Daval

are you willing to do analysis and opinion on stocks that we'd pick in this thread?

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eribrav

I use Ameritrade (former Datek) and you can borrow stocks to short with them just like any other broker.

I have to jump on the bandwagon and say, if you have $2000 and are trading penny stocks, you'd be better off getting on a plane to Vegas and blowing it on a fun weekend. Do you have a safety fund set up in case of job loss, accident, unexpected expense? If not, that would be a much better use of your hard earned and saved dollars. If you do, then take a position in an S&P index type fund and let that be your first investment.Have you ever thought about the risk-reward ratio in trading those penny issues? Let's say they're not good. Wait until you're in a stronger financial position before you trade. When you get there, if you want to swing or position (or even intra-day) trade, start by paper trading first. Why throw hard earned money away without showing you have the ability to be profitable first?

Best wishes and good investing

Daval

I do have the vast bulk of my savings in various mutual funds - both RRSP and non-RRSP's (401k for you americans).

The $2000 that I put into my webbroker account is what I felt I could afford to play with, and afford to lose. So if I lost it all, although I'm sure it would sting - life would go on, mortgage would be paid and family would be fed.

I did start on paper, and I still do with stocks I'm watching, I set up a phantom portfolio and try and track it. I am new at all this though.

What i've been doing up till now is just swing trades, buying about 10,000 shares of a stock that appears to have a regular daily or weekly high or low and then sell after i've made 0.01 or 0.02 cents profit.

What else should I be doing?
I'm just tired of making low returns on my money in the mutual funds and want to earn a bit more in the market trading.

What are penny stocks good for? When should they be looked at - or is the correct answer 'never'? I would love to be involved in the big boy stocks, and I do try and follow them, but with the amount I have to invest with, the commissions would erase any profits.

I appreciate all of your advice.

__________________
"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it."
Winston Churchill

redrum

what do you think currently and for teh future of Radioshack (RSH).

I know we (I work for them and have for quite sometime) fell out in the past after spliting, but am told by others around me that its about to skyrocket with a coming press release. Should I buy in now knowing that its going to skyrocket, or would that land me in prison like martha stewart for insider trading?

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Daval

Whats the annoncement?

__________________
"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it."
Winston Churchill

eribrav

I would just stay far from the penny stocks.

Have you ever thought of learning to trade options or futures?

Daval

No I havnt. I always thought they were much more volatile and dangerous than penny stocks, where they not?

Can you recommend a website or good books where I can learn about options & futures? I know nothing about them.

__________________
"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it."
Winston Churchill

eribrav

The way I learned to trade options was by getting good at stocks first. That gives you a grounding in the markets and teaches you to trade.

What do you mean by "more volatile and dangerous"? If you're buying penny stocks at 2 cents and the next tick is one cent, you just lost half your money! Futures can be traded with a lot more leverage than stocks (meaning you have to put up less money). Options are also a leveraged insturment. Essentially though, you need to learn to always trade with stops. That means you know when you're leaving the trade if it's not working your way. Trading without stops is what's volatile and dangerous.
Anytime you trade, you risk losing all the money you're playing with. It doesn't matter what you're trading. It's effective money management that keeps that from happening.
The most informative source I can suggest it RealMoney.com. They have columnists covering a multitude of topics on a daily basis. Read it every day, and you won't believe how much you will learn with time.

bobmsmythe

Nope. That would violate any number of rules, besides which I'm a broker, not an analyst.

Sorry about that.

Bob

bobmsmythe

Good advice.

Bob

Daval

Oh well I was looking for some good picks is all

__________________
"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it."
Winston Churchill

bobmsmythe

Unless the person you know is high enough up to be in a postion to have insider information, you're fine. On the other hand, if the person is just some random staffer, he or she is probably just repeating a bullshit rumor. Always do your own D.D.

Bob

Daval

RADIOSHACK (NYSE:RSH) Quote data by Reuters Edit
Last Trade: 36.05
Trade Time: 10:02AM ET
Change: Up 2.74 (8.23%)
Prev Close: 33.31
Open: 35.25
Bid: N/A
Ask: N/A
1y Target Est: 31.33
Day's Range: 34.90 - 36.24
52wk Range: 18.86 - 34.15
Volume: 848,800
Avg Vol (3m): 1,171,045
Market Cap: 5.92B
P/E (ttm): 22.04
EPS (ttm): 1.636
Div & Yield: 0.25 (0.75%)



Looks like he was right. Although I wouldnt call this a skyrocket. Positive earnings were announced today.

