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werdd
06-08-2008, 12:49 PM
Im thinking of dumping a little cash into the market. Im mostly looking to buy 100 shares of something cheap (<10).

Ive been looking at AMD
http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:AMD

and Novell

http://finance.google.com/finance?q=Novell&hl=en&meta=hl%3Den

I mostly understand the Technology portion of the business world and happen to think these companies have a chance to do well.

But im pretty green so yeah welcome any discussion :)

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 12:53 PM
First of all, low in price per share isn't the same as cheap. Often times, a low in price stock is that way for a damn good reason and it is the most expensive stock on your watch list because that so-called cheap stock is probably headed even lower for good reason.

This is something that many new traders fall into.

werdd
06-08-2008, 12:56 PM
So what looks good to you right now?

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 12:57 PM
If on day 1 stock A is trading at $100 and stock B is trading at $5, and on day 2 the stocks do a forward and reverse split to where stock A is trading at $5 and stock B is trading at $100, calling one stock "cheap" and the other "expensive" begins to have no meaning based on PPS alone doesn't it. If you want to value a company based on fundamentals that is another story and a worthwhile effort.

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 12:58 PM
So what looks good to you right now?

It all depends on how speculative you want to be and what your time horizon is.

werdd
06-08-2008, 12:59 PM
i was just looking at around 2000 when amd was trading at 47 a share, back when the Tbirds were out, and i think AMD has a good strategy to capture the bottom end of the processing market, if they ever make it back to where they were in 2000-2002 then i would be in good shape.

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AMD#chart1:symbol=amd;range=my;indicator =volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;l ogscale=on;source=undefined

im also a huge amd fan, and would like to see them suceed :X

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 01:02 PM
My advice is that if you a huge fan, not to trade that stock and stay out of the sector entirely. If you love the stock, it is not ever going to love you back and the love will blind you from making good trading decisions.

If you want to "invest" and want to put your money in it and forget about it for years, I'll defer to people with a more fundamental background and value investing, but you said "trade" and to me that means something quite different.

werdd
06-08-2008, 01:07 PM
Truthfully i want to double cash in a years period, but i only understand the dynamics of the Tech market. What sources to you read from and how do you determine what is a good buy?

Im really just trying to learn.

Primbs
06-08-2008, 01:10 PM
Go to investors business daily and read up on their methods.

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 01:16 PM
Truthfully i want to double cash in a years period, but i only understand the dynamics of the Tech market. What sources to you read from and how do you determine what is a good buy?

Im really just trying to learn.

Some links I hit every day:

http://www.cboe.com/data/mktstat.aspx
http://www.ft.com/home/us
http://www.bloomberg.com
http://finance.yahoo.com/
http://www.minyanville.com/
http://www.fxstreet.com/rates-charts/forex-charts/
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/info_glance/petroleum.html
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
http://dynamic.nasdaq.com/dynamic/premarketma.stm
http://www.secform4.com/
http://www.alaron.com/quotes_charts_blank.htm?
http://stockcharts.com

werdd
06-08-2008, 01:22 PM
What is the benifit of knowing when a hurricane is going to hit?

Is it just a time to sell or do some stocks actually do well?

JS4Pat
06-08-2008, 01:26 PM
Well this isn't a <$10 stock but if you think the economy is on a downward spiral - you can make a lot of cash.

SKF
Ultra Short Financial

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=skf

I bought some a few weeks ago at $99 per share - on Friday when the DOW dropped 394 points it was up over $10 closing at $122.

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 02:09 PM
Some ETF lists and descriptions.

http://www.ishares.com/product_info/fund/index.htm
http://www.invescopowershares.com/products/
http://www.proshares.com/funds
http://www.ssgafunds.com/etf/index.jsp

Cowlesy
06-08-2008, 02:36 PM
I've been buying LNG under 5, selling above $5.50, and shorting it when it goes above $6 and have been making some decent coinage with only one goofed trade where I let emotion/greed intervene.

I think OptionsTrader posted one of his friend's advice on that somewhere on the board to the tune of, "Stops are in. Emotions are out."

Sage advice, in my opinion.

