Author Topic: Active investors/Day Traders Thread  (Read 127510 times)

soccerluvof4

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Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« on: March 05, 2014, 07:41:20 AM »
[Mod Edit]  Changed the word "Forum" in the thread title to the word "Thread" - a whole forum section is not needed for this, at this time, but a single thread is fine.  For those posters who don't agree with active trading or are a fan of index funds, this is not the thread for you.  If you would like to discuss active versus passive investing, start a new thread, and let the active traders have this one for posting their ideas/thoughts/results.  Thanks![/End Mod Edit, back to the original message]

Whatever you want to call yourself s, I just thought there could be a place here at MMM  to start a forum and share ideas, trades, research, opinions or whatever for those that do trade or are very active in the markets. I do for my own purpose utilize this as a source of extra income just like anyone else would do side jobs doing remodeling.  Right now I consider myself to be an "opportunistic trader" but usually self described as value investor. I am not looking for people to be part or respond to this thread to express why or why not they think we are foolish and trying to guess the market tops and bottoms or trying to beat the index funds. I feel confident in what I do so lets keep it Friendly.

 The Market seems toppy to me with both putting in record S&P highs as well as the last time the Russell 2000 index rose by 3% (and to a new 52-week high) was March 1, 2000. Buyer beware. However as most of us know this doesn't mean the market wont continue to climb but my feelings are it will be more choppy which is why right now I am more into cash and an Opportunistic Trader. Overall this doesn't bother me as I use about 10% overall only of my portfolio for trading and when I take profits I send them to my index funds. So money in goes to my trading platform first then to my mm savings account in my index funds then to my index funds. All in all i put about 10 hours a day into trading and love it. No I am not a professional but I feel it keeps me sharp and I find companies I send to my sales force to try and do business with as well as just keep a pulse or try to on the overall business atmosphere. I have been trading for 15 years +/- and think that any information here should be looked at as nothing more than another read and not designed to be recommendations.

A few things I will share of late I have been doing /done/like.

My favorite Reit and I keep adding to is ARCP. I feel this has a strong case to be the next O

Apple Below 520 I have been buying and then selling on rips.

Sold all my shares of BP on the last rise and have been buying COP on dips.

The other day bought TBT and sold yesterday, was a good trade

For fertilizers I like SQM and am long the name. I would get AC back in to POT under 32$

I am also long but not limited to C,GM,KO,PG,SNV,FCX,MO,PWE,SDRL,SO,MUA,MAT,NE,FRD..

Hope others get involved and Happy trading.

« Last Edit: March 05, 2014, 07:49:18 AM by arebelspy »

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2014, 07:53:43 AM »
Thank you for correcting that arebelspy!

wtjbatman

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2014, 09:15:15 AM »
I'm not an active trader, since I do practice buy and hold (except for a couple very specific exceptions), but as part of DGI I do research and examine stocks quite a bit, so hopefully I'm welcome to post here.

Personally, I'm glad Barron's wrote their bearish article on KMI/KMP, as this let me finally initiate a very healthy position in KMI. A position which immediately gained 1%, and I believe, will be a great long term asset in my dividend portfolio. I got it near the 52 wk low, and locked myself in to a great yield on cost. It's hard to argue with a 5% yield and a projected annual dividend growth of 8%+ over the next 5 years. That's what we call the sweet spot of dividend growth investing.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #3 on: March 05, 2014, 09:36:51 AM »
I'm not an active trader, since I do practice buy and hold (except for a couple very specific exceptions), but as part of DGI I do research and examine stocks quite a bit, so hopefully I'm welcome to post here.

Personally, I'm glad Barron's wrote their bearish article on KMI/KMP, as this let me finally initiate a very healthy position in KMI. A position which immediately gained 1%, and I believe, will be a great long term asset in my dividend portfolio. I got it near the 52 wk low, and locked myself in to a great yield on cost. It's hard to argue with a 5% yield and a projected annual dividend growth of 8%+ over the next 5 years. That's what we call the sweet spot of dividend growth investing.

Glad to have you here . In fact a few weeks back i visited your blog. I agree with your assessment/reason as well on the KMI/KMP article. I too look for accidental High Yielders that through the ups and downs will be around and pay me in the process.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #4 on: March 05, 2014, 10:17:18 AM »
Took my profits in GM today (almost 10%). I am watching the market to put a bid in on SDRL. With that 11% Dividend and near the 52 week low the risk/reward from what I am seeing is improving. So I am going to continue to add slowly and keep a stop below. But i think some patience here could reward so playing it closely.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #5 on: March 05, 2014, 10:51:41 AM »

 New York banking regulators have announced that they are now targeting Nationstar (NSM) in the mortgage-servicing business.

 First Ocwen (OCN), now Nationstar.

 Three developing problems now facing the mortgage-servicing industry:

 Policy risk. The cost of servicing mortgages for nonbanks is likely to rise owing to litigation expenses. In its extreme, it could narrow or      eliminate their competitive advantage over bank servicers. Investigations/probes are contagious and expensive. This we have learned with subprime lenders (and robo-signing issues) in the last cycle, including Wells Fargo (WFC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC), in which costs/fines seem to go higher and higher with every settlement. If the servicing margins are importantly influenced by burdensome and expensive government intervention, the industry's return on investment will dwindle by an unknown amount.
Other state regulators might join in. There is blood in the water, and other state enforcers might feel compelled to act.
These three emerging headwinds are value-deflating.

At some price, the run-off value of the companies will make (relative to the share prices) an investment in the sector compelling.

But we are not yet there.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #6 on: March 05, 2014, 11:32:25 AM »
SQM my favorite way to play the ag sector caught a bid today as Barclay's raised Agrium and Potash on improving fertilizing markets. Long SQM but probably wont get my 32$ buy on POT

steveo

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #7 on: March 05, 2014, 12:39:25 PM »
I trade foreign currencies. My approach is to look for something that I feel is at a funny level and then go against that and hold for a long time. I think the USD will appreciate over the course of the year but I get it wrong all the time.

I definitely don't actively trade - one or two positions per year is all I feel I can do and actually make money off.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #8 on: March 05, 2014, 01:10:44 PM »
I trade foreign currencies. My approach is to look for something that I feel is at a funny level and then go against that and hold for a long time. I think the USD will appreciate over the course of the year but I get it wrong all the time.

I definitely don't actively trade - one or two positions per year is all I feel I can do and actually make money off.

I have never dabbled in currencies. I would be interested in your approach and anything else you can share.

hodedofome

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2014, 01:37:29 PM »
I am a momentum/trend following trader more in the style of Jesse Livermore/Nicholas Darvas/William O'Neil. It is 100% technical and about 90% systematic. My retirement accounts are all in index funds but I switch them out based on trend and relative strength similar to strategies published by Mebane Faber or Gary Antonacci. Retirement accounts are 100% systematic. I don't do any day trading and most orders are market-on-close. Trailing stops are either limit orders or market on close. I usually win about 30-50% of the time. Losses are cut quickly. Winners are left to run as far as they will. I've been investing since 2005. Trading since 2011. PROFITABLE trading since late 2012. Before the end of 2012 I really had no idea what I was doing.

