Stock Market UpSwing to level off?
 

Any of you investment savvy people have an opinion? I was reading that about May the upswing usually levels off and recently we've had more downs than ups...

The best analysts have been predicting a pretty good correction for sometime now which has not happened yet.

There is an old saying that May is the time to take your profits and lay low until around Autum.

I notice that all indices are down today. Dow is down more than ten percent from a dizzying height of 13476. This kind of buying is insane and many analyst believe investors are going to pay the piper. It might be a good time to short some trades that has to do with non essentials. Consumers will always buy the essentials.

I have some mutual funds that have been doing good for now, but recently there have been some pretty low "lows" and if what they are saying is true about May and the rest of this season I am wondering if I should shift the monies to an annuity account I have (good yield)

As a daytrader (part-time), I am not totally concerned with a correction. You can still make money at it if you are careful.
Remember: what goes up must come down. That is a fundamental rule of stock trading.
I also follow the converse of that statement, but try to cautiously avoid becoming married to any stock for too long. It is far too easy to erase profits.
NI

can you offer some suggestions on educating myself to do some day trading?

BTW are yiou referring to selling short?

I keep my eyes on the stock market even though I am pretty much ignorant about it all. Why is it so high nowadays when it was 6000-7000 about 10 years ago? IS this a good thing? Will it ever come back down? Isn't there a need for something called a "correction"?

I've read that there is a bubble....that a lot of companies have been barrowing "cheap money" and going into dept and that eventually because of this that bubble should burst sometime soon

It scares me and I think about it enough that I'm maybe going to take an economics class this fall. I want to figure out what this is all about. The housing crisis is not good. The stock market is way up. Doesn't that mean that corporations are overextended?

I stay out of short selling simply because the risk can become high real fast. I prefer to by in and out of small issues where I can leverage a small amount of capitol and HOPEFULLY get a modest to good ROI.
If you are interested in daytrading, let me reccomend some good books to read before you plunk down any money:
a beginner's guide to day trading online- Toni Turner
The Electronic Day Trader- Marc Friedfertig and George West (A+++)
Stock Market Rules- Michael D. Sheimo (this is a must read)

Mrs. Turner's book is concise and discusses her ideas about trading. She reccomends some good ways to paper trade to avoid losses while gaining experience.

The Elec Day Trader offers some good strategies for trading and good outlines as well to learn while not losing money.

The last by Mr. Sheimo is excellent and dispels many miyths about trading. His experience in the market is second to none.

If you want advice, please accept this- don't trade until you have done several weeks of paper trading for experience. Had I followed this advice, it could have potentially saved me several thousand dollars which I lost on my first trade.

I have since learned a few things, but it was a very expensive lesson.
God bless,
NI

That's right.

So many of these companies are insanely strung out on debt that their debt to equity ratios are totally unreasonable. This is true with many of their Price Earnings ratios as well.

A correction will come but let us hope and pray that it will not be as severe as the Tech stocks in 2000 and 2001. Some of those tech stocks that were trading over a thousand dollars per share are now pink sheet stuff.

Misplaced confidence in the strength of a company without proper fundamentals will surely come home to haunt the stary eyed investor.

I believe Greenspan called it "Irrational Exhuberence".
NI

Thanks. Can I ask some questions? How much do you need to start? What exactly is day trading? Are you buying and selling "daily" on small ups and dips to make small profits that add up over time? Or do you hold for a while and then sell? Also, what about those capital gains taxes?

Buy HPQ... :D

They've been climbing steadily since they got rid of Carly Fiorino. :heeheehee

Looks like good advice.

Analyst expect the stock to rise from its present 45 range to an average of almost 60 in FY '08. That would be a very healthy ROI. Analyst give it a "moderate buy" with a stock evaluation of 9 out of a possible 10. That is very good too. The P/E ration of 19.6 is a little more than I like. It has a low Debt/Equity ratio of only .23 and a very good net profit margin.

I don't like the fact that the insiders are selling their own stock in such huge volumes. But, that is not always a bad sign.

Good going girl. Got any more tidbits?

