Thanks to the 10% up move in RIMM, our account has turned green for Dec. I attributed everything to casy luck since it wasn't anything I did or saw. Both ATW and BUCY hit new highs today.
However, many stocks are hitting new highs even though the averages are anywhere from 4-8% below their 52 week highs.
This past Tuesday the T2108 indicator or the % of stocks below their 40 day moving average dipped below the 20 level intraday, which coincided with the rally we have witnessed during this options expiration week.
Anyway notable % gainers since the Tuesday bottom are (with many at 52 week highs):
Agriculture: MON, MOO
Mining /Coal: JOYG
Technology: RIMM
Solar: FSLR
Energy: SII, RIG
Steel: STLD
ETF: UWM (Russell 2000, It lead the rally the past four years, it also lead the decline during this past summer)
Trade note:
ESRX is underperforming the averages on a 1% up day. If the % performance for today does not match the worst performing average, i.e. the MID, then all 800 shares will be sold at the close. And if it's a judgment call, I'm liable to toss it out anyway, seeing as how BUCY and ATW have rebounded.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Pyrrhicly right on JOYG
JOYG reported earnings before the bell. They beat by eight cents for the quarter. Stock was up 3.98 or 7% today. However, the better play would have been to wait until the day before earnings and then purchase instead of front running it. Anyone who bought more than one day before earnings is still underwater. BUCY moved in lockstep point wise but % wise, smaller at 4.31%. Obviously the casy luck factor helped but its something for next time.
ATW hit a new high today rising in sympathy with the industrial stocks. Up 1.27 or 1.4%.
ESRX starting to feel like a dog. Fairly close to shooting it.
ATW hit a new high today rising in sympathy with the industrial stocks. Up 1.27 or 1.4%.
ESRX starting to feel like a dog. Fairly close to shooting it.
Monday, December 17, 2007
When Envy and Doubt affect your judgment
About thirty minutes ago, my email stop for BUCY tripped but I did NOT close out the position. Under 99% of circumstances, I would have closed out the full position and said enough. Unfortunately, I am letting other factors interfere with my judgment.
One of the negatives of working in the private sector is the constant office gossip you are subjected to. Even when your doors are closed, you will invariably hear conversations either because they are intentionally speaking loud enough for others to hear or you are at the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway, this hour's topic is Envy. While I won't bother going into the details, I will say this. Suck It Up. No one wants to listen to your whining. If you want something in this world, Go Get It!. There are people who do, and then there's the rest of the world that whines.
Get the message.
One of the negatives of working in the private sector is the constant office gossip you are subjected to. Even when your doors are closed, you will invariably hear conversations either because they are intentionally speaking loud enough for others to hear or you are at the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway, this hour's topic is Envy. While I won't bother going into the details, I will say this. Suck It Up. No one wants to listen to your whining. If you want something in this world, Go Get It!. There are people who do, and then there's the rest of the world that whines.
Get the message.
Doubt & Uncertainty, Painfully waiting for three more days
After Friday's 170 point drop in the Dow, all of the Fed's intervention was unable to keep the market from dropping 2% last week.
Losses are twice as worse than gains. The primary reason is if you were right, you wouldn't have made the bad trade. But its that shock to one's confidence that is the more damaging blow. Money can easily be regained whether through a positive trade or through earned income. However, confidence is only restored when one believes in their own abilities. Doubt and uncertainty are the death of the successful trader.
We've broken down through another level in the S&P as 1460 was taken out, allowing any shorts who somehow held since November 27 to now be in the black.
Livermore stated when you are fighting the overall trend of the markets, you are fighting a losing battle. It's obvious I'm on the wrong side and I don't like the feeling. The worse part is I'm stubbornly holding on for two to three more days for an event that has a 50/50 chance of being right. At best, I'll get out near breakeven, at worse, I'm going to get hit for a third drawdown.
I think the only modification I can make for 2008 is to no longer go with probe positions. Essentially go all or nothing and put a tighter stop since its obvious the old ways are no longer valid today.