My hold times for individual stocks varies. It could be a day or over a year, depending on how long the trend persists. I've found myself almost solely in biotechs lately. FLDM, ATRC, HZNP, RVNC, CARA, EGLT. Also in IRBT and AER. Will buy INVN at the close today.

I know some believe we're in a bubble. Others are convinced biotech is a bubble. I don't mind being invested in a bubble. I have trailing stops that will take me out when it's time. In the meantime, I welcome the bubble to get as big as it wants to.

Currently my trading account is about 75% of my emergency fund. It is my goal to reinvest all profits in this account and grow it to be my FIRE money. It will eventually provide my income, although the profits are very lumpy and volatile (most volatility is upside, not downside). Some years I may not trade at all, if it is a persistent bear market. I buy stocks making all time highs, most have doubled or tripled by the time I buy them. I have very tight stops and don't risk more than 1% of account equity per trade.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #10 on: March 05, 2014, 01:48:09 PM »
I am a momentum/trend following trader more in the style of Jesse Livermore/Nicholas Darvas/William O'Neil. It is 100% technical and about 90% systematic. My retirement accounts are all in index funds but I switch them out based on trend and relative strength similar to strategies published by Mebane Faber or Gary Antonacci. Retirement accounts are 100% systematic. I don't do any day trading and most orders are market-on-close. Trailing stops are either limit orders or market on close. I usually win about 30-50% of the time. Losses are cut quickly. Winners are left to run as far as they will. I've been investing since 2005. Trading since 2011. PROFITABLE trading since late 2012. Before the end of 2012 I really had no idea what I was doing.

My hold times for individual stocks varies. It could be a day or over a year, depending on how long the trend persists. I've found myself almost solely in biotechs lately. FLDM, ATRC, HZNP, RVNC, CARA, EGLT. Also in IRBT and AER. Will buy INVN at the close today.

I know some believe we're in a bubble. Others are convinced biotech is a bubble. I don't mind being invested in a bubble. I have trailing stops that will take me out when it's time. In the meantime, I welcome the bubble to get as big as it wants to.

Currently my trading account is about 75% of my emergency fund. It is my goal to reinvest all profits in this account and grow it to be my FIRE money. It will eventually provide my income, although the profits are very lumpy and volatile (most volatility is upside, not downside). Some years I may not trade at all, if it is a persistent bear market. I buy stocks making all time highs, most have doubled or tripled by the time I buy them. I have very tight stops and don't risk more than 1% of account equity per trade.

Alot of money to be made in Biotechs no matter what the markets doing. I have found I like to buy them in baskets (5 or 6) so if one or two of them goes out of the park I make mula!! right now I am not in any but have a investigation list I am always working on. Keep us in the loop and if i see anything you might want to research i will throw out there as well! Prosperous trading/Investing!

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #11 on: March 05, 2014, 02:01:51 PM »
Not to much today really.

Sold my shares of GM for a nice profit.
SQM is jumping after Barclays upgrades fertilizers Agrium and POT but I like SQM the most in Ag sector and will add on pullbacks or sell if it runs away from me.
Bought shares of RBS at the close. The Bank is going nowhere IMHO and am glad to get into at this price.  Reported a loss last week and have been watching it. Feel somewhat of a floor is in the stock so will add but know it might be a rocky  ride but one i am willing to ride out.

For the most part I will be an "Opportunistic Trader" in this enviroment.


steveo

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #12 on: March 05, 2014, 04:23:36 PM »
I have never dabbled in currencies. I would be interested in your approach and anything else you can share.

My approach is really simple. Look for what seems to be an extreme position and go against it, have an opinion on where the overall market is going and don't fight against this, ideally have the interest differential in your favor, don't over leverage and hold for as long as possible.

Currencies are the easiest thing to trade - you basically bet on the US dollar going up or down. The rest is sort of details that aren't that important. Leverage is extremely easy to get but this can blow your account up so go easy. I also don't see trading foreign currency as the path to riches - its more something that can make a little on the side but it is risky and not worth considering as part of your retirement plans.

I'm not a fan of technical trading strategies and clearly defined stop losses. I have read all of this stuff and I don't think it works if you follow it to the letter in reality. My FIL taught me how to trade foreign currencies and he trades massive positions, hangs on for as long as possible and prays he gets it right. The guy is a multi-millionaire from doing this and was a private equity trader after being a Treasurer at a big bank. He does have some big losses (which he tries to hang onto until he can get out and break even) but on the whole the wins outnumber the losses. He also thinks you need a regular income as well as any form of trading income to survive.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #13 on: March 06, 2014, 05:29:29 AM »
I have never dabbled in currencies. I would be interested in your approach and anything else you can share.

My approach is really simple. Look for what seems to be an extreme position and go against it, have an opinion on where the overall market is going and don't fight against this, ideally have the interest differential in your favor, don't over leverage and hold for as long as possible.

Currencies are the easiest thing to trade - you basically bet on the US dollar going up or down. The rest is sort of details that aren't that important. Leverage is extremely easy to get but this can blow your account up so go easy. I also don't see trading foreign currency as the path to riches - its more something that can make a little on the side but it is risky and not worth considering as part of your retirement plans.

I'm not a fan of technical trading strategies and clearly defined stop losses. I have read all of this stuff and I don't think it works if you follow it to the letter in reality. My FIL taught me how to trade foreign currencies and he trades massive positions, hangs on for as long as possible and prays he gets it right. The guy is a multi-millionaire from doing this and was a private equity trader after being a Treasurer at a big bank. He does have some big losses (which he tries to hang onto until he can get out and break even) but on the whole the wins outnumber the losses. He also thinks you need a regular income as well as any form of trading income to survive.


Very interesting.  If you dont mind me asking can you give me an example of a trade you might like or have right now? and do you use a particular trading platform for just currency ?

I agree with your FIL but now that I am in ER and my wife is working I look at is as my part time job :-)

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #14 on: March 06, 2014, 05:52:53 AM »
I am making the case for BWP one of this years first fallen angels. After its dividend cut it still has a 3% divy, but Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (BWP) has seen its shares absolutely blow up so far in 2014. The Master Limited Partnership's stock is down 48% this year after slashing its dividend by about 80%. An increase in production from the U.S. natural gas industry has caused prices to fall. It doesn't look like business conditions will improve anytime soon. Chief Executive Officer Stanley Horton said recently on a conference call, "Because our transportation and storage revenues are continuing to face substantial market headwinds, we do not perceive these conditions changing appreciably over the next 12 to 24 months." The dividend cut caught yield chasers by surprise and they have exited the stock in droves, driving the shares down to just 80% of book value.

