Doubling your money

Are you a good financial trader? Check out the length of your ring finger with your index finger. Is it longer, same length or shorter? According to a latest study, you are a savy financial trader if your ring finger is longer than your index finger. Go figure!

Anyways, everything was down yesterday and as a result of that, today is a good buying day. I got up early today to review the pre-market and decided to buy 500 shares of ALD. I was lucky to pick up 1,000 shares of ALD before Christmas and by New Years, I had doubled my money. At $3.03 per share, I am going to be patient and wait for it to top off at $5.00 before I will sell these 500 shares.

Another best bet is to pick up one of the shipping stocks: DRYS or GNK. For DRYS, I won’t pay more than $15.00 for it. If the market ever tanks, look for levels under $13.00. For GNK, I won’t pay more than $17.00 per share. Again if the market sinks, get some GNK for under $15. On good days, DRYS trades in the high $17, even $18 and GNK can go as high as $19.85. The target is about a week.

Other stocks to look out for include APL. I bought some at $5.87 and it has touched the $10 mark not too long ago. I’m hoping it will peak again soon.

DRYS, GNK and PLD – My picks

Having a day job surely eliminates the time for you to day trade. But I should be more diligent in sharing with you news about my day trading system. I’m not yet to share it with the world so please approach it with care. I don’t have any qualms to you sitting on the sidelines and watching. Viewing is free.

I spent the last 3 days day trading shipping stocks such as DRYS and GNK.  On Tuesday, I picked up 400 shares of DRYS at $10.09. By Wednesday, I sold them at $11.10 for a not so easy $390 gain. It was not so easy because I watched the stock fluctuate constantly for 2 hours, adding stress to my day.

Today, I went in on PLD. I got in late so I didn’t buy it until it surged to $7.10. After four hours, I sold half my position at $7.49. You can say I’m nervous because I have no clue what PLD does or sell. The good thing about PLD and the shipping stocks is that they pay a hefty dividend. To a day trader, it is good news because if the stock drops and you end up holding it, you will get paid a dividend for your inconvenience.

Safe Bet

Sorry but I haven’t been very diligent at making any (new) money. I’ve since spent the money that I made and I’m back for more. With the market conditions, it’s really hard getting up early and signing onto my broker account. As soon as I get to the main screen, I’m turned off by all the lousy economic news. Almost enough to make me turn off my machine and go back to bed.

Today I decided to play a few stocks. My pick is DRYS and GNK. With over 53 million trades for DRYS, something is going on with this stock. I bought in at 10.22 when it was riding high then it tanked before recovering to 10.65. I sold it for a quick buck. That’s the way it is these days, I just don’t trust buying anything and sitting on it. Also for GNK, I bought in at 10.50 and when it was flying at 11.55, I sold it for another quick buck.

These aren’t big money makers but if you want a safe day trade, this is it.

Looking for Stocks to Buy

I’ve been lucky picking stocks to buy on a daily basis or for my retirement. One area that I believe in is in solar stocks. My favorite is JASO but their stock hasn’t done anything lately. I did my research and bought JASO for a near-IPO price of $16, just to see it rise to $22 before I sold it. I managed to get back in at $18 and held onto it until it reached $33. That took a while but it was worth riding it. I sold it at $33 and bought some back at $29. My next move didn’t come until $45 when I sold it. I went on with other stocks and forgot about JASO until one day, I watched its trend. I bought it back at $54 and watched it climb to $75 before it split. My 500 shares had now become 1500 shares because of their 3-to-1 split. You can say, I made a mint over a year’s trading.

There has been a lot of talk about solar in the streets. Investopedia just published an article about solar stocks and how they say too many companies, too little profit. There is some truth to it when you see the number of solar companies you can invest in. Take for example, ESLR that just won a $1.2 billion contract. The stock is trading 80 cents up today. That’s a lot of money, however the stock is not moving much. I used to hold ESLR but I was impatient and sold out at $9.50. I see that it hasn’t done much because it’s now at $10 and I got rid of it late last year.

My advice on solar, pick up a stock like AMAT who has a side business expanding into solar revenue. I’m going to watch it for abit before jumping in.

Day Trading Experiment – Goal Reached

My day trading experiment just got extended to a week trading experiment. Normally, when you trade on a daily basis, you end up selling off whatever you bought at the beginning of the day at whatever cost it is. This desperate attempt to make some money does not work in this sort of market. It used to work in the past, but not now.

My stock went down before July 4th so I held on to it. Tomorrow, I’m hoping to sell it once and for all. Then start again on a new stock. So far, I think I have reached my goal of doubling my money.

Day Trading Experiment – Day 3.1

I was hoping the stock would end on a better note. It closed at $2.05 instead of $2.45. But tomorrow is another day. Lets hope for another good day on the market so I can say that I have doubled my original investment. I’m close, very close.

After this experiment, I am going to look for another stock and do the same. I got lucky this time. It pays to do your homework and pick the right stock to play with.

See you tomorrow.

Day Trading Experiment – Day 3

I was pleasantly surprised to see the stock price at $2.45 so I sold out my 1,000 shares that I bought yesterday at $2.07. I pocketed $380 over 24 hours, not bad at all. That brings my $1500 investment to $1230 gain which is a little shy of doubling my money.

Luckily for me, I got back in about an hour ago at $2.09. I see that the stock dipped as low as $1.90 but I was not near my computer at the time so I could not take advantage of the price. Maybe I’ll get to sell it again before the market closes today. Lets hope for that.

Day Trading Experiment – Day 2.1

Later that morning, I decided to check the price of the stock that I sold earlier. It was selling between $2.04 and $2.12. I put in a buy order for 1,000 shares at $2.07. It shot up to $2.14 then $2.17 but I knew it was going to correct itself and come down. 

After I made myself a cup of coffee, I checked the order and found that it was filled at $2.07. I was back in the game.

My $2.07 stock closed at $2.22, already up by 15 cents per share. Lets see what happens tomorrow. If you want to follow my progress, the stock symbol is HYGS on the Nasdaq.

Day Trading Experiment – Day 2

Something woke me up today. I think it was the neighbor’s dog barking. I got up and checked the stock market and was pleasantly surprised to see that my $1.50 stock was on the rise. I put in a sell order for $2.35 and guess what?! It sold a few minutes later.

Gross profit: $8.50, less $9.99 commissions. Not bad for a day’s effort.

Day Trading Experiment

Today, I deposited $1500 into my day trading account. My plans is to double it. Last year, this would be easy to do in a day or two but the stock market is a different beast these days. Doubling it would require some concentration and luck. At worst, I would lose half of it. Lets not hope that.

The next few blogs will be about my progress and things learned. 

I have been watching a stock lately on Nasdaq. It is almost considered a penny stock because of its price. I see that the low for the year was 49 cents. Today it is selling for about $1.50. When I started watching it, it was selling for $1.16. I was alittle skeptical at the time but I watched it climb to $1.25, $1.30, $1.40 and now over $1.50. If I had any guts then, I would have been close to doubling my money.

I paid dearly for the stock today at $1.50, especially when I first wanted in at $1.16. Lets see how it goes.