Losses are twice as worse than gains. The primary reason is if you were right, you wouldn't have made the bad trade. But its that shock to one's confidence that is the more damaging blow. Money can easily be regained whether through a positive trade or through earned income. However, confidence is only restored when one believes in their own abilities. Doubt and uncertainty are the death of the successful trader.
We've broken down through another level in the S&P as 1460 was taken out, allowing any shorts who somehow held since November 27 to now be in the black.
Livermore stated when you are fighting the overall trend of the markets, you are fighting a losing battle. It's obvious I'm on the wrong side and I don't like the feeling. The worse part is I'm stubbornly holding on for two to three more days for an event that has a 50/50 chance of being right. At best, I'll get out near breakeven, at worse, I'm going to get hit for a third drawdown.
I think the only modification I can make for 2008 is to no longer go with probe positions. Essentially go all or nothing and put a tighter stop since its obvious the old ways are no longer valid today.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
S&P just under 200 day, few gainers in choppy session
Almost as if there was an invisible wall, the SPX closed 1.5 points below the 200-day moving average. Only five stocks on the watchlist finished green and showed buyers in the final five minutes of trading.
SII, FWLT, ARD, NOV, and AAPL.
Note BUCY would be part of this list, but I own 600 shares. The first two names are casy stocks. The next two belongs to a specific trader. As for AAPL, the one that got away.
We have a 26% cash position. ESRX and BUCY should have event triggers next week. We know that JOYG reports either Tue Dec 18 after the bell or before the bell Wed Dec 19, and BUCY tends to move with its industry counterpart.
SII, FWLT, ARD, NOV, and AAPL.
Note BUCY would be part of this list, but I own 600 shares. The first two names are casy stocks. The next two belongs to a specific trader. As for AAPL, the one that got away.
We have a 26% cash position. ESRX and BUCY should have event triggers next week. We know that JOYG reports either Tue Dec 18 after the bell or before the bell Wed Dec 19, and BUCY tends to move with its industry counterpart.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Late night review, will we bail before the timed event
We got lucky and held everything from yesterday, gaining back just under 60% of yesterday's 9k hit. Unfortunately, the S&P 500 closed 14 points below the 50 day moving average and barely above the 200 day. The SPX can still drop another 27 points and not make a lower low from the pivot point on Nov 26 at 1406.
Originally, we were going to hold BUCY and ESRX until their prospective news event later this month, but the volatility of the markets could shake us out. BUCY actually did an intraday sell stop at work but since I was busy, I was unable to place the trade which ended up being a blessing for the moment.
Ironically, out of all the positions ATW is higher after the fed decision and is the best performer in our current portfolio. The worst performer is our latest two position buy in POT and its likely to be the first candidate that gets jettisoned.
Somehow, I quickly went from 45% long to 93% long and now I'm regretting some of what are now careless trades. We're in a bad position of what's known as STUCK. Although historically we're in a seasonal advantage for long positions, it will take a decent move higher in individual positions just to breakeven on the most recent buys.
There's a good chance that if I come out of this in one piece that for 2008 I will avoid trading most of December as this is the second consecutive year, where I went from green to red in the second week of the month.
Originally, we were going to hold BUCY and ESRX until their prospective news event later this month, but the volatility of the markets could shake us out. BUCY actually did an intraday sell stop at work but since I was busy, I was unable to place the trade which ended up being a blessing for the moment.
Ironically, out of all the positions ATW is higher after the fed decision and is the best performer in our current portfolio. The worst performer is our latest two position buy in POT and its likely to be the first candidate that gets jettisoned.
Somehow, I quickly went from 45% long to 93% long and now I'm regretting some of what are now careless trades. We're in a bad position of what's known as STUCK. Although historically we're in a seasonal advantage for long positions, it will take a decent move higher in individual positions just to breakeven on the most recent buys.
There's a good chance that if I come out of this in one piece that for 2008 I will avoid trading most of December as this is the second consecutive year, where I went from green to red in the second week of the month.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Late night review of Dow -295
Felt much better listening to some of the traders who were positioned correctly. Here are some the lessons they shared:
1) Always look for divergences to determine if the action prior to the FED decision is a false move.
