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

To: robert pekol who wrote (52555)	7/24/1999 6:00:00 PM
From: Long John	Respond to of 120523

Robert, I heard someone say the learning curve for successful stock trading is about 2 years long. That's how long I've been at it and I still prefer to use Market Gems to narrow down the list of picks for me. I just trade earnings plays - I think it's easier if you're just starting out. Check out my small contribution to earnings plays and intermediate holds at concentric.net. Notice some of the stocks that have performed well before or after the earnings reports, and study the chart patterns of those stocks. In the future look for stocks with patterns similar to the ones you are comfortable with. I personally like the ones that trigger buy alerts many days before earnings, or pop up after a good earnings report, or that are on both the calendar and watch list at the same time. But choose your own style. Jenna offers stock picks for all risk levels and all lengths of holding periods. And keep an eye out for the changes coming to Market Gems. The services offered will be getting better. John

To: robert pekol who wrote (52555)	7/24/1999 7:59:00 PM
From: TimbaBear	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 120523

Regarding where to start, I would advise paper-trading and doing a lot of reading....an absolute essential for you IMO would be "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom" by Tharp....he discusses risk management, position sizing and head state issues that might help keep you in the game in spite of yourself(I am not saying that unkindly, this book has done for me what I am suggesting it might do for you)....I would also advise you to read "Market Wizards" by Schwager. It may seem dull to be paper-trading and reading when you are watching all the activity on MG, but the game will still be here when you have more completely educated yourself and are better able to make money...I've seen the heart-breaking posts of those who leaped in before preparing themselves and don't want to see another....Good Luck!

To: robert pekol who wrote (52555)	7/24/1999 9:05:00 PM
From: wallacestevens	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 120523

Robert -- what an excellent post. I understand your frustration. I have been there, and I am often there. There is so much information flying so fast, it is easy to get overwhelmed, dazed, and frozen in your tracks. I use MB Trading. I like the realtime level II quotes and the instant order entry as well as the realtime "portfolio" management. I put portfolio in quotes because MBT is really geared for the daytrader -- though I use it for both day and swing trades. Many people on this thread do not use Level II quotes, and I agree with their reasons. I just find that for me it works best. I think the best advice I could give anyone starting out is to go very slow. Pick a few stocks -- maybe up to ten -- that you like and create a portfolio on Yahoo!, reading the news that comes out on the companies and studying their profiles. Read this thread every day, and keep CNBC on during the trading day. Then, decide to trade something. Start small, around 500 shares. Some people say start wth one or two hundred shares, but you need a bigger move to cover your trade costs and get a little profit, so I recommend 500. DON'T TRY TO WIN ENOUGH FOR YOUR MERCEDES IN THE FIRST TRADE. Let your goal be to make a good trade. A good trade might make a little money, but it might lose a little money, too! A good trade lose money????? Yes -- if you followed your rules doing it. If your rule is not to lose more than $100 or half a point on a trade, and you close the position before you lose that much, then you have made a very, very good trade. For me, making money has been a snap. The difficult thing has been to avoid losing too much money on a trade that doesn't go my way. To summarize: A, get trading software you like to use; B, make one trade and follow your rules no matter which way it goes; C repeat B, slowly and surely. Soon, you will be comfortable going with more shares and more than one stock at a time (this is still hard for me). Soon you will be discovering wonderful gems to let us all know about. Soon you will be refining what works for you and sharing it with others. Welcome!