IBD 100 Stocks Near Their Buy Point for 10/01/07

There are ten(!) stocks in the IBD 100 that have been highlighted in the Monday edition of Investors Business Daily as being near their buy points:

CRNT


ISRG


CNH


AAPL


CYNO


AMZN


ESI


NVDA


PCP


HURN

Trading Results for the Week

Got stopped out of two trades this last week:

FSLR: -$2
BCSI: -$3.50

I am still holding RIG, CTRP, CROX, AAPL and GRMN. These positions have been doing well, especially GRMN. I have been tempted to take some profits, in fact, I did sell half of my GRMN position and moved my stop to b/e, but I want to let these run a little longer. We are entering the 4th quarter when stocks typically do well, and a lot of charts are looking bullish. But, we need to be concerned about both the DOW and S&P potentially forming a double-top. As usual, the market could go either way.

Trading for Tuesday

Bot: CROX, AAPL

I had a buy stop for CROX at 61 for over a week, but cancelled the order last week. I saw that it broke out yesterday, so I used a limit order today to get in at 61.10. Got in AAPL at 150.

Holding: RIG, BCSI, CTRP, GRMN, CROX, AAPL

It was hard not to take some profits, but I am determined to ride these a bit longer.

Taking More Risk

I thought quite a bit about my trading this weekend. I have been far too risk adverse, and missing great opportunities. This summer, I was in some stocks early that made huge moves. Stocks like TNH and BIDU (By the way, how about BIDU today? Unreal how it just keeps going up). I wasn’t able to capitalize on these moves, because I took profits way too early. I don't like to give money back to the market. It’s nice to take profits and end the day in cash. But the real money is made in holding. That is how Nicolas Darvas made his millions. Besides, I don’t have the time to devote to day trading and grinding it out, although I wish I did. If I want to build real wealth, I need to risk more and hold longer. That doesn’t mean being careless, but risking enough to make the wins substantial, and holding to catch a large part of a move.

I knew the market was overbought, and due for a rest, but I decided to look for swing opportunities today, and use wider stops than normal. I found three stocks that I liked this morning. These are the positions I opened:

BCSI, CTRP and GRMN.

You're probably thinking, "Isn't GRMN on your do not trade list?" True. But I thought I would give it one more shot, this time with a wider stop, after Dan Zanger called it a "must own" in his Sunday night newsletter. BSCI was also a Zanger pick, and started the day strongly, but sold off. CTRP I saw on my nightly scan. It too sold off in the afternoon.

I'm still in RIG. I was prepared for today’s action in RIG, as oil was way overbought. I think long-term, it could be a good position.

There isn’t much news expected this week, but I am counting on an end of the month rally to bring these higher.

IBD 100 Stocks Near Their Buy Point for 9/24/07

There are two stocks in the IBD 100 that have been highlighted in the Monday edition of Investors Business Daily as being near their buy points:

ISRG


NILE

Trading Results for the Week

So far, this week was the best week for the markets this year. Sort of ironic that it would come in what is historically the worst month for the markets. I made some money, but I closed positions way too early, and as usual, left a lot more on the table. I will need to continue working on overcoming this psychological barrier that is costing me bundles. Anyway, here are the trades I made.

PCU: -$2.20
Stop was too tight apparently.

CELG: +$1
Tightened my stop on Fed Tuesday to protect a gain. Should have left it alone.

FXI: +$5.93
Overall I'm happy with this trade.

GRMN: -$2
GMRN will join MA in my 'do not trade' list. I don't make money with these on short term momentum plays. Probably because of tight stops.

AAPL: b/e
Moved my stop too quickly.

Currently holding: RIG

If I wasn't so fearful in my trading, I could have done much better. Need more greed, less fear.

Trading Poem

Whenever I trade BIDU
I get the feeling of déjà vu
I take a small gain
The price then goes insane
It leaves me feeling quite blue

IBD 100 Stocks Near Their Buy Point for 9/17/07

There are three stocks in the IBD 100 that have been highlighted in the Monday edition of Investors Business Daily as being near their buy points:

CMED


LIFC


ZUMZ

Trading Results

Sold BIDU today for a profit.

BIDU: +$10

Also traded MA, which has become the bane of my trading. I traded it for a loss.

MA: -$2

Yeah, hard to figure how I could lose money on this stock today, but I did. This is a slippery stock for me. I should have taken my advice from earlier regarding this stock:

"It seems like I always get burned when I trade this short term. It was my biggest swing trade winner in ’06. I shouldn’t have sold it. Next time, I will give it a generous stop."

I didn't give it a generous stop. For now, this stock is an avoid for me.

I also entered FXI for a short term swing trade.

Oil Plays

Oil hit an all time high today, and I entered FWLT as an oil play at $121.18 for a swing trade. I also have my eyes on SLB and RIG for possible oil plays.

EDIT: Ok, I lied about the swing trade. FWLT turned into a day trade because I didnt adjust my target on the Stop+TTO order, was planning on doing that after market close. Now my position is closed.

FWLT: + $3.82

West Coast Trading

I live in the Central Time Zone, but am currently in the Pacific Time Zone on business. It's great to be able to watch the market for nearly 2 hours before going to work. If I ever became a full-time day trader, I think I would do it from here. Here, the market opens at 6:30am, and closes at 1:00pm. That's a lot of daylight remaining. As long as you're an early riser, trading from here would be great, in my opinion.

From my last post, I entered BIDU today, and am still in CELG.

Trading Results

Sorry I havent been posting much. I am currently travelling, and have'nt had much time to post or watch the markets, let alone trade.

My RIMM swing was sold for a loss last week:

RIMM: -$2

I had also bought CELG at breakout last Thursday, and assumed I got stopped out the following day, because I didnt see the stock in the MBT Navigator software, which is the trading platform for my broker, MB Trading. It wasn't there on Friday after market, or all weekend. I logged in yesterday, and WTF? I still own it? My stop wasnt hit after all, but sometimes stocks disappear and then reappear in the MBT Navigator. This isnt the first time it's happened. in fact, it has been happening a lot lately.

I mentioned awhile back that I was having problems with my broker. What had happened then was I had three positions that disappeared, all while the market sold off hard. I assumed the stocks were sold when my stops were hit that day, but the next day, I still owned them! I sold those positions at market, then called the MB Trading Desk, and they acknowleged their mistake and credited my account the difference. But I am learning that I really have to babysit my trades with these guys, especially with stops. I really need to switch brokers.

EDIT: Just bought BIDU.

IBD 100 Stocks Near Their Buy Point for 9/10/07

There is one IBD 100 stock in the 9/10/07 edition of Investors Business Daily that is highlighted as being near its buy point.

It is the #1 stock in the IBD 100, BIDU.

Click here to view weekly chart.

IBD Selections

Sorry, I didn't get my edition of IBD, so I won't be posting the black-boxed IBD picks this week.