There were two ways of determining this:
a) The Puts/Calls Ratio intraday on the CBOT was steadily rising from .85 to .95 prior to 2:15pm, indicating there was a little bit of net selling prior to the decision despite the averages being higher.
b) The international index ETFs (Ishares) such as the FXI in China, and the EWZ in Brazil were in the red the past few days despite the U.S. avgs continuing to climb. The international markets have solidly outperformed the U.S. in 2007 and should have continued their run unless they were being sold.
2) Do the opposite of what Jim Cramer does if he goes on air during a CNBC segment with a wild prediction. On Tuesday, Cramer mentioned something about the Dow should rise one thousand points if the Fed would cut by a half a point today. That comment alone, should have be a warning to sell.
3) The T2108 indicator on Tradestation does NOT warn you of potential reversals on FED decision days. The indicator is useless on Fed days because it was not reading overbought or oversold. Although the indicator was nearing the overbought side, around 52, it takes a reading either above 70 (overbought) or under 20 (oversold) to have a better predictive ability.
As mentioned last month, Livermore always watched out for the one-day reversal, where a stock reached a new high, BUT closed below the previous day's low on higher volume.
While a lot of stocks did have bearish engulfing patterns, the VOLUME was lower in many of the charts compared to their up days. Also the short term uptrend in most of these charts is still intact, so conceivably they could drop a lot farther and still be considered in an uptrend. So while the downmove was painful, its really about whether we are going to get stopped out first before the real move plays out. Our widest stop is 10% from the purchase price, and there's a fairly good chance, I'll get stopped out in at least one position.
Usually the next business day after a Fed decision is the real move. It will either partially reverse some of yesterday's losses or it could continue the downtrend on higher volume. One thing is usually certain, you can expect volatility to increase so having fairly tight stops will easily get you pushed out of a position before the real move is made.
Only two stocks, MA and WFR finished with 52 week highs in the green today.
1) Always look for divergences to determine if the action prior to the FED decision is a false move.
There were two ways of determining this:
a) The Puts/Calls Ratio intraday on the CBOT was steadily rising from .85 to .95 prior to 2:15pm, indicating there was a little bit of net selling prior to the decision despite the averages being higher.
b) The international index ETFs (Ishares) such as the FXI in China, and the EWZ in Brazil were in the red the past few days despite the U.S. avgs continuing to climb. The international markets have solidly outperformed the U.S. in 2007 and should have continued their run unless they were being sold.
2) Do the opposite of what Jim Cramer does if he goes on air during a CNBC segment with a wild prediction. On Tuesday, Cramer mentioned something about the Dow should rise one thousand points if the Fed would cut by a half a point today. That comment alone, should have be a warning to sell.
3) The T2108 indicator on Tradestation does NOT warn you of potential reversals on FED decision days. The indicator is useless on Fed days because it was not reading overbought or oversold. Although the indicator was nearing the overbought side, around 52, it takes a reading either above 70 (overbought) or under 20 (oversold) to have a better predictive ability.
As mentioned last month, Livermore always watched out for the one-day reversal, where a stock reached a new high, BUT closed below the previous day's low on higher volume.
While a lot of stocks did have bearish engulfing patterns, the VOLUME was lower in many of the charts compared to their up days. Also the short term uptrend in most of these charts is still intact, so conceivably they could drop a lot farther and still be considered in an uptrend. So while the downmove was painful, its really about whether we are going to get stopped out first before the real move plays out. Our widest stop is 10% from the purchase price, and there's a fairly good chance, I'll get stopped out in at least one position.
Usually the next business day after a Fed decision is the real move. It will either partially reverse some of yesterday's losses or it could continue the downtrend on higher volume. One thing is usually certain, you can expect volatility to increase so having fairly tight stops will easily get you pushed out of a position before the real move is made.
Only two stocks, MA and WFR finished with 52 week highs in the green today.
Tilt again and a sense of doubt
In hindsight, with the market down 300 points, found out "clapper"was on CNBC yesterday and said if the Fed had cut 1/2% the Dow would have rose one thousand points. Obviously, we all know the clown's track record is spotty.