Carehn
06-08-2008, 02:43 PM
Auy

werdd
06-08-2008, 03:36 PM
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CFC

opinions?

Also does anyone know of any fantasy stock type sites, i kind of want to goof around a bit before i commit what is to me a large chunk of change.

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 03:43 PM
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CFC

opinions?

Also does anyone know of any fantasy stock type sites, i kind of want to goof around a bit before i commit what is to me a large chunk of change.

Describe why you would want to buy a mortgage company? What is to keep CFC from going to $4.00 or $0.00?

Do you know that Mozillo has dumped MILLIONS of dollars in CFC stock over the past 2 years?

http://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/25191.htm

insider transactions:

http://www.secform4.com/ichart-25191-960-180-0.png

Cowlesy
06-08-2008, 03:44 PM
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CFC

opinions?

Also does anyone know of any fantasy stock type sites, i kind of want to goof around a bit before i commit what is to me a large chunk of change.

radioactive. maybe short it if you know what you're doing.

werdd
06-08-2008, 04:10 PM
Describe why you would want to buy a mortgage company? What is to keep CFC from going to $4.00 or $0.00?

Do you know that Mozillo has dumped MILLIONS of dollars in CFC stock over the past 2 years?

http://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/25191.htm

insider transactions:

http://www.secform4.com/ichart-25191-960-180-0.png

Im just seeing that even though they are genuinely screwed long term, they are still making slight jumps. I realize its fairly volitale.

On june 2 they jumped from 5.25-5.50, if i commit 100 shares i made 25 bucks

If they spike to 5.50 tomorrow and i bought right at open i will make 50 bucks.

Also if you dont mind me asking, i was reading on that site earlier, and what exactly does it mean if an insider pours money in a company?

That they are doing poorly?

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 04:19 PM
Im just seeing that even though they are genuinely screwed long term, they are still making slight jumps. I realize its fairly volitale.

On june 2 they jumped from 5.25-5.50, if i commit 100 shares i made 25 bucks

If they spike to 5.50 tomorrow and i bought right at open i will make 50 bucks.

Also if you dont mind me asking, i was reading on that site earlier, and what exactly does it mean if an insider pours money in a company?

That they are doing poorly?

In a stock like CFC, where the company is teetering on bankruptcy, splikes up in the price can be thought of as not real buying but short covering by people who opened a transaction in the past selling at say $20 and covering their shorts buying back at $5.5. This activity should not be confused with real buying. People buying at $5.5 thinking the stock is going back to $20 because something has fundamentally changed are setting themselves up to be disappointed when the stock bleeds to $4.00, $3.00, then $1.00, then delisted. I am not saying that is what will happen to CFC but it wouldn't be surprising.

This is not to say you cannot day trade the stock and try to get in on a swing but you are playing in very shark infested waters where there is a lot of information you do not have and the people with the information are selling their shares like they are covered in Uranium flavored peanut butter.

Insider buying is hard to gauge sometimes, but there is an adage that insiders sell for many reasons and only buy for one reason - they think the price is undervalued. Insiders often have programs that sell their shares for them, and they do not directly manage the selling so sales are not necessarily synonymous with an insider believing now is a great time to sell. But in Mozillo's case, this bastard has been unloading his shares for years, massive amounts of shares, and that kind of selling coupeld with the overall mortgage market problems was what inclined people like me short the fuck out of CFC in the $30s.

http://i25.tinypic.com/208ut5h.gif

Cowlesy
06-08-2008, 04:27 PM
If an officer of a company thinks his company is going down, there is little to zero chance he's going to take his own money to try and pump the stock. It's a completely futile effort.

I'm very new to actively trying to trade which is completely different than investing.

If you're going to try and trade using $1k, find the broker with the lowest commissions as those will eat into you very very quickly if you don't immediately conquer the emotion problem (I still haven't fully conquered it).

Also you better make peace with yourself that you are comfortable losing 100% of that money. If you cannot lose that money and still get along, you cannot start trading.

It's a total guess on my part, but I don't think many people new to trading with $1k ever double their money. More than likely, unless you can take out emotions, you're going to lose about half of it.