Take a look at RIO and tell me what you think. Technicals and Fundamentals look good. Powerful sales, low debt, huge earnings, expected to rise above 63 from its present 44. Net profit margin is a staggering 31.8. I believe this is a sleeper that is under the Street's radar.

With world-wide demand for iron and steel on the steady increase especially in China and India, this company appears to be a good buy for the long term.

As a broker, I cannot legally comment concerning the topic of this thread in a forum like this. It has to be an SEC approved setting. I just don't think you are going to get the kind of advice on this subject in this venue. This thread will only amount to a lot of conjecture and opinions--many of which have very little knowledge behind them.

Oh! I forgot, that is usually the case on most threads on forums like this!

Sorry!

Carry on!



































TIC j/k!!!!

I am not involved with the stock market except to know this particular stock. My husband works for HP. For the last 16 years, he's gotten stock options as awards, so I've kept up with where it's at. It was at over $100 when he was awarded most of those stock options, but then Carly got a hold of HP, and it plummeted down to about $15. So much for all those nice awards. :wacko

Of course the ones he's received since Carly came in will pay off nicely now. :thumbsup

Mark Herd is doing an excellent job putting the company back together. I wouldn't be surprised to see it steadily climb back up to $100 in the next few years.

This is only my opinion and not to be used as investment advice. I am not a broker nor am I licensed as such. I am merely an independant day trader.
I try to trade in and out daily. Day trading is basiclly sitting at your keyboard and trying to outwit other traders and make a profit at the same time. It isn't for the weak hearted or for the emotional. You must be able to steel your nerves when things get rough, and they will at times.
Capital gains taxes are just taxes like anything else. You pay them and go on. Of course, your losses offset your real gains so you only pay on your true net gain.
Regarding holding stocks: I do occasionally take a long position, but to me a long position is maybe a week. I will watch a stock and if it looks like a good buy for long (week), then okay. Otherwise, I will buy in and out of it within a day or two at most, typically.
To start, you should have no less than $2000. More would be better since you will probably lose money before you start to earn any. For example: my first trade was a net loss of $1400. That hurt a lot and I learned some of the things that I shouldn't do. Painful, but a good price in the long run. It could have cost me much more down the road.
My second loss was much smaller, around $250. Another inexpensive lesson.
So, if you decide to do this, make sure that you do the homework and decide how much you can afford to lose before you jump in.
Losses are not fun, especially when you have to try to explain it to your spouse.:begging
NI

Bro. Prince, do you have a Series Seven Broker Licenses?

Do you have any idea what free advice is worth on a forum like this? The answer: Usually it is worth nothing more than what you pay for it. Everyone should be aware of that. However, you advice above is a word to the wise.

If people read this and are so foolish to assume that it is more than just conjecture and opinions by speculators, well...they probably deserve to lose some money. In fact, investing in the stock market is speculation regardless of who it is done by...even a Series Seven Broker. Anyone depending on their crystal ball usually have glass to eat. :icecream

DITTO!
NI

You lucky girl.

I would not be a bit surprised to see it rise to over a 100 in the next three years. It is a very solid company. Hold on to it. All of their ratios are in line, with very little debt.

I am always disturbed when I see officers and directors selling a huge amount of shares which has recently happened. None of the insiders have bought any. That bothers me.

Sure hope you are not suggesting a broker will give good advice.. :-)

Question...on the two loses...why didn't you hold your position longer until the stock went back up? Or was it risk to begin with and you made a bad call? In other words the company was just bad bad bad

Had I spent the proper time to watch the natural cycles of the stock, I would have ben able to make a better judgenment as to which direction it might have taken. Also, I bought the big loser during the Santa Claus rally that generally occurs each winter. Bad mistake.
The other tanked after a news release from a similar company that was in bankruptcy as well. It was a statement regarding the valuation of the stock post bankruptcy which would put it at ZERO. It took me a week to sell it at the loss that I took on it. Now it trades for literally pennies. Amazing that folks are still trading in it even though it will soon be worth nothing. I guess that is where folks start to gamble instead of trading.
NI

Ah, thanks