Aside from today's and yesterday's awful trades, I still would have had a decent amount in the market which is troublesome. I feel I should have sold something prior to the FOMC meeting and that sense of doubt is not a good sign. Sure you are going to make bad trades here and there, but you cannot take these kinds of drawdowns, if you expect to be in the markets for the rest of your life.
A trader must have confidence but they also need the luck of the markets on their side. Since this is my second consecutive drawdown in less than two months, I'm going to have to think real hard on resetting stops and whether positions will get purged so I can get myself back to what I was before.
Aside from today's and yesterday's awful trades, I still would have had a decent amount in the market which is troublesome. I feel I should have sold something prior to the FOMC meeting and that sense of doubt is not a good sign. Sure you are going to make bad trades here and there, but you cannot take these kinds of drawdowns, if you expect to be in the markets for the rest of your life.
A trader must have confidence but they also need the luck of the markets on their side. Since this is my second consecutive drawdown in less than two months, I'm going to have to think real hard on resetting stops and whether positions will get purged so I can get myself back to what I was before.
About 20 min from FOMC announcement, two more purchases
1) 2nd purchase, ATW, 150 around 91.25
2) 2nd purchase, POT, 150 around 134.30
Normally, I do NOT make these types of trades near a FOMC announcement. It's almost a coin flip on the reaction for today or tomorrow. I think its a combination of BUCY in the red and wanting to do something.
2) 2nd purchase, POT, 150 around 134.30
Normally, I do NOT make these types of trades near a FOMC announcement. It's almost a coin flip on the reaction for today or tomorrow. I think its a combination of BUCY in the red and wanting to do something.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Before tomorrow's Fed meeting, and two more purchases
Doing all of our homework on Fri and this weekend makes it easier to ignore all of the CNBC or message chatter. While there are special situations when price or volume alerts can occur at a moment's notice, most of the time you're trading your plan you have written the night before the following day's trading.
The main reason for having a plan, the markets or pundits are always trying to fool you and having that plan whether right or wrong is better than relying on the antics of a chair thrower.
Tomorrow's Fed announcement is a foregone conclusion that some type of rate cut will occur. The only question is how much and what the market reaction will be. While I am concerned about the potential for a down day tomorrow and a reversal, I will take the chance and place some buy orders.
For those who paid attention to last Fri's post, you noticed I added the 3rd purchase of 150 shares BUCY. Now for today's trades at the close:
1) add 4th purchase, 150 of BUCY around 95.75
2) new purchase, 150 of POT around 132
The main reason for having a plan, the markets or pundits are always trying to fool you and having that plan whether right or wrong is better than relying on the antics of a chair thrower.
Tomorrow's Fed announcement is a foregone conclusion that some type of rate cut will occur. The only question is how much and what the market reaction will be. While I am concerned about the potential for a down day tomorrow and a reversal, I will take the chance and place some buy orders.
For those who paid attention to last Fri's post, you noticed I added the 3rd purchase of 150 shares BUCY. Now for today's trades at the close:
1) add 4th purchase, 150 of BUCY around 95.75
2) new purchase, 150 of POT around 132
Friday, December 7, 2007
Watchlist review & weekly perf, 1st week after Black Friday
When I underperform for a week or in a critical timeframe where a profit opportunity was much greater given the opportunities presented, I update the watchlist to determine how the best performers did and whether they may be a candidate for the trade or swing portfolio at some point.
Normally, I watch 100 stocks on 5 separate screens at a given time, but I've found in the most recent two years that when I'm doing really well, I'm able to condense it to one list of 20 stocks and watch only that list.
Given the lack of capital I put in the markets, I'm looking at about a $600-$700 gain before taxes. Although it is in the green, it is underperforming the market because it translates to a return on capital of about 1.21% pretax because I had at most 25% invested during the week. The averages are looking at gains from 3-4.5% for the week, so let's see what I missed and what I can do for next time.
1) Alternative Energy, Energy, Materials, Utilities
Ironically, solar was a dog for the week even when you include that one day pop. The weekly winners were four casy stocks and some familiar names:
FWLT - up 5.8%, new 52 week high, casy would be so proud.
