Investment thread

[bob]

I would hope we can talk stocks here so they do not get stepped on by political replies. If it's not opinion what is?

[David-M]

An off topic thread. Sure, why not? :)

I think we can agree to keep politics out of this.

I have some money in ERX and FAS. Both are bullish 3X leveraged ETF's. ERX is in the energy sector and FAS in the financial sector. I was trading in and out of them frequently and trading their bearish counterparts. I plan on keeping ERX and FAS longer term now....holding on to them as we recover from the recession even if it takes a year or two. I have been doing a lot less trading the past week or so because I have serious doubts about the DOW hitting 6547 again before this recession is over. I don't want to be in cash on the up days, especially with such highly leveraged bullish ETF's. I am definitely not going short anytime soon unless it looks like the market as a whole is way overbought. The Dow around 8200 to 8500 I think would be overbought given we are not out of this recession yet.

Citigroup I think is good long term but due for some profit taking probably Monday or Tuesday. AIG I would not touch. Its too unpredictable. AAPL at 102?....that's ridiculous, short it if it hits 104. Covor at 90. AAPL is a good long termer, even at this price. Its easily worth 150 as we pull out of the recession because of its growth and still relatively low P/E compared to that growth.

Check this out if you want to see how the different sectors and larger cap companies are doing today. Give it a minute or two to load. Some pop-up blockers will prevent it from working.
http://www.smartmoney.com/map-of-the-market/

[WJWheels]

I'm mostly in cash at this point. Money market & Tbill funds. But I've done good with gold stocks since the first of the year. Specifically: GRS, FCX, & OPYGY. I put a little over $30K in and the total portfolio is up almost 65% since early January. The best has been OPYGY, which was up almost 10% today alone. I bought 800 shares in Jan.
At this point I plan to stay in these till the market shows improvement and stability. Of course, I have stop-loss alerts set for all 3 set now at a respectable profit just in case.

[David-M]

It looks like the profit taking started today. Expect more early next week.

[heyhey]

It looks like the profit taking started today. Expect more early next week.

Cramer called that last week... he was talking about acquring EIX which he considers an Obama-bull market stock. .. but he said the sell off would be on Wed, not Friday.

I considered buying ED, in rememberence of all of the checks I wrote to them while in NY... Cramer also calls it an Obama friendly utliity stock.

If I buy A utility I am going to wait for milder weather but before the summer.. I think they may drop when people turn off any electrical heating and prior to AC blasts... springtime I think is a good time to buy a utility.. people actually go outside and use less energy in thier homes, thus decreasing thier profits... and the stocks go down.

Hey what has been steadily doing best for me is F, GM rallied last week but took a dive this week, after saying it would ask for more money... F continues to gain slow and steadily. I think my husband is correct and this is the bargain stock I'm going to make the most money on in the short term. I think it will go up to 5 dollars by the end of the year. I think F may be the last man standing of the big 3... especially as UAW are negotating their contracts to keep jobs. I may though sell it at $4.00 and just bank the profit.. I think for sure its going to go up to $4 in the next few months.. maybe sooner.

I'm holding on to C too... I got it very cheap ($1.37 whoo hoo)... I think it can go up to 5 dollars by the end of the year if we ever get the fix on this bank crisis at least on a flat if not upward slope.

Also I am going to hold on to AZO which I got a good deal on the day after that 300 point drop on the dow.... AZO will go up as we bought roughly 6 million less new cars this year.. and with unemployment still high people are going to I beleive start to take care of thier own jalopys themselves instead of taking them into dealers for tune-ups and oil changes. Hell even I can do those.

I'm also considering buying CAT too... mortgage rates are going to go down to 4% shortly and stay low for awhile and I beleive there will be a surge in new home building because of it and the 8K tax credit for new home buyers this year... plus there is some money, not as much as once thought but a helluva lot more then in recent decades going into infrastructure projects.

Also with interest rates going that low... LOW and HD might pick up to if enough people refinance.