There are headwinds for the company, and there's a good chance it is just the first of the pipeline-and-storage MLPs to cut its payout. But the company has an ace up its sleeve in the form of the majority ownership of Loews Corp. (L), the conglomerate managed by the Tisch family. Rather than taking on more debt or issuing new shares, Boardwalk has obtained financing directly from its parent company on favorable terms and operations will not miss a beat. The Tisches are patient and intelligent investors who see the bigger picture and are unlikely to do anything rash in response to the current weakness in the business. Some have speculated they may sell the pipeline partnership, but it will be on terms favorable to themselves.

Business conditions may not be perfect, but this company has some valuable assets. It owns 14,410 miles of natural gas and liquids pipelines and underground storage caverns with an aggregate working gas capacity of approximately 201 billion cubic feet and liquids capacity of approximately 18 million barrels. Its pipelines originate in Gulf Coast region, Oklahoma and Arkansas and extend north and east to Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Pipelines are not easy to build these days, so existing networks become all the more valuable.

Wall Street analysts usually flee from falling angels like Boardwalk, but instead they are praising Loews for taking the most financially conservative approach to dealing with the slowdown. Analysts at Morgan Stanley were quoted in a recent Barron's article:

"With a weaker outlook, the company had two choices -- moderately cut the distribution and risk funding growth capital projects -- in part -- with dilutive equity offerings (given the likelihood of a lower unit price), or very substantially reduce the quarterly distribution rate, but be able to fund the capital plan internally. Loews, as the quintessential long-term holder, chose the latter course of action, although this obviously has had a significant near term negative impact on unit price. Over the long-term, we believe that [Loews] has made the better choice, preserving maximum value."

I agree with the analysts for a change. The company has assets that are close to irreplaceable, deep-pocketed and patient majority owners and time on its side. The demand for natural gas will inevitably increase over the next decade and business conditions will eventually improve. At 80% of book value, the stock is too cheap not to own. While I am not long the stock I am looking for an entry point as I am willing to wait this stock out in my value investment portfolio side not my "Opportunistic Trading Side"

hodedofome

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #15 on: March 06, 2014, 06:41:48 AM »
I have never dabbled in currencies. I would be interested in your approach and anything else you can share.

My approach is really simple. Look for what seems to be an extreme position and go against it, have an opinion on where the overall market is going and don't fight against this, ideally have the interest differential in your favor, don't over leverage and hold for as long as possible.

Currencies are the easiest thing to trade - you basically bet on the US dollar going up or down. The rest is sort of details that aren't that important. Leverage is extremely easy to get but this can blow your account up so go easy. I also don't see trading foreign currency as the path to riches - its more something that can make a little on the side but it is risky and not worth considering as part of your retirement plans.

I'm not a fan of technical trading strategies and clearly defined stop losses. I have read all of this stuff and I don't think it works if you follow it to the letter in reality. My FIL taught me how to trade foreign currencies and he trades massive positions, hangs on for as long as possible and prays he gets it right. The guy is a multi-millionaire from doing this and was a private equity trader after being a Treasurer at a big bank. He does have some big losses (which he tries to hang onto until he can get out and break even) but on the whole the wins outnumber the losses. He also thinks you need a regular income as well as any form of trading income to survive.

There are many ways to make money in the market. I know personally a guy that has made over 40% CAGR for over 30 years using classic price patterns and clearly defined stop losses.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #16 on: March 06, 2014, 06:46:58 AM »
I am making the case for BWP one of this years first fallen angels. After its dividend cut it still has a 3% divy, but Boardwalk Pipeline Partners (BWP) has seen its shares absolutely blow up so far in 2014. The Master Limited Partnership's stock is down 48% this year after slashing its dividend by about 80%. An increase in production from the U.S. natural gas industry has caused prices to fall. It doesn't look like business conditions will improve anytime soon. Chief Executive Officer Stanley Horton said recently on a conference call, "Because our transportation and storage revenues are continuing to face substantial market headwinds, we do not perceive these conditions changing appreciably over the next 12 to 24 months." The dividend cut caught yield chasers by surprise and they have exited the stock in droves, driving the shares down to just 80% of book value.

There are headwinds for the company, and there's a good chance it is just the first of the pipeline-and-storage MLPs to cut its payout. But the company has an ace up its sleeve in the form of the majority ownership of Loews Corp. (L), the conglomerate managed by the Tisch family. Rather than taking on more debt or issuing new shares, Boardwalk has obtained financing directly from its parent company on favorable terms and operations will not miss a beat. The Tisches are patient and intelligent investors who see the bigger picture and are unlikely to do anything rash in response to the current weakness in the business. Some have speculated they may sell the pipeline partnership, but it will be on terms favorable to themselves.

Business conditions may not be perfect, but this company has some valuable assets. It owns 14,410 miles of natural gas and liquids pipelines and underground storage caverns with an aggregate working gas capacity of approximately 201 billion cubic feet and liquids capacity of approximately 18 million barrels. Its pipelines originate in Gulf Coast region, Oklahoma and Arkansas and extend north and east to Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Pipelines are not easy to build these days, so existing networks become all the more valuable.

Wall Street analysts usually flee from falling angels like Boardwalk, but instead they are praising Loews for taking the most financially conservative approach to dealing with the slowdown. Analysts at Morgan Stanley were quoted in a recent Barron's article:

"With a weaker outlook, the company had two choices -- moderately cut the distribution and risk funding growth capital projects -- in part -- with dilutive equity offerings (given the likelihood of a lower unit price), or very substantially reduce the quarterly distribution rate, but be able to fund the capital plan internally. Loews, as the quintessential long-term holder, chose the latter course of action, although this obviously has had a significant near term negative impact on unit price. Over the long-term, we believe that [Loews] has made the better choice, preserving maximum value."

I agree with the analysts for a change. The company has assets that are close to irreplaceable, deep-pocketed and patient majority owners and time on its side. The demand for natural gas will inevitably increase over the next decade and business conditions will eventually improve. At 80% of book value, the stock is too cheap not to own. While I am not long the stock I am looking for an entry point as I am willing to wait this stock out in my value investment portfolio side not my "Opportunistic Trading Side"

Agreed! in my trading the only time i really don't have a stop loss in place is if On my screens I am fixed watching! Its all about what works for you and lets you sleep at night.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #17 on: March 06, 2014, 07:18:31 AM »
 Guess though profited I got out to early on the TBT
Yields continue to rise this morning, with the yield on the 10-year U.S. note up 2 basis points.

And the ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (TBT) climbs as well, as it embarks on a multiyear expansion (imho)

I will be nibbling/adding to shorts this morning via QQQ's and Spy's. But emphasis on Nibble as with this melt up gotta be careful. However we have  been in this nice "opportunistic" trading range and till were not its working.

wtjbatman

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #18 on: March 06, 2014, 07:26:45 AM »
I'm not an active trader, since I do practice buy and hold (except for a couple very specific exceptions), but as part of DGI I do research and examine stocks quite a bit, so hopefully I'm welcome to post here.