POT - up 4.4%, new 52 week high
STLD - up 5.5%, new 52 week high, it would figure I would mention this one to a trader the night before it gaps up.
JOYG - up 3.2%, casy would wonder if I would get back in. It might be a industry bet for their earnings release later this month but I don't believe its the top pick in its sector.
BUCY - up 1.3%, fair warning, i have 300 shares, and I may add another 150 if its stays green.
ARD - up 4.5%, one of the traders has liked this stock at 22. This should show up on my watchlist for January 2008.
NOV - up 3.4%, the same trader rode the most recent bounce. Same for January 2008.
D - up 2.7%, a casy utility play.
2) Index ETFs
While I had difficulty with the sector ETFs in November; I've had success with the following:
QLD - up 4.8%, I think for the future that should I believe that there's an uptrend in the market and if I don't have any ideas, I should park 20% of free cash here just so I don't give up free money.
EWZ - up 3.6%, Ishares-Brazil, while RIO comprises 43% of this index, I would tend to trade both securities to ride its trading range.
FXI - up 2.5%, Ishares-China, the Jim Rogers safe play, just be aware of the quick 10 point moves in this etf.
MOO - up 4.5%, agriculture, the same trader who introduced ARD, mentioned this at 49. Seems to be a longer term candidate.
DBA - up 2.6%, agriculture, the Jim Rogers agriculture play. Although volume is thin.
3) Retail & one Financial
While casy would balk, yes I paid my $300 tuition for being stupid on PCLN, there were winners for two good reasons: a) Generation IPod can't balance a checkbook because I learned that the junior and senior high schools where I grew up no longer teach a personal finance class. b) Generation IPod will shop because they know they can always ask their parents to bail them out of anything. After all, if the U.S. government, aka we the taxpayer, are bailing out a couple of thousand imbeciles from paying mortgages that 90% knew they didn't qualify for, what kind of precedent are we setting the next time something like this happens in another industry.
GME - up 6.6%, the must have item for this Xmas, a Nintendo Wii. Nintendo trades as a pink sheet stock and is up about 170% ytd.
AAPL - up 5.0%, whether its laptops or IPods, it and Google represent the current shopping generation of tech-heads.
COST - up 3.5%, ironically I mentioned this to one of the traders before Black Friday that this is the only retailer I would consider going long for a trade. In hindsight, it has only made its weekly gain in the past two days. This past Thursday was the weekly sales numbers.
CMG - up 5.8%, people have to eat while they shop.
MA - up 2.7%, people don't have the money so obviously they're going to charge it.
BLK - up 5.9%, the only asset manager benefitting from all the subprime nonsense.
4) Special situations or possibly stubbornness.
ISRG - up 6.3%, this is on the ytd list for best performers
SIGM - up 3.2%, same as above, one of few tech companies outside of AAPL, GOOG, RIMM, to show big gains ytd.
ESRX - up .7%, fair warning, long 800 shares, they report mid-qtr guidance later this month.
BIDU - up .5%, the Chinese version of eBay and Google.
Normally, I watch 100 stocks on 5 separate screens at a given time, but I've found in the most recent two years that when I'm doing really well, I'm able to condense it to one list of 20 stocks and watch only that list.
Given the lack of capital I put in the markets, I'm looking at about a $600-$700 gain before taxes. Although it is in the green, it is underperforming the market because it translates to a return on capital of about 1.21% pretax because I had at most 25% invested during the week. The averages are looking at gains from 3-4.5% for the week, so let's see what I missed and what I can do for next time.
1) Alternative Energy, Energy, Materials, Utilities
Ironically, solar was a dog for the week even when you include that one day pop. The weekly winners were four casy stocks and some familiar names:
FWLT - up 5.8%, new 52 week high, casy would be so proud.
POT - up 4.4%, new 52 week high
STLD - up 5.5%, new 52 week high, it would figure I would mention this one to a trader the night before it gaps up.
JOYG - up 3.2%, casy would wonder if I would get back in. It might be a industry bet for their earnings release later this month but I don't believe its the top pick in its sector.
BUCY - up 1.3%, fair warning, i have 300 shares, and I may add another 150 if its stays green.
