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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jason W who wrote (4489)	3/22/1999 4:03:00 PM
From: EyeDrMike	Respond to of 57584

MMPT broke out today,

To: Jason W who wrote (4489)	3/22/1999 4:14:00 PM
From: Rande Is	Respond to of 57584

Jason, in my opinion, stop losses are just one more tool the MMs have to make sure that THEY make the most from YOUR profits. I don't like them. Whenever you show your hand to the dealer, you will lose the game. Stop losses, limit buys/sells or anything that is posted but not executed is seen by the MMs and others. I prefer to trade manually whenever possible. Good til cancelled orders are fine, if you cannot watch a stock, for whatever reasons. . .but only when you are trading in small quantities. Otherwise, day orders are the only way to go, as they can be reset overnight. Trading large quantities in thinly traded issues can be disasterous for good til cancelled orders that are placed "out there" and forgotten. I like to quickly set limit sells on the way up and jump on limit buys on the way down, day only. Anything you leave in the system has a chance of being forgotten by you. But the most important thing about profits is to TAKE them when you can. If you see a gain in a stock and leave a stop loss order good til cancelled, you are potentially giving away your gain to the MM, as he walks the stock down to pick up your stop loss cheap shares. . . commonly referred to as an MM shake. But if you take your profits at the highs, you are ABSOLUTELY guaranteed to keep your profits. Selling is the ONLY way to guarantee profits. Once the volatility calms, you can re-enter your stock with greater confidence and considerably less risk. So you miss a point from where you sell to where the stock consolidates. So what. By removing your play and re-entering in calmer water, you cut your risk considerably. Never consider what you "could have" gained. That is a trap that leads nowhere, and ends in frustration and bad trading habits. The point here is to take WHAT you can WHEN you can. Rande Is