Personally, I'm glad Barron's wrote their bearish article on KMI/KMP, as this let me finally initiate a very healthy position in KMI. A position which immediately gained 1%, and I believe, will be a great long term asset in my dividend portfolio. I got it near the 52 wk low, and locked myself in to a great yield on cost. It's hard to argue with a 5% yield and a projected annual dividend growth of 8%+ over the next 5 years. That's what we call the sweet spot of dividend growth investing.

Glad to have you here . In fact a few weeks back i visited your blog. I agree with your assessment/reason as well on the KMI/KMP article. I too look for accidental High Yielders that through the ups and downs will be around and pay me in the process.

That's the key on KMI/KMP. It's not even some speculative play, it's a large cap with a huge moat that will likely be around for decades. I am not an expert on MLP's like KMP, especially with their odd tax structure, but I do feel comfortable putting money into KMI as overall fundamentals are sound. The falling stock price was essentially a result of some bearish sentiment. Just makes the entry point for me that much better.

Other stocks that I feel are fundamentally sound, despite being at or near 52 wk lows, are HSBC, KO, MAT, MCD, PEP, TGT, TRP, TUP. I would initiate positions in all of them if I had the ability (money).

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #19 on: March 06, 2014, 07:47:00 AM »
I'm not an active trader, since I do practice buy and hold (except for a couple very specific exceptions), but as part of DGI I do research and examine stocks quite a bit, so hopefully I'm welcome to post here.

Personally, I'm glad Barron's wrote their bearish article on KMI/KMP, as this let me finally initiate a very healthy position in KMI. A position which immediately gained 1%, and I believe, will be a great long term asset in my dividend portfolio. I got it near the 52 wk low, and locked myself in to a great yield on cost. It's hard to argue with a 5% yield and a projected annual dividend growth of 8%+ over the next 5 years. That's what we call the sweet spot of dividend growth investing.

Glad to have you here . In fact a few weeks back i visited your blog. I agree with your assessment/reason as well on the KMI/KMP article. I too look for accidental High Yielders that through the ups and downs will be around and pay me in the process.

That's the key on KMI/KMP. It's not even some speculative play, it's a large cap with a huge moat that will likely be around for decades. I am not an expert on MLP's like KMP, especially with their odd tax structure, but I do feel comfortable putting money into KMI as overall fundamentals are sound. The falling stock price was essentially a result of some bearish sentiment. Just makes the entry point for me that much better.

Other stocks that I feel are fundamentally sound, despite being at or near 52 wk lows, are HSBC, KO, MAT, MCD, PEP, TGT, TRP, TUP. I would initiate positions in all of them if I had the ability (money).

I own KO and MAT as well and probably will add to KO on any dip. Had a bid on PG yesterday as well that i currently own but missed out.

I initiated 1/4 positions this morning in BWP for reasons I explained and also VALE which I will circle around back to . Vale has a safe 5.5 current yield IMHO and is doing all the right things for again what i feel a sucessful turnaroud.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #20 on: March 06, 2014, 10:59:26 AM »
Took off a little of my SQM as its run over 10% quickly and nibbling on some more NE. Thats been about it so far today.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #21 on: March 06, 2014, 11:37:20 AM »
I'll play. I bought Chipotle (CMG) yesterday at $569. I liked the chart pattern and the same store sales increase. I think management has it's shit together. Plus their shows called farmed and dangerous which you can see on the internet crack me up. I've walk the 2 1/2 miles to Chipotle with my wife, have lunch and then walk back home.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #22 on: March 06, 2014, 01:56:31 PM »
I'll play. I bought Chipotle (CMG) yesterday at $569. I liked the chart pattern and the same store sales increase. I think management has it's shit together. Plus their shows called farmed and dangerous which you can see on the internet crack me up. I've walk the 2 1/2 miles to Chipotle with my wife, have lunch and then walk back home.

Awesome! I started nibbling on some KMI as well today

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #23 on: March 06, 2014, 02:17:10 PM »
Todays Recap

Initiated positions in BWP, Vale and KMI

Sold some Shares of SQM on its quick 10% ramp up to apply to new positions. Will add on pull back or let rest run.

Added shares to NE

Till tomorrow!

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #24 on: March 06, 2014, 02:25:50 PM »
Very interesting.  If you dont mind me asking can you give me an example of a trade you might like or have right now? and do you use a particular trading platform for just currency ?

I agree with your FIL but now that I am in ER and my wife is working I look at is as my part time job :-)

I use Oanda as a trading platform. Its got great spreads (buy/sell rate). As a trade months (I just checked and I don't know the exact date) ago I sold AUD/USD at about 93. Its now 90 however it has been going up (against me) recently.

I will continue to trade when I retire however my main point would be not to rely on the income.

As for trades I like right now - I don't see a huge amount of opportunities however I don't check the market very much. If the market runs up against me significantly I might get out or wait and take another short position (sell again). Typically I just check the markets periodically and when something looks overbought or oversold I think about taking the opposite position. I don't see anything really overbought or oversold now though.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #25 on: March 06, 2014, 02:41:30 PM »
Very interesting.  If you dont mind me asking can you give me an example of a trade you might like or have right now? and do you use a particular trading platform for just currency ?

I agree with your FIL but now that I am in ER and my wife is working I look at is as my part time job :-)

I use Oanda as a trading platform. Its got great spreads (buy/sell rate). As a trade months (I just checked and I don't know the exact date) ago I sold AUD/USD at about 93. Its now 90 however it has been going up (against me) recently.

I will continue to trade when I retire however my main point would be not to rely on the income.

As for trades I like right now - I don't see a huge amount of opportunities however I don't check the market very much. If the market runs up against me significantly I might get out or wait and take another short position (sell again). Typically I just check the markets periodically and when something looks overbought or oversold I think about taking the opposite position. I don't see anything really overbought or oversold now though.

