Good for you,, as you know,, Scottish , do not speak English,, they talk weirdish ,, R O F L M A O ,,
When I moved from London to Duesseldorf,, I hired 2 secretaries to join me ,, one from Leeds and another from Edinburgh,, it took me 3 mos,, to understand her English ,, ! ;-)
We started a IRC room open to SA members,, where more active memebrs who are daytraders can watch the real action and follow the trend as you say ,, but more in dynamic sense ,, minute by minute,, this is to augment our profit more intensely on stocks that trade well ,, we also use this as form ,, for newbies to watch , one singular stock ,, instead of running around like a chicken with no head,, rather by watching one stock and one stock only ,, like a zen master,, watching water drop.. you can go into the microscopic world of how one stock trades,, by learning the bwhaviour of that one stock ,, with the dow and comdex trendline,, one can become a good scalp trader ,, any where from 1/4 to 10 points ,, in case of CMGI ,, we have done very well since this has good liquiduty and has very dynamic range of intra day swings,,
Listen to this member ,,
Dear Joe:
Just a note to thank you for your advise.
When I first joined SA just before the WSJ article I had about 20K seed money
to invest. While I am an experienced Mid-Cap Corporate COO, Private business
owner, and have many excellent long term investments, a hugh 401-K, paid off
home, etc. and keep 100K in a GNMA account for emergency cash, I found I did
not know squat about day-trading. Newbie was even term too good for me.
Backgound marginally counts. In my case it helped me act before thinking! I
acted on hype on treads..not fact.
I got lucky with a few picks early. Built the 20K to 40K, then within a week
dropped 28K waiting for divine intervention on stocks that had hit their
highs. Sure they'd come back just like my 401-K, and annuities, all long term
investments. Newbie mentality. Divine intervention does not happen in day-
trading!!!!
I tend to learn quick when money is taken from me...first thing I learned is
that I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, about day-trading. Went out and
bought some books mentioned on SA and SI thread. Also listened to your advise
to learn one stock. Picked CMGI as was a suggestion. Made small 100 - 200
share trades in the $60's and $70's. Learned the daily pattern of the stock.
Made money playing the trends. If stock was going the wrong way, sold and
took loss happily and immediately. Was successful about 4 of every 6 trades
with this stock. Trading CMGI, got my seed money to $61K. Went to their
stockholders meeting on Dec. 17, only 25 miles from my house. Listened to
management, read their eyes, checked their pulse....but- checked charts, news,
did DD up the gazoo!
To make long stroy short bought 500 CMGI at 98. Sold at 134. Bought back at
111 sold at 115 last Friday morning. Bought at 106+ last Friday at close.
Sold at 131 at open Wednesday. Bought back at 128 5 minutes later. Sold at
206 Friday PM. TOOK THE PROFIT!
Also, bought and day-traded this stock in 100 and 200 lots for anywhere from
+2 to +10. Also, unlike perfect traders, bought it sometimes going the wrong
way. If trend bad, I sold immediately, took small loss -- planned reentry. I
have learned not to watch ticker and go blind. On Friday thought I had the
trend. Bought 200 at 198. Stock started down, put in a conservative stop
loss..no problem. Made a new pot of coffee, took a walk. Came back to screen
15 minutes later and sold at 205!
Added up my gains and losses this weekend on last 3 months of trading.
CMGI - up + 88K
A/O + 9K
Start 20K
Total $117 +$97 from start late Oct.
Went all cash this weekend -- learned unabomber lesson on ASTM, GERN and a few
others. Doing my DD for Monday - don't mind missing a gap. Buy on the
pullback if I feel the stock is a good daytrade.
I have plenty to learn, and I mean PLENTY! But newbies need to listen to
sound advise. IRC has been great..but hype is a killer. Newbies like me need
to learn who is giving good info, hyping or P&D type. I am getting better
feel on this. Also doing better on other trades, but still need to get Level
II. Will do this week. Even being to the pluse, I am now much more cautious
of my day and position trades than when I started.
Anyway thanks Joe. My wife now understands why I like a 10 second commute to
my home office versus a one hour commute to office and corporate BS. At 48, I
may need to return to it, but not for now.
Please continue to encourage newbies to go slow, paper trade, pick a stock to
follow, learn DD, don't listen to every hype on web or IRC. They can make
money.
4 out of 5 days a week is my goal. Hope to see you in NY next month.
Thanks again Joe,
John Xxxxx
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