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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lynn Goodman who wrote (15467)	1/17/2000 10:27:00 PM
From: mauser96	Respond to of 54805

Lynn, the GG isn't really a book about technology. To quote the jacket it "reveals the dynamics driving the market for high tech stocks and outlines the forces that catapult a select number of companies to "gorilla" status-dominating the markets they serve". The book does have some of the usual jargon and acronyms, but most of these can be readily explained in on line tech dictionaries.(I recommend Computer Desktop Encyclopedia) Only by RTFM will you understand the reasons why these companies are different, and this knowledge will give you the strength to resist selling when the market declines. Nobody gets fully up to speed right away, and all of us are still learning.

To: Lynn Goodman who wrote (15467)	1/17/2000 10:38:00 PM
From: TigerPaw	Respond to of 54805

RTFM; my hesitation is just that I am intimidated by what I glean of it from this Thread. Have no fear, it is a well written understandable book. Yes you will have to learn about some technology, but the book explains how to come by the information (just read SI and you'll get 90%). The first section has a great explanation on stock valuations that was wonderful for someone like me who understood technology but not markets. TP

To: Lynn Goodman who wrote (15467)	1/17/2000 11:19:00 PM
From: Mike Buckley	Respond to of 54805

Lynn, I have owned CSCO, NTAP, SEBL, Q, CTXS and GMST myself since November, and I have only recently figured out, with much pain and on the most elementary level, what these companies do. Wow! If there is anything a carpetologist can relate to, that's it! I understand exactly where you come from. I remember trying to figure out the networking competitors four years ago and never succeeded. As much as you seem understandably concerned that the manual will be beyond you, I think there's a darned good chance that it will HELP you understand those and other companies. I'm not suggesting that you won't have to continue diligently pursue the lingo of high-technology markets until many of the buzz words easily roll off the tip of your tongue, but Gorilla Gaming will give you the framework to know what to look for and to know what not to waste your time on. Good luck! We'll be here to help you sort out the details. Don't feel as if you have to get to the end before you ask for clarification. --Mike Buckley

To: Lynn Goodman who wrote (15467)	1/17/2000 11:26:00 PM
From: Mike Buckley	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

Lynn, I forgot to respond to a really important issue you raised. Yet if I had waited to invest, look at the increases that I would have missed! Yes, but in the case of each of those companies I could just as easily show you time frames that you could have invested and lost 40% or more of your investment in a really short period of time. Frankly, you got lucky regarding the timing of your investments in those companies. That it coincided with a record-setting 85% annual increase in the Nasdaq is just one huge bit of good fortune. Using your logic, you might have invested just prior to the fall of 1998. So be glad that you joined all of us in being lucky enough to have invested in stocks that overwhelmingly outperformed their underlying companies. That rarely happens. Take your time understanding the concepts and don't feel any pressure. --Mike Buckley

To: Lynn Goodman who wrote (15467)	1/17/2000 11:29:00 PM
From: kumar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

have owned CSCO, NTAP, SEBL, Q, CTXS and GMST myself since November, and I have only recently figured out, with much pain and on the most elementary level, what these companies do. In general, my personal opinion is : that's a dangerous game. One shouldn't buy stock in a company, until one is comfortable with their business & business models. With your choice of stocks, u probably have been lucky... relying on luck in the long term is not a viable proposition - just my opinion. to learn a bit about Cisco, in laymans terms, buy a copy of the latest Time Magazine. it might help. cheers, kumar

To: Lynn Goodman who wrote (15467)	1/18/2000 1:03:00 AM
From: freeus	Respond to of 54805

I'm in the same boat. I do not understand much of this technology. But when people say "Don't invest if you dont understand what the company does" I just smile. I like the returns I have gotten...I understood DELL just fine but it didnt help my portfolio when the revenues stopped increasing at the rate they had been. So the balance sheet is where its at: it would be wonderful to understand the technology but.... But you will understand the manual anyway, enough of it to make a difference to your investing. Freeus