Gotcha, thanks for responding. Let me/us know when maybe something appears interesting just so I can learn more about it. My brain is already on overload so probably wont get into it but it definately sounds interesting. I am in ER and will trade as long as I can. I find it intriguing and heck puts some extra money in the accounts! that always make mama happy! :-)

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #26 on: March 06, 2014, 03:14:22 PM »
I am considering trying some active trading in the future.  It will be at least a year, as I want to be able to fully fund my 403b, then pay off all my non-mortgage debt first.  But I am hoping by next year we will be in a position I can  do this.  So, how do you not get your profit eaten up by taxes and trading fees!  And what do you think is the minimum that would have any upside?  I am wondering if I would do this with a Roth for tax reasons, since in the beginning I would be trying with pretty small amounts <$5,500 the first year.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #27 on: March 06, 2014, 03:55:22 PM »
There are so many components to your question. Examples of what you trade and how long you hold them are taxed differently. How it affects your tax bracket. That is really a question you need to sit down with a licensed accountant and go over your questions. I would first figure out what you want to trade and the style you want to trade. Buy and Hold, Day trade, options etc.... and then Stocks, currencies , commodities. To do that I would (since you have a year) really study up on the style you want to trade and learn the discipline behind it. There are people getting rich in every style and there are people losing there as in every style. Also learn how to research the stocks, currencies or commodities you want to trade.  I have been doing this for 15+/- years that I know what i do when it comes to my numbers and accountants but couldn't give you advice on that.  There honestly are just to many moving parts. For now what I would do is go to www.marketwatch.com and www.yahoofinance.com , Bloomberg , alpha all good sources and for every case you can find a reason to buy I.E stock there will be one to not.  Figure how you want to hedge or do you want to use stops and do for a year as well with monopoly money but you have to think of it as your own money. Subscribe to as many free sources of information you can get your hands on and read as many books as you can. 5500 or less is plenty to start with. I wouldn't worry about that right now.

My trading changes with the Market and how I feel it is valued based on what I have learned over the years be it the Market as a whole, sectors or individual stocks but my discipline doesn't.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #28 on: March 06, 2014, 04:05:51 PM »
Meadowlark - Educate yourself before you start trading. Do lots of reading and only trade with dollars what you can comfortably afford to lose if a trade goes south. I started out with $5,000 and bought 300 shares of Chase Manhattan Bank for $16 dollars a share because I liked the dividend. Needless to say, the dividend was cut and the shares went to below $10 within a couple of days of buying the stock. I eventually sold the stock at $19 after a year or so. The stock eventually hit about $100 a couple of years after that sell.

The lesson I learned was not to buy high dividend stocks without understanding the cashflow of the business. I wish I would have read that in some book.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #29 on: March 06, 2014, 04:40:02 PM »
Oh yeah, there will be no money involved until I have done A LOT more research.  And maybe I never will, but I want to at least learn some before I make that decision.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #30 on: March 06, 2014, 05:41:03 PM »
Meadowlark - Educate yourself before you start trading. Do lots of reading and only trade with dollars what you can comfortably afford to lose if a trade goes south. I started out with $5,000 and bought 300 shares of Chase Manhattan Bank for $16 dollars a share because I liked the dividend. Needless to say, the dividend was cut and the shares went to below $10 within a couple of days of buying the stock. I eventually sold the stock at $19 after a year or so. The stock eventually hit about $100 a couple of years after that sell.

The lesson I learned was not to buy high dividend stocks without understanding the cashflow of the business. I wish I would have read that in some book.

Ouch. I think I mentioned as a buy and hold DGI I only have a couple reasons where I would sell a stock, and a company cutting their dividend or freezing their dividend are basically the only two.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #31 on: March 06, 2014, 06:21:08 PM »
For my retirement I use Vanguard index funds and my company 401k.  However, I also have a small taxable account at TradeKing where I engage in personal trading.  If I were to categorize the trading style I use, I would probably call it manual algorithmic trading.  I developed a set algorithm that defines my trading pattern and I have been milking this strategy for about two and a half years now.  So far I have been able to achieve an averaged return of about 60% annually. 
« Last Edit: March 06, 2014, 09:34:12 PM by MrCash »

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #32 on: March 06, 2014, 08:32:06 PM »
Are you going to share any details of your algorithm?

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #33 on: March 07, 2014, 04:17:52 AM »
For my retirement I use Vanguard index funds and my company 401k.  However, I also have a small taxable account at TradeKing where I engage in personal trading.  If I were to categorize the trading style I use, I would probably call it manual algorithmic trading.  I developed a set algorithm that defines my trading pattern and I have been milking this strategy for about two and a half years now.  So far I have been able to achieve an averaged return of about 60% annually.

That is not to shabby! But yea it would be interesting if you could share with us your methodology. Perhaps give us a example or whatever else your comfortable sharing. The more we all share the more we can all learn from one another both what has worked and what hasnt.

thanks

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #34 on: March 07, 2014, 07:40:10 AM »
Selling my Shares in MDR this morning. The stock plummeted last week or so and has just got back to my cost ave basically because the market keeps going up. Having said that if the market ever goes down :-) I will consider repurchasing at a lower price. With the new management I think there is a strong case they can release the value in the company. I will use the cash for now to add to other "opportunistic trades" for now if something appears.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #35 on: March 07, 2014, 08:19:57 AM »
I guess I'll be the bad guy and say that $5000 is not enough to start trading with. At least for most people. When I was with ThinkorSwim and paying $8 one way for trades on a $10k account, I finally realized that I would have made money had it not been for the commissions. And we haven't even gotten into taxes yet. I'm now with Interactive Brokers paying $.005/share, have a $30k account and trying to trade as little as possible. If you are a 'pattern day trader' you have to have at least a $25k account. So for $5k you will be forced to trade less. Or get into currencies and micro accounts.

It took me about 1.5 years before I really understood what good trading is like. And another .5-1 year to develop that understanding into trading systems that are profitable. I read over 30 trading/investing/trading psychology books during that time. I follow probably over 50 blogs dealing with different aspects of trading. There's about 100 books on my shelf that I haven't read yet, with small kids I can only do about 1 book a month.

Here's some books to check out:
Talent is Overrated - Geoff Colvin (this will show you the effort you will need to give in order to make it as a profitable trader)
Reminisces of a Stock Operator - Edwin Lefevre (this is about Jesse Livermore the greatest trader of all time)
How to Trade in Stocks - Jesse Livermore
Market Wizards - Jack D Schwager (reading all of the Market Wizards series is essential)
Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom - Van K Tharp (Van is a trading psychology guy but goes into a lot of trading system development and position sizing) Once you really 'get' what's in this book, his other books are pretty much the same stuff. But you might need to read all his books before the light comes on.
The Disciplined Trader - Mark Douglas Everything by Mark Douglas is good. He dives really, really deep into trading psychology. Without the right mindset it doesn't matter how good your system is, you will fail.
Other trading psychology guys would be Charles Faulker, Ari Kiev, Brett Steenbarger. They are all good and have their own angle at getting to the same thing.

Once you've got the basics down, then you can go into which style of trading suits you best and learn all you can about it. If you want to know which books to read for each style, let me know. Different styles might be momentum/trend following, countertrend, classical chart patterns, value investing, special situation investing, price pattern recognition, global macro, growth, various option specific strategies, spread trading/relative value, and the most profitable of all: become a congressman and engage in legal insider trading.

I'll say that you should approach trading as the most difficult endeavor of your life. It is incredibly hard to reach the point of having the trader's mindset. Once you are there, and the current market environment is conducive to your trading style, you might marvel at how 'easy' it is to make money. But so many times before that, you concluded that it's impossible to make money from trading and everyone who claims to have made money is a liar.



