Stocks

[samhass]

Do you do all your own trading? If so, are you sold on any particular stock? If so, why?

[efrahin]

I deal with Ameritrade. Now IS NOT THE TIME to trade anything. Maybe if you like something and the price is low: BUY.

[samhass]

When I say trade, I am referring to buying and selling. I think this may be a good time to buy and hold for long term growth. There are some wonderful bargains out there. I'm not big on day trading, but do sometimes like "week" trading. Certain stocks seem to have a swing that you can catch on the ups and downs and they're fairly consistent in those swings.

[travelstiles]

Samhass,
In my professional opinion, not too many individuals have the time or understanding of the markets to do their own trading, and certainly most seniors need to be wary of investing too heavily in the market, particularly in a small number of stocks.
That said, diversity is the key. In retirement, I would look for blue chips that have a good dividend history for income, and buy and hold. Don't try to time the market. Growth stocks are ok but only for money that you can afford to risk (we all need to play a little!)
Read, read, read - I strongly recommend a subscription to the Wall Street Journal. Whatever you do, I would avoid the strong sell sales types that are hyping their hot strategies, books and radio shows. Go to company websites, request annual reports, compare them to industry averages, etc.
Lots of homework, but even if you work with a financial advisor you should be doing all of this!
Good luck ~
Travel

[Donna]

OKAY...Tips please!

[samhass]

I agree, Travel. Although I have never had a financial advisor and have done well, I am an avid reader and spend several hours a day studying the market. It fascinates me.
If someone on this site comes back and says "Oh I love **** stock, I would hope no one would run out and buy with thoroughly researching the stock. Playing the market is like gambling and you shouldn't play with money you can't afford to lose.

[efrahin]

samhass: You may be interested in joining American Association of Individual Investors (AAII.com). It is only 29.00 a year and get a lot of good education.

[chuckinca]

Nothing beats throwing a dart at the stock listings and buy what the good lord directed that dart to hit.

[jeffy]

Hope this doesnt sound like "advertising" but check out VectorVest. They have a short term trial for like $9. A year is like 500. I use them for trading. They are great at calling up and down markets. For instance, they went down market 1 nov 07, up market 3 april 08, down market 11 june 08.

They rank over 4000 stocks. When they call an up market I go long their top 10 VST stocks and long in my mutual fund account. When they call a down market I short their "worst stocks over $20 with 500k volumn" and go into cash in my mutual fund account.

I know that a lot of people frown on shorting , but the market tends to go down much faster than it goes up.

If you are into reading , the best investment book I ever read is "Reminences of a Stock Operator". It is the life story of a stock trader that was born over 100 years ago.

I would never take a hot tip from an individual. A very good friend of mine had a sister that worked for a large company in Baltimore in 2000. His sister told him that she had insider info that their company was about to be taken over. He invested 100k of his own money and borrowed several 100k from his father. Well the takeover never happened and he foolishly watched the stock go from about 80 to 3. Last I heard he was never able to pay his father back. I dont think this family was ever the same again.

Best advice I can give is never let a stock go against you over 10%. When I have an order filled, I immediately set that 10% stop loss in and DONT change it. Some times you hate that you did it ( Last month I was short UBS with my 10% stop loss, It stopped me out by .02 cents and then raced down in my favor). But it is the only way from burning up your account.

Any other VectorVest users out their. We should start a club. Right now the closest clubs are in Orlando and Tampa I believe.

jeffy

[travelstiles]

Jeffy ~
I agree with the stop loss approach, but would also add "don't get greedy" as well. When an investor begins to realize significant gains in their positions, it's time to diversify a little. No matter how promising a position may appear, the old adage about not putting all your eggs in one basket applies.
Never become emotionally attached to a stock!

[Lucko]

New investors might like the educational info on cboe.com -- it's accurate and free -- more advanced investor might like the info on earningswhispers.com -- also, buy and hold doesn't always work like it used to, you must stay current -- Oh yeah, on the way up we earn and on the way down we learn -- Hope we all have better days ahead -- Lucko

[Russ_Boston]

I think we are missing Sam's point - she's not looking for advice on how to trade - she says that she does that already and has done well.

