Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : SAP A.G. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DownSouth who wrote (1457)	7/15/1998 1:26:00 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3424

I call a stock a "momentum" if it is moving up, not because of increase in value of co, but because everyone is "piling on" and trying to catch the run. Its like betting with a hot shooter at the crap table in Vegas. But you have "know when to hold em, and know when to fold em." Comp USA was a great momentum stock last year, then missed their numbers, and the stock folded. The whole internet, ie: Yahoo, excite, etc is all momentum right now, the numbers are crazy, but if you can catch the ride and get off, great. I am riding AOL right now, the safest of the internet momentum stocks, but I will be out in a second if we get any bad news, because the mutual funds will take their profits and run. I am holding twice as much SAP right now as I would normally buy, because I figure their will be a "momentum" run from August to October. If we get the run I will sell 1/2, and hold the rest. If we don't get the run, I will probably get out if I have a better gorilla or king to go to.

To: DownSouth who wrote (1457)	7/15/1998 3:58:00 PM
From: mauser96	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3424

I think CSCO and MSFT are both earnings driven and momentum driven. The latter means that many of the purchasers buy them only because of their relative strengths and are really not interested in fundamentals. I think you can tell momentum stocks sometimes by the chart pattern where there will be fewer of the normal dips. A momentum stock requires some good news to get the ball rolling, so most of them have good earnings increases or at least a good "story". Of course there is no way to know for sure, since the true motivation of market participants is unknown. Any speculation about motivation is a guess. Actually, a good bit of the time buyers and sellers hide their own motivations from themselves, making emotional decisions which they then justify by some sort of rationalization process. A reasonable number of momentum players is fine since they tend to decrease volatility, but if there are too many when they all try to leave at once it turns into a stampede.