trading 1000 shares over and over the small gains can really add up.

[bdasbul]

It has been a great stratagy and i am keeping a close eye on if the supports/resistences get broken . If so the stratagy has to change . But for now , if it aint broke , dont try and fix it , right ? lolol . We are right near that resistence in the s&p 500 ( i watch this index the closest ) . If 1400 gets broken with conviction and strong internals ( mkt. breath , volume etc.. ) Time to switch gears . I feel a strong summer ralley is in the cards personally ... Just have to get by earnings season 1st and personally that could be the catalyst for the mkt. to pullback , induce profit taking and take a few steps back . The economy is shit and it may easily get noticed in cos. earnings reports .

[Craftsman]

This last move up has been on below avg volume but we keep holding up and not retracing, making me a bit twitchy. Crossed into my alert zone, S&P above 1370. I'm taking notice today of what the reaction is to Alcoa's numbers and guidance. Tomorrow is "turn around Tuesday" so it could be interesting.

[bdasbul]

i know this level ( 1370s) in the s&p is uncomfortable , but we have been here b4 . More than once in this channel . Its 1400 i am worried about and it has to be broken with certain conditions like we said . I personally feel and have said it b4 that this earnings season can be the catalysts for that pull back but personally as well i dont feel that there are to many more downside moves after this one . I would love to see a summer rally . The futures looked scary this morning but , look at the close . Stay tuned and in touch . Fed minutes coming out as well .

[Craftsman]

Well if you are in the ultrashort funds things went pretty well today although slower reacting than recently. Alcoa missed, wamu shareholders diluted 100%, Fed minutes turning bearish, not one but two former fed chairmen in the news (really appreciated Volker's viewpoint, but I'm short), S&P not only held below 1400 but closed under 1370, indictments issued pertaining to Nymex trading. Apparently traders are getting comfy with negative news, these would have caused big moves 2 weeks ago, does kinda feel like the calm before the storm though. Agree with your reasoning bdasbul about a summer rally but unless some big moves with volume come along in the next month or so we could be looking at summer of 09 before it happens. Something of note today on some tech I track, Java and PMCS dropped over 3%, 3x their index move. Java can amplify moves of market sentiment, and PMCS is 98% institution and mutual fund owned. We'll see in a few days if this downturn is for real.

[Stryke]

I keep my IRA in Vanguard S&P which has done pretty well in last few years. Last individual stock I bought was a small Canadian Company and it went from 11 cents to $4.00 in about 2 months. I had 50,000 shares and was pretty happy but like an idiot I didn't sell and ended up selling at 60 cents a few days later. :(

Even though I made a few dollars with it I was so mad at my greed and lack of discipline that I hadn't made a trade since. That was about 2 years ago.