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 04:29 PM
What you want to do is learn with that 1000, then slowly add money saved and earned working to your account because that is how your account will grow the first year, not by excellent trading, unless you get lucky.

werdd
06-08-2008, 04:32 PM
Well i dont have any bills to pay and got a decent paying IT job, im willing to gamble 500 bucks.

Im leaning strongly towards novell though, im going to fantasy on a few stocks tonight and see how i end up tomorrow.

Novell just released their quarterly report and everything looks fair.

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 04:33 PM
Regarding sources of information, if you do not get the bloomberg channel on cable, you can stream bloomberg tv via the net:
http://www.bloomberg.com/tvradio/index.html?Intro=intro_tvradio

Leave it on for hours a day and knowledge will eventually seep in.

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 04:49 PM
What is the benifit of knowing when a hurricane is going to hit?

Is it just a time to sell or do some stocks actually do well?

Natural gas prices are dramatically affected by storms, and lack of storms, in the gulf of Mexico.

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 04:52 PM
Well i dont have any bills to pay and got a decent paying IT job, im willing to gamble 500 bucks.

Im leaning strongly towards novell though, im going to fantasy on a few stocks tonight and see how i end up tomorrow.

Novell just released their quarterly report and everything looks fair.

Keep in mind that even though a particular stock is ready to rock and roll based on its own merits, if the overall stock market trends down, your "good stock" has a good chance of following the herd depending on what sector it is in.

werdd
06-08-2008, 08:38 PM
Question.

What would happen to shareholders of yahoo if microsoft actually ends up buying them out at 37.45 a share?

Would they be able to sell off at that price?

OptionsTrader
06-08-2008, 08:41 PM
Question.

What would happen to shareholders of yahoo if microsoft actually ends up buying them out at 37.45 a share?

Would they be able to sell off at that price?

You get shares of MSFT per whatever deal ratio is arranged. You can sell when the buyout is announced if you like and cash in at the pop before having to wait for the MSFT shares.

Primbs
06-08-2008, 09:10 PM
I have dealt with both Microsoft and Yahoo and really have to wonder if employees even care about the company. The customer service is really bad. Much of it is outsourced.

You can sense the employee morale is low at both companies. I won't even to begin to describe the problems I have had, but they are there and they are pathetic.

bucfish
06-08-2008, 09:12 PM
By Aussie, New Zealand, or Asian stocks. Stay out of US stocks. and read Crashproof!

grizzums
06-08-2008, 09:17 PM
By Aussie, New Zealand, or Asian stocks. Stay out of US stocks. and read Crashproof!

:confused:

There are good stocks in every corner of the world.....and also bad ones.

grizzums
06-08-2008, 09:25 PM
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CFC

opinions?

Also does anyone know of any fantasy stock type sites, i kind of want to goof around a bit before i commit what is to me a large chunk of change.

Practice a bit...

Here you go. (http://simulator.investopedia.com/)

I recommend you don't try and hit the home run....singles are a better approach, imo.

Also, there is no generic way to value stocks because different sectors and different types of companies should be valued using different metrics.

Here (http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/%7Eadamodar/New_Home_Page/spreadsh.htm#cf) are some different spreadsheets I use during the early stages of fundy analysis....as well as some of my own. I think you are starting out with a good frame of mind in that you are looking into industries that you understand, an approach that the great W. Buffett has preached for a long time.

Good Luck.

werdd
06-09-2008, 08:42 AM
AMD 7.88 +0.45 +6.06%

shoulda bought 100 yesterday :(

werdd
06-09-2008, 03:05 PM
Im looking at either etrade or ameritrade, what online broker do you guys prefer?

Cowlesy
06-09-2008, 03:24 PM
Im looking at either etrade or ameritrade, what online broker do you guys prefer?

For trading I use Scottrade. They have a solid realtime system and cheap trades. For investing I use Merrill Lynch.

I've heard thinkorswim.com is good too.

OptionsTrader
06-09-2008, 03:26 PM
Im looking at either etrade or ameritrade, what online broker do you guys prefer?

I use scottrade for stocks.