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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #36 on: March 07, 2014, 08:58:07 AM »
Are you going to share any details of your algorithm?


That is not to shabby! But yea it would be interesting if you could share with us your methodology. Perhaps give us a example or whatever else your comfortable sharing. The more we all share the more we can all learn from one another both what has worked and what hasnt.

thanks

I'm sure you'll understand that I can't really share any of the details of my strategy.  However, I can tell you about the trading philosophy with which I operate. 

Risk
First of all, you must understand the different kinds of risks involved with trading:
•   Volatility risk – Any volatility in a stock or fund will erode the potential return of that asset.  The more volatile the asset, the greater this risk becomes.
•   Bankruptcy risk – If you own stock in a company that files for bankruptcy, then you can lose all of the value of that asset.
•   Margin risk – Margin is when you borrow funds from your broker in order to trade.  If the asset that you bought using margin moves against you, then you can receive a margin call.  This means that the broker (in an attempt to preserve the money it lent you) will require you to either sell some (or all) of the stock at the current price or bring in more capital to settle with them.
•   Market risk – This is simply the risk that the market might go down when you want it to go up.
•   Liquidity risk – This is the risk that your full order might not go through because there isn’t enough activity (liquidity) currently for that asset.  This risk increases if you are trying to process very large orders or trade an asset that is not traded very often.  Limit orders can eliminate this risk.

Return
Then understand ways to increase your return:
•   Reduce costs – From commissions and other fees
•   Use leverage wisely – Consider using leveraged ETFs instead of margin
•   Increase capital – The more capital you have, the greater your gains will be.
•   Use trailing stops – This type of market order is very helpful to try to minimize buying price and maximize selling price.
•   Reinvest – Always reinvest your earnings and dividends to increase compounding. 

Your Trading Strategy
You must also develop your own trading strategy.  This is the tricky part.  In order to be successful trading, you need to come up with a profitable strategy and stick with it.  Usually this involves a good bit of trial and error.  To keep the error part of this from impacting your wallet, it is a good idea to practice your strategy without risking real money.  There are several ways to do this including paper trading or using a website that gives you a fake trading account. 

Beware of books that tell you about a strategy that someone else used to get rich.  These books are a way to make money on a strategy that has already been milked and is no longer profitable.  So this is why I suggest that everyone search for their own method and not use a method that has been devised by someone else (for trading and speculation, not investing).  When I was doing research before I started trading, I came across this advice and it was very frustrating because it seemed so vague and unpractical.  But looking back now, I definitely think it helped me tremendously.  This forces you to think creatively and actively try different strategies.  So take in advice from all sources, but create your own method.

Beware of listening to other people's stock picks (especially with penny stocks).  These are often pump and dump schemes.  If you do take advice from blogs or articles, make sure they disclose their own positions.

Your Broker and Commissions
When finding a broker, you need to take into account their reliability, costs and ease of use.  For me, the cost is the most important factor.  Typical trading commissions can range from $20 per trade to $4.75 per trade (and possibly less).  It is important to remember that the round-trip cost of a trade (buying and selling) will be twice this commission, so a $10 commission will cost $20 for a round-trip trade. 

The commission price is also very important in determining how much capital you need to start trading.  For example, if you have $500 in capital and have a broker that charges $10 in commission fees, the you will have to make $20 for each trade just to break even.  That means you will have to make a profit of $20/$500*100%=4% just to break even.  Gaining 4% on a trade is definitely doable, but this makes it very difficult to make a real profit. 

Increasing your capital to $1,000 or changing brokers to one with a $5 commission will reduce this breakeven point to 2%, which is much easier to handle.  Making both of these changes will reduce your breakeven point to 1%!  I always recommend finding a low-cost broker and using at least $1,000 to increase your chances of success.

Don't Risk Your Livelihood
Don't trade using any money that you're not willing to lose completely!  The more risk you take, the more relevant this becomes.  Don't risk any money that is needed for bills, food, rent, your children's future, etc.

Buy Low and Sell High. 
This is very simple in theory, but difficult to implement in practice.  Just remember that neither loses nor gains are realized until you sell.  Sell when you've made a profit, otherwise you haven't actually made a profit.  The buy determines a successful trade, the sell just locks it in.
Rule No. 1: Never lose money.  Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1. - Warren Buffett

Don’t Be ADD
Instead of trying to pick the stock of the day, try to pick one asset to focus on.  Learn how it operates and how it behaves in different market conditions.

Be Patient
I call investing the greatest business in the world because you never have to swing. You stand at the plate, the pitcher throws you General Motors at 47! U.S. Steel at 39! and nobody calls a strike on you. There's no penalty except opportunity lost. All day you wait for the pitch you like; then when the fielders are asleep, you step up and hit it. – Warren Buffett

Don’t Use Margin
Margin increases your margin risk and your market risk.  If the market drops you not only lose value, you also could be hit with a margin call.  This will require you to either sell at a loss or add more capital that you may not have.  If you need leverage, consider using leveraged ETFs instead.

Go Long/Don’t Go Short
Shorting stocks requires the use of margin which increase both your margin risk and your market risk.  There are better ways to take advantages of bear markets.  My advice is to just be patient and only go long, but if you do want to bet against the market, then look into inverse ETFs.

Don’t Use Single Stocks/Use ETFs
Single stocks expose you to bankruptcy risk and increase your market risk.  Single stocks are like climbing a rope with only one strand.  If that strand breaks, then you fall.  Consider using ETFs, which are a collection of stocks.  If one company in the ETF goes under, it’s much less painful.

Use Trailing Stops
Trailing stops are awesome!  They can be used when buying to lock in a price while also following the stock if it moves down.  They can also be used when selling to lock in a price while following the stock if it moves up.

Hopefully this helps!

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #37 on: March 07, 2014, 09:43:54 AM »
Our retirement accounts are strictly an ETF index based portfolio that I have automated to trade itself when it is out of balance (professional software engineer here), so I am an active passive investor. I beat the market handily by doing this by taking advantage of the intraday inefficiencies in the market and rebalance when it is most lucrative.

My wife has a stock portfolio that she has had since before we met some of it was gifts (parents/grandparents) the rest was investments from early in her career, there is hundreds of thousands of dollars in unrealized  gains, so we leave that intact as the tax burden is too high in our current tax bracket to reallocate. Most of these stocks pay over a 2% dividend yield anyway so we really don't mind having them.

I would like to trade more actively but my employment generally limits my activity so we are resolved to more buy and hold strategies.  I did make a go at have a trading entity last year trying to trade (day trade) options that crashed and burned :(

We have also made some purchases in stocks that we like as long term investments like BRKB.  Our most recent buy and hold doesn't make me to active it is coming up on converting from short term to long term gains we bought 200 shares of TSLA @ $37.50 on 3/28/2013. 

