Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Market Gems:Stocks w/Strong Earnings and High Tech. Rank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: croonerjim who wrote (47735)	6/30/1999 8:58:00 PM
From: Jenna	Respond to of 120523

The Holy Grail..when to sell. Little signs here and there, sometimes they are 'stock-specific' and not general strategies. I made a mistake on NDB last quarter by not jumping in and the quarter before I made 125% in one day (I saw the earnings after midnight and put the stock on the watch list and jumped in).. I'm not sure I could find that on SI.. but I'll try. You have to develope a 'feel' for some of the stocks.. It doesn't even take too long. The first time I was in PHCM I was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. 5 trades later I'm a lot more confident with PHCM and I see that the 1/2 point spread is fine and I like to trade it between 40 and 50, and if it wasn't up so much today I would have held even this one overnight. YHOO is another one that I love and I'm familiar with. Although I exited two time one with 9 1/2 and today with 14 (this was the stock I was in the option but I'm using the stock price for clarity).. I just though that 9 - 14 point gain is too much to leave on the table.. On the other hand SWS which was so oversold to begin with, I held.. Compared with SWS chart patterns in the past 6 months a 14 point gain in two days is about average for April, so I decided about 14 points it was enough. VNWK.. this one I had no place for any longer, so I 'pushed' it to my husband after deciding 2-3 point was not enough gain for a sell and took the 'cash' from the sell, but VNWK is now in his account. CUST..I tried to go short twice today once as a short and the other as a put and had no more than fractional gains.. Why then did I sell? Because CUST looked like the momentum was still bullish. It should have gone down much more in the pre-FOMC hours. Then I saw the intraday chart.. the thing was rising the last 20 minutes even before the meeting.. and the -2 1/2 was becoming -3/4 then -5/8 etc.. I sold about then.. After the FOMC, CUST went into positive territory.. Here again not enough to entice me to enter, but enough to feel justified in my decision to SELL the puts. PVN..this was a 'gamble' which I took knowing that it could go both ways, but because the market (DOW) was down quite a bit in the morning until 2:00ish I thought that PVN had no where to go but up so I entered the options. Now after the meeting the reason I sold was 'stock specific'.. I still think the sector is fine, maybe even the stock, but for a longer term hold I prefer the steadier, more 'faithful' COF.. So you need a little of a feel for the stock itself. stocks develop their own 'signatures' like a footprint or a handprint. EXDS is a steady, hi flyer, BRCD now looks like a hi flyer. AOL is not such a hi flyer nor is BCST, so when they fly I like to take notice, and when they are up 4 or 5 I like to hold. When I am making up the watch lists, I am becoming pretty intimate with the stocks on that list. It takes about 2 to 3 hours sometimes for a list (especially in the last 6 weeks).. It used to take 1 1/2 hours. By the time you are getting the list I am extremely aware of everything this stock has done in the past 12 months or longer, fundamentals, news, product enhancements, technical etc... so I'm apt to know when to get in a little quicker than someone who is just introduced to it 7 or 8 hours ago and probably will never spend 2 hours analysing the list. 25-30% is an amazing profit and I would not feel like a 'failure' for taking it.. Just like a 24 point profit on CUST is amazing and I don't feel that under the trying circumstances of that stock, I could have done any better. I was going to get some puts this afternoon on some of the stocks but it was pandamonium and I decided to leave it.. You will know when the momentum is over... you might miss 3-4 points by exiting early but you can either re-enter (i.e. MAIL, NDB) or just wait for the inevitable pullback. There is always another trade just around the corner.

To: croonerjim who wrote (47735)	7/1/1999 6:50:00 AM
From: lee kramer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 120523

Croonerjim: I like (and employ) Jenna's "Holy Grail" post to you. In fact, taped to the bottom of my screen is a note to myself that reads "never forget the bad times" and underneath it my sidekick Suzy wrote "Go with your gut!!!". We gotta listen more to the good women...in many ways they know FAR more than we do. One strategy I use you might find helpful; Say I buy 400 shares of NITE at 51. It moves up nicely to 60 in a couple or three days. If I sell all 400 I've got a nice trade, but if it keeps runnin I may get a bit annoyed for pulling the sell-trigger for no reason other than fear of losing what I've gained. Or if I think it's gonna keep runnin I may not sell. So what I usually do is sell half, hold half. If it runs, I'm still in half. If it drops back and the technicals look good I've got the option to re-enter. For me, it's a way of overcoming the "psychological" stuff that often gets in the way of smart trading. And because I'm a trader, not an investor, it helps. I never take the "full ride" for the most money. But that's OK for me. (Lee)