John-
I am confident that THQI and SMTC will rise sharply in 1998. It is discouraging to buy a stock and watch it drop. When I first bought SMTC in summer 1996, I paid $6 (post-split numbers). A month later, it had dropped to $4. I then tripled my position. A few weeks later it bottomed at $2.875. I didn't buy any more, but I didn't sell any either. The stock ran up to $36, down to $17, and back to $22.
The story is similar with THQ, where I first bought in 2/96 at over $4, only to watch it fall to $3.25 a month later. I have since increased my position in THQ by a factor of 6 or so. But along the way, the stock declined significantly during certain periods. In 12/96, THQI peaked at $10.75, and bottomed in early spring 1997 at $5.75. I'm glad I bought more a few weeks after it bottomed.
The key to success with these stocks is to buy when they are depressed (before I bought SMTC at $6, it had hit a high of $16 several months before). You need to understand that these small cap stocks are not widely followed on Wall Street, which is why they decline to such an extreme degree. Therein lies the opportunity for you and me. But their charts do not reflect the high quality of their businesses. Both stocks should be at twice their present prices.
Trust me-- you'll be glad that you bought THQI and SMTC. Just hang in there.
Charting and TA:
I've used Lombard before. But I also use:
fast.quote.com
bigcharts.com
quotes.galt.com
alphachart.com
These are the 4 charting sites that I use frequently.
Good luck,
Todd |