__________________
"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it."
Winston Churchill

bobmsmythe

Futures and options are more dangerous, especially options. I'd recommend the CME website above all else, they're pretty good about explaining them. If you're still interested, I'll dig around and find some newer titles-- the ones I have are mostly old textbooks from the early 90s.

One thing you can do with options which is kind of fun and relatively safe:

Say you buy 1,000 shares of XYZ at 24. You can sell 10 covered calls of XYZ for one month out with strike 25 and probably raise .60-.70 per. That works out to $600 to $700. If XYZ is out of the money (less than 25 and some change) come expiration, the option expires and you keep the money. If it's in the money, you're forced to sell at $25. Not a bad return for a month. Two problems:

1)It will keep you from making the "big money" should lightning strike and the stock go to 100;
2)Some brokerages restrict options trades to covered calls only, meaning that if the stock falls below your comfort level you won't be able to dump it without covering the option first.

Bob

bobmsmythe

Standard issue. Beat expectations, but it's already giving some of the gains up. Let me tell you a story about earnings volatility:

A couple of years ago, a buddy of mine was running a trading desk. A suboordinate of his put all his prop cash in one company, claiming he "knew" it was going to do great. My buddy told him to sell it, NOW. So the guy did. My buddy happened to have a small position, and the following day when earnings came out, they were positive, and the stock went up. My buddy probably made about 2 grand. His underling would have made 20 had he not been ordered out. He bitched at my buddy, and my friend threatened to break the guy's nose and fire him. Why?

"Earnings are bullshit. It's a fucking crapshoot. Some of mine were up, some of mine were down. You want to gamble? Go to fucking Vegas. Just make sure you pack up your desk when you leave."

The point is that nobody knows how a stock is going to do at earnings. You can guess, and sometimes you'll be right, and sometimes you'll be wrong. I say leave that shit to people who can a)afford to lose, and b)have the liquidity access to get out of a bum position.

Bob

Daval

Based on how little I still know about trading, this advice is something I try and follow. Earnings can go either way and you have no idea how they will go. Its way to risky.

I got out of Nortel a day before the earnings came out - I could have made a lot more money than I did, but, I could have lost it all as well. No Regrets.

D

__________________
"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it."
Winston Churchill

redrum

see I knew about the earnings being up before it was released and the person who told me was high enough I think it would have mattered, he even told me to buy stock before today, but it made me feel uneasy. so I held off


and they are getting ready to go up again with another announcement thats being released next week.

__________________
"you say erb....we say herb.....because theres a fucking H in it"

slushi99

Are there are any good penny stocks you guys can recommend or worth to check out to make some fast cash. I’m a beginner and have some chump change laying around. I opened up an account with Ameritrade and get the first 25 trades free.

eribrav

See the discussion above. The penny stocks were a bad idea 2 months ago, and they haven't gotten any better since.

Nobody but nobody is hanging around Wall Street looking to give away money. There is no fast and easy cash to be had. Resign yourself to that fact and you will take a major step towards being a succesful investor (or trader for that mater).

JohnnyRoyale

Is there any concern about a company that files it's S-1 in march, but still hasn't put out it's shares for an IPO by June? I ask because when I look at IPO lists of filings vs "going public" dates on Yahoo's IPO lists, I notice that the majority of companies that don't go forward immediately, or nearly immediately, seem to withdraw their IPO. Any thoughts?

Thanks

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mrbroker00

hey everyone I'm a newbie here, and had a quick question. I know this thread hasn't really active as of late but I'm a college student and work full-time for a bank looking to get a series 7 license. Any advice on the test?? Obtaining a license?

quest1mark

Question:

I'm a recent college graduate and throughout my classes the "time value of money" was thrown around. We learned that by investing $2,000 by the age of 21 with 10% interest compounded annually will get you around $625,000 (give or take a few thousand) by the time your 50.

My question, none of the banks I know offer 10% interest. Do money markets or cd's offer 10% interest?

P.S. I appreciate your comments and insights. Its much easier posting questions than scheduling an appointment with a financial advisor. Hopefully you can help me out with my quandry.

