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Strategies & Market Trends : A.I.M Users Group Bulletin Board -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nimbus who wrote (17180)	10/28/2001 5:28:59 PM
From: aptus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18928

Hello Nibmus, I seem to recall a post on this board suggesting exactly that. It was posted at least 5 months (maybe even longer) ago. I think there might be two problems. 1. If prices fall in such a way that they blow through your stop, you could end up selling for less than the AIM recommended price. 2. By not actually selling when AIM recommends it, you are essentially affecting the next AIM recommendation or (if you prefer to view it as such) extending the update period. The latter is not a huge problem in my mind, the former could be. regards, Mark.

To: Nimbus who wrote (17180)	10/28/2001 6:02:48 PM
From: doniam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18928

Sounds like it is a good idea if you can watch the stock as it is approaching your initial sell point. I have tended to enter resting limit orders to sell at the AIM price. Without them and with my luck it would hit my price and if I didn't have an order in then drop never to be seen again. -Don

To: Nimbus who wrote (17180)	10/28/2001 8:57:04 PM
From: axp	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18928

I tried to use stops instead of sells when I first started AIMing because it appeared that one could "let the winners run" that way. In practice it didn't help often enough to justify the extra work of managing the stops. High volatility is one of the selection criteria for AIM stocks, and the same volatility is what takes out the stop order. I found the risk of missing a sale by waiting for the price to increase enough to place a stop outweighed the possible improvement in selling price. However, I do use one informal rule about when to buy or sell. If it's the first transaction in the opposite direction, I use a good-till-cancelled order at the AIM recommended price. On successive trades in the same direction I check for AIM trades in the last 15 minutes of the day, assuming the AIM waiting period has expired. I haven't studied it, but I've been very happy with the prices I've gotten this way and it frees me from having to watch the ticker all the time and fret about when to buy or sell.

To: Nimbus who wrote (17180)	10/29/2001 6:59:42 AM
From: OldAIMGuy	Respond to of 18928

Hi N, Some have suggested stopping out of the entire position on a fall back. This I don't find appealing or even in keeping with AIM to any degree. To keep AIM content, you would not only have to change the price of the stop order, but the size as well as the price climbed. This would be in keeping with AIM to a much better degree. You then have to measure the extra work load and time watching the ticker against the extra value gained. AIM's already pretty generous. Selling Call contracts at the various AIM Sell break points can be profitable, too. In general I don't hesitate much in selling when my overall cash reserves are well below the Idiot Wave's suggestion. Individually some stocks can look well funded while the rest of the portfolio is desperate for cash. Don't forget that once on the Cash side of the equation the money earns more than most stocks pay in dividends. So, it's not a bad thing to have it resting in relative safety. Certainly better for the account than having it rest on the "risk" side without paying a dividend. Best regards, Tom

To: Nimbus who wrote (17180)	10/29/2001 9:05:49 PM
From: steve in socal	Respond to of 18928

nimbus, if you look in the AIM glossary, you'll find the term "strewie" which now represents the reminder to us that tinkering too much usually equates to disaster. i first thought about your approach at least 5 years ago and i tried it. but, since i have a full time job and live on the west coast it became impossible to baby-sit my orders and keep moving the bar to maximize each and every trade. i believe this past years "strewie" award winner, mr. goldberg, reminded someone earlier this year that it is not possible to always buy at the absolute bottom and sell at the absolute top. and, AIM was designed to be a trading tool that we don't have to baby sit. others have already posted the various problems with what you are proposing, so i won't go into it. but, market timing has always proved to be the least sucsessfull method of trading. my advice is on a rare occasion, do what you are suggesting. it'll satiate your appetite for the thrill of victory. but rely on the belt and suspenders of AIM 95%+ of the time. if not, believe me, you'll be a finalist for the 2001 "strewie" award. i should know! beentheredonethat.com