Sam - A good play right now is NYB (New York Bankcorp) it has gone from 15.75 to almost 19 5 times in the past year with the financial sector being mostly down. For you long term buy and hold type players, it pays a dividend of $1 which at today's price is exactly 6%, not too shabby

For full disclosure I do own a small amount in NYB.

[Lucko]

NYB ??? Is that the bank that on July 23 announced 154.8 million dollar loss and is paying .25 per share while they lost .47 per share ???

[Boomer]

-- Oh yeah, on the way up we earn and on the way down we learn -- Hope we all have better days ahead -- Lucko


Lucko,

I love that little quote. I have never heard it before, but I have lived it.

In the 90's I was such a little smart aleck. I was dancing with that bubble. And I was having the best time. I would come in the door from work, flip Bloomberg on, watch that ticker, and smile, smile, smile.

Remember in The Graduate when that guy says to Dustin Hoffman, one word, "Plastics."

Well, in my bubble-dancing days, I used to remind Mr. Boomer of that "Plastics" line from the movie, and then I would say one word, 'Tech." (I was such a little smart aleck in those days.)

But fortunately I am not quite as insane as I can sometimes appear to be. And Mr. Boomer still likes me. I never put everything in tech. I did and still do so love some of those dividend belching behemoths. But for now. . .I sure don't know. I don't know about any of it. But at least I know that I do not know.

---luv that little quote.

Thanks.

Boomer Buffet ;)

[Russ_Boston]

Lucko - I don't think Sam was looking for pure fundamental plays. Every (OK most) bank announced losses this year. I thought this stock fit the profile of one that moves within its range thus allowing for swing play of a week or so as she mentioned. And yes those numbers are correct but the key is that they still paid their 25 cent quarterly when many companies reduced their payout. This doesn't mean that they will always pay it but I wanted to mention the yield for the long term players.

I've been successful and unsuccessful with swing plays but for me it is kind of my gambling outlet. I just risk a small portion on these type of plays. If you want a real SWING play look at RIMM, it will move 6 points in a day, gotta love those crackberrys!

[nitehawk]

""""Short""""

[Russ_Boston]

Nite - RIMM or NYB?

[l2ridehd]

I did well with IBM in this down market. They actually moved up from 103 to 125 when the rest of the market was floundering.

[nitehawk]

Russ - i am sorry i did not mean any particular stock - just that any portfolio (if you trade on a regular basic) should not just be -long- but some -short- or - puts i would rather be on the down side of the banks rather then technology.
I deal with Ameritrade. Now IS NOT THE TIME to trade anything. Maybe if you like something and the price is low: BUY.

Ameritrade is giving away a new Taylor Made burner tour for a deposit of 50,000 into any account - the offer is expired but i think they will still honor it

[Russ_Boston]

L2 - The old adage of IBM > 100 still holds true in my opinion. This is why I think we may have reached some sort of bottom or at least be approaching it.

Nite - I already trade at Ameritrade, I'd recommend them as well.

[samhass]

I use e-trade.

[784caroline]

My broker just called me about a new issue Bond FLorida Hurricane Catastrophe Finance Corpoation ...a AA- rated Revenue bond paying 4.25% tax free AND its only a 6 year bond due 7/1/14 and is NON-Callable. Selling at Par payable every 6 months...again TAX FREE which is better than 6%

[Russ_Boston]

Well I guess that would depend on tax bracket and whether the income is dividend, interest or capital gain but I see your point. Also the stock could be held in a tax free account such as a ROTH which would make the true yield 6%. Or in a tax defferred account such as an IRA or 401 in which case the yield would be 6% until you withdrew but at least the whole 6% would be available for other plays.

Remember though that a good divided stock not only pays the dividend yield but also the chance for capital gain (potential loss as well). You can also add to the dividend yield payout by selling covered calls against the stock but that is a whole other ball of wax! I've done that both successfully and stupidly - sometimes on the same day.