ARD - up 4.5%, one of the traders has liked this stock at 22. This should show up on my watchlist for January 2008.
NOV - up 3.4%, the same trader rode the most recent bounce. Same for January 2008.
D - up 2.7%, a casy utility play.
2) Index ETFs
While I had difficulty with the sector ETFs in November; I've had success with the following:
QLD - up 4.8%, I think for the future that should I believe that there's an uptrend in the market and if I don't have any ideas, I should park 20% of free cash here just so I don't give up free money.
EWZ - up 3.6%, Ishares-Brazil, while RIO comprises 43% of this index, I would tend to trade both securities to ride its trading range.
FXI - up 2.5%, Ishares-China, the Jim Rogers safe play, just be aware of the quick 10 point moves in this etf.
MOO - up 4.5%, agriculture, the same trader who introduced ARD, mentioned this at 49. Seems to be a longer term candidate.
DBA - up 2.6%, agriculture, the Jim Rogers agriculture play. Although volume is thin.
3) Retail & one Financial
While casy would balk, yes I paid my $300 tuition for being stupid on PCLN, there were winners for two good reasons: a) Generation IPod can't balance a checkbook because I learned that the junior and senior high schools where I grew up no longer teach a personal finance class. b) Generation IPod will shop because they know they can always ask their parents to bail them out of anything. After all, if the U.S. government, aka we the taxpayer, are bailing out a couple of thousand imbeciles from paying mortgages that 90% knew they didn't qualify for, what kind of precedent are we setting the next time something like this happens in another industry.
GME - up 6.6%, the must have item for this Xmas, a Nintendo Wii. Nintendo trades as a pink sheet stock and is up about 170% ytd.
AAPL - up 5.0%, whether its laptops or IPods, it and Google represent the current shopping generation of tech-heads.
COST - up 3.5%, ironically I mentioned this to one of the traders before Black Friday that this is the only retailer I would consider going long for a trade. In hindsight, it has only made its weekly gain in the past two days. This past Thursday was the weekly sales numbers.
CMG - up 5.8%, people have to eat while they shop.
MA - up 2.7%, people don't have the money so obviously they're going to charge it.
BLK - up 5.9%, the only asset manager benefitting from all the subprime nonsense.
4) Special situations or possibly stubbornness.
ISRG - up 6.3%, this is on the ytd list for best performers
SIGM - up 3.2%, same as above, one of few tech companies outside of AAPL, GOOG, RIMM, to show big gains ytd.
ESRX - up .7%, fair warning, long 800 shares, they report mid-qtr guidance later this month.
BIDU - up .5%, the Chinese version of eBay and Google.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
At least one more add at close
BUCY looks like its holding on to its gains. So we'll make our 2nd purchase of 150 shares at the close.
Almost feels like tomorrow's jobs reports was leaked as the S&P is back above 1500 with some people front running the move.
Almost feels like tomorrow's jobs reports was leaked as the S&P is back above 1500 with some people front running the move.
Stop Loss, Sold 100 PCLN 117.25
I am being reminded by casy. What the hell are you doing buying a sissy retail stock.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Dow up 196 today, two more adds
In hindsight, this was 401k add day. Most U.S. corporations select one day in the first week of the month to make their monthly 401k matching contributions to their employees. Since most 401k plans are registered with a small number of transfer agents such as Vanguard or Fidelity, they tend to purchase or sell securities at the same time.
Just before the close, added more longs:
1) 4th purchase of ESRX, 200 at 72.47.
2) 100 PCLN at 119.81
Just before the close, added more longs:
1) 4th purchase of ESRX, 200 at 72.47.
2) 100 PCLN at 119.81
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
3rd Purchase, 200 ESRX near close, 71.50
Lots of divergences. Averages are down about 1/2 to 3/4% today.
Keep plugging away. Be prepared to drop BUCY and ATW without warning since the two steps forward, two steps back is not working.
Keep plugging away. Be prepared to drop BUCY and ATW without warning since the two steps forward, two steps back is not working.