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on a quest...

BigBlueWrecking

There is really nothing out there that can offer a 10% rate guaranteed. Most people that are young invest in mutual funds to try and achieve a 10% rate of rerun over a long period of time. There is a lot of risk though, because if you are going after a 10% rate of return YOU WILL LOSE MONEY some years, but it is very possible to achieve it over a ten year span. Since 1925 Large Cap Stocks have averaged about 10-11% rate of return and small cap stocks a little more.

BigBlueWrecking

To get a series 7, a firm must sponsor you to take the exam. You ahve to fill out xomething called a U-4, which goes over background info and credit. Then you can sit for the exam.

For study materials, I used Dearborn a while ago, but STC (Securities Training Corp) is what our firm uses now. There are fees to take the exam, which run about 650 bucks or so. Also, you will need more than a series 7 to begin selling, states have other exams that arae needed. They call that a Series 63, 65, or 66 usually.

hokiesandwich

The only investment class open to the average Joe that's done better has been property, and then only if you know where to buy. That's not something I handle. Personally, if you've seen the cost of real estate in NYC, you'll know why I rent.

Bob[/QUOTE]

Isn't it better to own your home than play the markets? Didn't a report just come out with statistics on overall wealth, race, and homeownership? My point is...should I be saving money to own my home, or rent and invest money instead. How are you calculating the break-even point here, with all the risk of the market?

Anxst

I don't know a whole lot about financials, but I do know this. Owning your own home IS an investment. Even if the value of the house goes down, once it is paid off, you have a place to live that has some value, and are no longer bleeding out rent money every month. Even if property taxes and upkeep are high, it is probably still going to be less than the rent on a place of equal size/value, and could be sold to make some of that money back. Renting is a fools game for the poor, and if I weren't repairing my credit from a few blunders when I was younger, I wouldn't be doing it anymore.

__________________
Don't mind me. I'm just releasing the insanity pressure from my headvalves.

aliali

What do you think about hedge funds? Is it crazy to consider investing in one?

mrlayance

How do you deside on a good stock to purchase? What factors weight the most?

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lightsey

ive heard the same things, and i too have never seen a bank account offering 10% annually, and probably never will. im sure to get that sort of return you'd have to invest instead of save. i think on the first page of this thread bob mentioned that historically, indexed mutual funds (i think the s&p500 index was mentioned) have shown a return rate of about 10% annually...not sure if various expense fees are factored into this return.

from what ive read and studied so far, a mutual fund seems like the way to go. specifically an indexed fund, with a small percentage invested in bonds and the rest in stocks. lol dunno if that's right or not

lightsey

i too would like to know the answer to this. im sure a lot of factors come into play....how much money you can invest, whether you're looking for short-term or long-term results, what kind of dividend payout you're looking for, etc.

can anyone enlighten?

Helpher811

A slightly different question:

I understand analysts, and possibly brokers, often give their assessment of a company mainly through reports ( SEC filings and others ) and meeting and speaking with the management team of a firm.
I am assuming that the management comprises mostly of the executive, possibly some senior, managers and board members.
The management team then must give good arguments ( persuad, coerce, whatever you wish to portray here ) that the firm is in good shape and answer questions specifically about the firm's performance.
How realistic is that? Even the most well-intentioned management team could have the worst business at the worst time and not have a clue the hammer about to fall on them. Is there a trapdoor that even the management team could explain that justifies the firm to close up and leave? Or are the members of the management team purely "selling" the firm and their performance when speaking to investors and investment-advisors?

My reason for asking this, which may lead to the obvious answer, is that I am looking forward in my career to being part of the management team, and I'm wondering what skills/impressions/qualities a firm would be looking for.
Managing people resources, using time wisely, communicating effectively are all things I accept as being critical to this type of job, but what else?

Am I more "salesman" or "value-creating agent"?? And if there is grey between there, how do you show you have got the stuff?

Thanks for any input, and please feel free to correct me on any point if I'm wrong..

jimk

are you getting much interest in commodity etf's?

i work on the floor of the cme, and am becoming more & more convinced that the commodity bull run is not slowing down, but just beginning. so.........i was wondering if from your vantage as a broker, you see increased interest from your clients?


thanks,

jimk

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