-Mister FancyPants

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #38 on: March 07, 2014, 10:57:45 AM »
Are you going to share any details of your algorithm?


That is not to shabby! But yea it would be interesting if you could share with us your methodology. Perhaps give us a example or whatever else your comfortable sharing. The more we all share the more we can all learn from one another both what has worked and what hasnt.

thanks

I'm sure you'll understand that I can't really share any of the details of my strategy.  However, I can tell you about the trading philosophy with which I operate. 

Risk
First of all, you must understand the different kinds of risks involved with trading:
•   Volatility risk – Any volatility in a stock or fund will erode the potential return of that asset.  The more volatile the asset, the greater this risk becomes.
•   Bankruptcy risk – If you own stock in a company that files for bankruptcy, then you can lose all of the value of that asset.
•   Margin risk – Margin is when you borrow funds from your broker in order to trade.  If the asset that you bought using margin moves against you, then you can receive a margin call.  This means that the broker (in an attempt to preserve the money it lent you) will require you to either sell some (or all) of the stock at the current price or bring in more capital to settle with them.
•   Market risk – This is simply the risk that the market might go down when you want it to go up.
•   Liquidity risk – This is the risk that your full order might not go through because there isn’t enough activity (liquidity) currently for that asset.  This risk increases if you are trying to process very large orders or trade an asset that is not traded very often.  Limit orders can eliminate this risk.

Return
Then understand ways to increase your return:
•   Reduce costs – From commissions and other fees
•   Use leverage wisely – Consider using leveraged ETFs instead of margin
•   Increase capital – The more capital you have, the greater your gains will be.
•   Use trailing stops – This type of market order is very helpful to try to minimize buying price and maximize selling price.
•   Reinvest – Always reinvest your earnings and dividends to increase compounding. 

Your Trading Strategy
You must also develop your own trading strategy.  This is the tricky part.  In order to be successful trading, you need to come up with a profitable strategy and stick with it.  Usually this involves a good bit of trial and error.  To keep the error part of this from impacting your wallet, it is a good idea to practice your strategy without risking real money.  There are several ways to do this including paper trading or using a website that gives you a fake trading account. 

Beware of books that tell you about a strategy that someone else used to get rich.  These books are a way to make money on a strategy that has already been milked and is no longer profitable.  So this is why I suggest that everyone search for their own method and not use a method that has been devised by someone else (for trading and speculation, not investing).  When I was doing research before I started trading, I came across this advice and it was very frustrating because it seemed so vague and unpractical.  But looking back now, I definitely think it helped me tremendously.  This forces you to think creatively and actively try different strategies.  So take in advice from all sources, but create your own method.

Beware of listening to other people's stock picks (especially with penny stocks).  These are often pump and dump schemes.  If you do take advice from blogs or articles, make sure they disclose their own positions.

Your Broker and Commissions
When finding a broker, you need to take into account their reliability, costs and ease of use.  For me, the cost is the most important factor.  Typical trading commissions can range from $20 per trade to $4.75 per trade (and possibly less).  It is important to remember that the round-trip cost of a trade (buying and selling) will be twice this commission, so a $10 commission will cost $20 for a round-trip trade. 

The commission price is also very important in determining how much capital you need to start trading.  For example, if you have $500 in capital and have a broker that charges $10 in commission fees, the you will have to make $20 for each trade just to break even.  That means you will have to make a profit of $20/$500*100%=4% just to break even.  Gaining 4% on a trade is definitely doable, but this makes it very difficult to make a real profit. 

Increasing your capital to $1,000 or changing brokers to one with a $5 commission will reduce this breakeven point to 2%, which is much easier to handle.  Making both of these changes will reduce your breakeven point to 1%!  I always recommend finding a low-cost broker and using at least $1,000 to increase your chances of success.

Don't Risk Your Livelihood
Don't trade using any money that you're not willing to lose completely!  The more risk you take, the more relevant this becomes.  Don't risk any money that is needed for bills, food, rent, your children's future, etc.

Buy Low and Sell High. 
This is very simple in theory, but difficult to implement in practice.  Just remember that neither loses nor gains are realized until you sell.  Sell when you've made a profit, otherwise you haven't actually made a profit.  The buy determines a successful trade, the sell just locks it in.
Rule No. 1: Never lose money.  Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1. - Warren Buffett

Don’t Be ADD
Instead of trying to pick the stock of the day, try to pick one asset to focus on.  Learn how it operates and how it behaves in different market conditions.

Be Patient
I call investing the greatest business in the world because you never have to swing. You stand at the plate, the pitcher throws you General Motors at 47! U.S. Steel at 39! and nobody calls a strike on you. There's no penalty except opportunity lost. All day you wait for the pitch you like; then when the fielders are asleep, you step up and hit it. – Warren Buffett

Don’t Use Margin
Margin increases your margin risk and your market risk.  If the market drops you not only lose value, you also could be hit with a margin call.  This will require you to either sell at a loss or add more capital that you may not have.  If you need leverage, consider using leveraged ETFs instead.

Go Long/Don’t Go Short
Shorting stocks requires the use of margin which increase both your margin risk and your market risk.  There are better ways to take advantages of bear markets.  My advice is to just be patient and only go long, but if you do want to bet against the market, then look into inverse ETFs.

Don’t Use Single Stocks/Use ETFs
Single stocks expose you to bankruptcy risk and increase your market risk.  Single stocks are like climbing a rope with only one strand.  If that strand breaks, then you fall.  Consider using ETFs, which are a collection of stocks.  If one company in the ETF goes under, it’s much less painful.

Use Trailing Stops
Trailing stops are awesome!  They can be used when buying to lock in a price while also following the stock if it moves down.  They can also be used when selling to lock in a price while following the stock if it moves up.

Hopefully this helps!


Well , like me it sounds like you have a discipline you follow that is working! Good Stuff!


Our retirement accounts are strictly an ETF index based portfolio that I have automated to trade itself when it is out of balance (professional software engineer here), so I am an active passive investor. I beat the market handily by doing this by taking advantage of the intraday inefficiencies in the market and rebalance when it is most lucrative.

My wife has a stock portfolio that she has had since before we met some of it was gifts (parents/grandparents) the rest was investments from early in her career, there is hundreds of thousands of dollars in unrealized  gains, so we leave that intact as the tax burden is too high in our current tax bracket to reallocate. Most of these stocks pay over a 2% dividend yield anyway so we really don't mind having them.

I would like to trade more actively but my employment generally limits my activity so we are resolved to more buy and hold strategies.  I did make a go at have a trading entity last year trying to trade (day trade) options that crashed and burned :(

We have also made some purchases in stocks that we like as long term investments like BRKB.  Our most recent buy and hold doesn't make me to active it is coming up on converting from short term to long term gains we bought 200 shares of TSLA @ $37.50 on 3/28/2013. 

