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Strategies & Market Trends : Roger's 1997 Short Picks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: philip maun who wrote (7196)	11/18/1997 11:39:00 PM
From: Roger A. Babb	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9285

Phil, not being able to borrow short shares is the first of the three short seller curses listed below. I have also had trouble with yhoo. 1. Not being able to get short shares. 2. Having the shares called back. (A threat not often executed) 3. The dreaded short squeeze.

To: philip maun who wrote (7196)	11/18/1997 11:56:00 PM
From: Don Westermeyer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9285

Phil, YHOO has a fairly small float and is already heavily shorted. I am suprised you couldn't get shares though. It seems to be brokerage dependant. There are a few things to try. - Try either in the beginning or near the end of the day. Sometimes shares become available then. - Try a different broker. - There should be about 1.5 million more shares on the market soon (an S-3 was filed) so there should be more shares to short. Good luck, YHOO is a wild ride not for the weak! Don

To: philip maun who wrote (7196)	11/19/1997 1:20:00 AM
From: Dale Baker	Respond to of 9285

Phil, you are smart to start small. My shorts still figure in the 100's instead of 1000's because I know I lack the experience and the capital to play in a higher stakes game. One recommendation: before you initiate any short position, decide up front if you will bail with a 20% loss or you are willing to ride out a squeeze (and perhaps add more to your short). Once you decide, stick with your decision and don't waver. Indecision during a short squeeze will drive you nuts and make you poor. If you use stop-orders for bucking broncos like YHOO, AMZN or AOL, move them down each day when you are in the black. They may trip on the next rebound but you will lock in a small profit instead of seeing a winning position turn against you. FYI, I shorted YHOO briefly ten days ago through E*Trade but couldn't get AMZN. Haven't tried recently because their MACD charts show them headed up. Good luck.