I'm looking at healthcare I'd like to see a bit more of Obama's healthplan but I think the companies most likely to structure themselves around it may be UNH (they had a big presence at Obamas healthcare summit) and WLP and HS. also some of the biomedicals involved in stem cell research will rally. (like ASTM) I'm staying away from pharma... I just have so many issues with the way they sell us the same shit for many times more then they do to foriegn countries and make Americans pay alone for R&D costs.. as a matter of principle, and patriotism I wont finance that. I realize consumers need to pay some of the R&D costs to keep making good drugs... but I think those costs should be spread among all wealthy nations and not just left to us. Or maybe they can stop spending billions on 60 second ad spots...trying to get consumers to try and practice thier own medicine and stop doing those obnoxious prescription drug commericals. It amazes me Janet Jackson shows her tit or someone says the F word on a talk show and people go ballsitic.. but they have no problems what so ever.. with the plethora of Erectile dysfunction ad's playing during family time programming.. and its more then that... prescription drugs are needed but they arent a magic bullet.. panacea- cure all.... no if you take an allergy medicine you are not going to be instantly transported into a filed of flowers with flowly clothes, or get to sit in side by side bathtubs naked watching the sun set over the grand canyon.. by taking a cialis.. . let's go back to letting doctors decide which meds for the way they work rather then slick madison ave advertising invading our medicine cabinets and turning us into pill popping addicts.. with promises of eternal youth, beauty, lots of sex and unlimted happiness... pharma needs to get more ethical.. they offer amazing products that save lives and decrease suffering... but they are slime in thier profit taking tactics. .. they need to get ethical and I think that is not mutually exclusive to being profitable.

I guess I should get a food and beverage in there.. maybe KO if it gets down to say $38-40 again. I want to stay all-american. I think KO is recession proof and always will be around...


just my begginer trader hunches... we shall see.

now I injected a bit of politics here, not too much but a bit, sorry bob but political trends do shape our market place? or is it visa versa..? ;). either way.. there are some politcal issues that do effect what you should be buying, holding or selling... no?

no matter what's one political beleifs are you still have to consider the issues and how understanding them will cut your loses.. even if you disagree with what is happening.

[bob]

I'm mostly in cash at this point. Money market & Tbill funds. But I've done good with gold stocks since the first of the year. Specifically: GRS, FCX, & OPYGY. I put a little over $30K in and the total portfolio is up almost 65% since early January. The best has been OPYGY, which was up almost 10% today alone. I bought 800 shares in Jan.
At this point I plan to stay in these till the market shows improvement and stability. Of course, I have stop-loss alerts set for all 3 set now at a respectable profit just in case.

Don't forget the FNBO 3.5 48 month CD you can open a savings account for a dollar then you will see the offer - it's insured. No smart person puts all their money in stocks.


HeyHey I know politics are involved. That's exactly why I bought AIG and got out fast. All I ask is we share how politics make a difference as opposed to argue them. The choice of stocks will determine who is correct.
C is not a bad bet.

[WJWheels]

For some fun, check the chart for today, Mar 23, for AMCE, which closed last Friday at $.48.

[David-M]

For some fun, check the chart for today, Mar 23, for AMCE, which closed last Friday at $.48.

Penny stocks tend to do that. Its quite possible that this is a "pump and dump" scenario.

[VF500]

I would hope we can talk stocks here so they do not get stepped on by political replies. If it's not opinion what is?

Do I see a white flag being hoisted so you don't get shot down for being a closet Capitalist? :confused:

[David-M]

You do have to give Bob some Capitalist Credits for trading AIG. Now if more communists could learn how the market works this country would be a far better place. :D

[VF500]

You do have to give Bob some Capitalist Credits for trading AIG. Now if more communists could learn how the market works this country would be a far better place. :D

Dave, I'll give you a tip. Just like there are no atheists in fox holes, there are no communists when it comes to their personal finances. At that point, they're all capitalists through and through. ;)

[bob]

Getting your money back from ING's share builder investing is like pulling your own teeth.
And BTW, there are no atheists in fox holes because they would be in upper command - not where the republicans do best. ;)

Well I guess the AIG and C calls I gave were good. The market went up but so did they when the market did not.
Enjoy the fun.
Who knows a cheap place to trade where you do not need a week to get your money back into your liquid account.

[David-M]

Bob, if your account value is under $25k, your money is held for a full three trading days after executing a sell order....the money you got from the sell order that is. Its a requirement that was enacted about 8 years or so ago to reduce day trading, even though serious daytraders trade with a lot more than that.

Scott has inexpensive trades. Their site is intuitive and easy to use.

[bob]

The profit came in 3 days, the investment took almost 10 days to get back.
I don't buy short so I am out for now.
I am moving to the CD for 2 years - thats plenty. 500K at 3.5 apy should be at least 15000 a year not compounded. I need that to live even with no home payment. Other income and money exists.

I were to invest it would probably be healthcare or solar stocks.
I will if I see another easy day trade.

[bob]

Correction. FNBO's 3.5% is 4 years. It has the unusual ability to payout and close at any time if they want to but you can't with out a heafty penality. And Now they have a 5 year at 4%
I will keep enough money liquid to invest or pay for unexpected things.