-Mister FancyPants


You gotta luv your profits in TSLA nice homerun on that one! ...Alot of press lately on accounting . I have never been in the stock but I follow a few that I know are piling in on shorting it.

MrCash

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #39 on: March 07, 2014, 11:34:33 AM »
Our retirement accounts are strictly an ETF index based portfolio that I have automated to trade itself when it is out of balance (professional software engineer here), so I am an active passive investor. I beat the market handily by doing this by taking advantage of the intraday inefficiencies in the market and rebalance when it is most lucrative.

My wife has a stock portfolio that she has had since before we met some of it was gifts (parents/grandparents) the rest was investments from early in her career, there is hundreds of thousands of dollars in unrealized  gains, so we leave that intact as the tax burden is too high in our current tax bracket to reallocate. Most of these stocks pay over a 2% dividend yield anyway so we really don't mind having them.

I would like to trade more actively but my employment generally limits my activity so we are resolved to more buy and hold strategies.  I did make a go at have a trading entity last year trying to trade (day trade) options that crashed and burned :(

We have also made some purchases in stocks that we like as long term investments like BRKB.  Our most recent buy and hold doesn't make me to active it is coming up on converting from short term to long term gains we bought 200 shares of TSLA @ $37.50 on 3/28/2013. 

-Mister FancyPants

I would love to be able to some automated trading.  I just need to improve my software knowledge significantly before I venture there.

Mister Fancypants

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #40 on: March 07, 2014, 11:50:44 AM »
...  Our most recent buy and hold doesn't make me to active it is coming up on converting from short term to long term gains we bought 200 shares of TSLA @ $37.50 on 3/28/2013. 

-Mister FancyPants


You gotta luv your profits in TSLA nice homerun on that one! ...Alot of press lately on accounting . I have never been in the stock but I follow a few that I know are piling in on shorting it.

We do.... however our biggest winner is IBM have had it forever cost basis of $18.83 over 1000% return not even counting the dividends which is a current yield of 2.02%

Mister Fancypants

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #41 on: March 07, 2014, 12:03:10 PM »
Our retirement accounts are strictly an ETF index based portfolio that I have automated to trade itself when it is out of balance (professional software engineer here), so I am an active passive investor. I beat the market handily by doing this by taking advantage of the intraday inefficiencies in the market and rebalance when it is most lucrative....

-Mister FancyPants

I would love to be able to some automated trading.  I just need to improve my software knowledge significantly before I venture there.

Its much harder than it sounds, I this for a living :)

MrCash

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #42 on: March 07, 2014, 12:29:07 PM »
Our retirement accounts are strictly an ETF index based portfolio that I have automated to trade itself when it is out of balance (professional software engineer here), so I am an active passive investor. I beat the market handily by doing this by taking advantage of the intraday inefficiencies in the market and rebalance when it is most lucrative....

-Mister FancyPants

I would love to be able to some automated trading.  I just need to improve my software knowledge significantly before I venture there.

Its much harder than it sounds, I this for a living :)

I'm sure.  I've looked into it some with my account at TradeKing.  They have an API that allows you to access your account and place trades.  I have been successful at using the API for getting quotes (using Java), but I'm still struggling a bit with the XML.  And I would have to be much more confident before I tried trading using the API.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #43 on: March 07, 2014, 01:09:50 PM »
Calling it a day/weekend. Despite some pockets of red today that I might considering adding to or starting positions in, so far the market has ignored the job numbers on what appears some uprising again in Ukraine but who knows.  Not going to go any Longer into the weekend. Plus feel like sh*t after getting the flu last Sunday I had a day of feeling good and now have a bad bad head and chest cold. I know , I know poor me....

Have a great weekend and prosperous trading!

I do plan on doing alot of research this weekend as I feel i will be a bump on a log for most of it!

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #44 on: March 09, 2014, 03:53:01 PM »
Anyone else very bullish on Apple and Google right now?
I think that Apple really will deliver with the iphone 6 and iwatch and that explosive growth in stock price
is inevitably if either product launch is a success.

I feel that with both Apple and Google they have so many smart/talented minds at each, in addition to a ton of cash,
and think that both have very bright futures and are not even close to peaking.

Both companies seem like prime candidates to be the first to launch a  truly ground breaking product such as a smart car, that would
leave the stock soaring.
Perhaps I am in Disney Land on this though but what do you think of future of these stocks?
 

soccerluvof4

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #45 on: March 10, 2014, 07:09:57 AM »
Anyone else very bullish on Apple and Google right now?
I think that Apple really will deliver with the iphone 6 and iwatch and that explosive growth in stock price
is inevitably if either product launch is a success.

I feel that with both Apple and Google they have so many smart/talented minds at each, in addition to a ton of cash,
and think that both have very bright futures and are not even close to peaking.

Both companies seem like prime candidates to be the first to launch a  truly ground breaking product such as a smart car, that would
leave the stock soaring.
Perhaps I am in Disney Land on this though but what do you think of future of these stocks?



Google i have not been involved in and apple I have been trading. Buying under 520$ and selling on run ups. If the stock climbs up I will raise my buy level. For me right now I wouldn't be buying it as a long term holding only because of my thesis of being an opportunistic trader.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #46 on: March 10, 2014, 08:37:04 AM »
I am considering trying some active trading in the future.  It will be at least a year, as I want to be able to fully fund my 403b, then pay off all my non-mortgage debt first.  But I am hoping by next year we will be in a position I can  do this.  So, how do you not get your profit eaten up by taxes and trading fees!  And what do you think is the minimum that would have any upside?  I am wondering if I would do this with a Roth for tax reasons, since in the beginning I would be trying with pretty small amounts <$5,500 the first year.
You are in a good position if you have a year to plan. My recommendations:
1) Read Charles McKay's "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"
2) Give yourself $100,000 or so and open a shadow account on Yahoo or Google (I think Google automatically gives you dividends, which Yahoo does not- but I'm not 100% sure on that)
3) Have fun trading.

A) I don't ever do 'day trading', puts, calls or any of that fancy krappe. In fact, I demand all my accounts be cash accounts, not margin accounts, so I can't do any of that stuff.
B) I use Scottrade in RL, so charge yourself $7 for every trade.
Vjk

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #47 on: March 10, 2014, 09:44:06 AM »
Took my 14% profit on PWE today. Staying nimble. FCX popped over 4% on divy on decline so added slightly with 25% of proceeds of PWE.

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #48 on: March 10, 2014, 09:54:47 AM »
Got knocked out of my Vale position today with my stop. Took a slight loss but thats ok. Will look to put money elsewhere.

MrCash

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Re: Active investors/Day Traders Thread
« Reply #49 on: March 10, 2014, 10:08:02 AM »
Got knocked out of my Vale position today with my stop. Took a slight loss but thats ok. Will look to put money elsewhere.

Do you use trailing stops?