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Strategies & Market Trends : Trading For A Living -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rusty who wrote (391)	6/9/1998 5:07:00 PM
From: David R. Parker	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1729

Gee Rusty, it took years..... I'm actually working with a bit more than that. about a third of our capital came from stock options I had been granted yearly as a store manager for Vons and (after their merger) Safeway. My average option price was only about $8 a share and SWY is now at about $40 (adjusted for splits). I had "a bunch" of vested options when I left last year. A lot of my peers had cashed theirs in periodically for cars, boats, vacations, etc. I just sat on mine...and I'm glad I did! Another large portion came from a position in a small company (OICC - Omega Indiana Care Corp) that (over simplifying) combined with others (Evergreen Healthcare/National Healthcare Investors) and went public. This company eventually became Grancare (GC-NYSE) which spun off Vitalink Pharmacy Services (VTK) (which is now merging with Gensis Healthcare)and then later became Paragon Healthcare (PGN) which is now merging with Mariner Health Group (MRNR). Whew! Still with me? Anyway, this "small" position (less than 40k) is now worth "a lot". Not due to my skill as an investor, just in the right place at the right time. In addition, we have saved and invested through the years and always lived below our means. That is the biggest secret...stay out of debt and be a disciplined saver/investor. The "magic" of compounding is powerful. How to get started? First, eliminate all debt. Then adjust your standard of living to be below your means. Then save/invest at least 10% of your income (not counting your retirement contributions) and _stay_with_it_! I don't believe in paper trading...never helped me at all. Once you have money to place, start to work with it. With the internet and on-line trading, it's the way to go. Best wishes to you.... Regards, David