Monday, December 3, 2007
10 lessons from a Billionaire
Recently, Forbes published their 2007 list of the 400 richest people in the world. #54 on this list is C.D. Spangler Jr. With a net worth over $2 billion USD, one would hardly recognize Spangler from any person in the Charlotte, NC suburbs where he resides. While I rarely, acknowledge anyone willing to do business with Bank of America, he did share some of his life's lessons in an interview with a Harvard Business School columnist back in July of 2001, http://www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurs/pdf/dickspangler.pdf
1) Make your mistakes while you're young so you can learn and recover from them.
Like the stock market, there are times when you must make decisions without complete information. Harvard Business School taught students to quickly assess alternatives and choose the best one before a competitor swooped in and stole your ideas and your edge.
2) Leverage wisely.
You won't always know if an investment will yield higher returns than your borrowing rate, but understanding current market conditions will help you determine when it is time to be aggressive or conservative in your leveraging decisions. Borrowing money to build apartments or warehouses in high demand locations and offering rentals at attractive prices can result in monthly cash flows during uptrending markets.
3) Know what the worth of the business or item you want to sell.
With the availability of the Internet, it's much easier today to determine the fair market value of any item or service. Especially when the prospective buyer will always say, "That's a little high."
4) Get rid of lousy leaders and ineffective managers.
Notice he said, get rid of the ones RUNNING the organization. NOT the people working for the organization.
5) Hire people who are smarter than you, especially those who have talent in specialized fields.
Most hiring managers don't hire the best candidate for open positions and what usually happens is the lost candidate is hired by their #1 competitor.
6) Don't hire or hang around people just like you are.
Diversity in thought and action is needed to prevent a groupthink atmosphere. Ever heard of the phrase, "if one jump off the cliff, they all jump off" An organization (such as one of Trump's divisions, where everyone dresses (in $3k suits that nobody can afford) and acts (if they work for Trump they think they're invincible), that is an organization built for disaster. Does someone want to explain how Trump Taj Mahal went from being the destination casino of Atlantic City in 1990 to just another casino by 2003?
7) Prioritize your challenges.
It is ok to defer or delay an important decision if you making progress on solving a challenge. Sometimes its better to have ten small challenges on your plate than one all encompassing challenge.
8) Look at the numbers from the real world, NOT from projections.
The market is the final arbiter in any decision. Stubborn refusal to accept what the market is telling you results in losses and lost opportunity in another area.
9) Get financing for business ideas if you want to earn a return on investment.
Having a business line of credit allows you to focus on generating sales and profits versus figuring out how to meet next month's payroll or fund inventory purchases to meet orders.
10) Let someone else be first to come up with a solution, so you can second it and make everyone feel they collectively came up with the decision.
In the "Me" generation, seems everyone wants to feel special. Ever notice, when you propose a great idea that there's a lukewarm reception to it; but then a few days later, someone else, will pitch the same idea and generate great euthusiasm. While its disheartening, you have to decide if the benefits of working with the group exceed the costs of dealing with office politics. If the answer is yes, then this is one of those sacrifices you may have to endure. But at least, don't sign away your patent, copyright, or trademark.
1) Make your mistakes while you're young so you can learn and recover from them.
Like the stock market, there are times when you must make decisions without complete information. Harvard Business School taught students to quickly assess alternatives and choose the best one before a competitor swooped in and stole your ideas and your edge.
2) Leverage wisely.
You won't always know if an investment will yield higher returns than your borrowing rate, but understanding current market conditions will help you determine when it is time to be aggressive or conservative in your leveraging decisions. Borrowing money to build apartments or warehouses in high demand locations and offering rentals at attractive prices can result in monthly cash flows during uptrending markets.
3) Know what the worth of the business or item you want to sell.
With the availability of the Internet, it's much easier today to determine the fair market value of any item or service. Especially when the prospective buyer will always say, "That's a little high."
4) Get rid of lousy leaders and ineffective managers.
Notice he said, get rid of the ones RUNNING the organization. NOT the people working for the organization.
5) Hire people who are smarter than you, especially those who have talent in specialized fields.
Most hiring managers don't hire the best candidate for open positions and what usually happens is the lost candidate is hired by their #1 competitor.
6) Don't hire or hang around people just like you are.
Diversity in thought and action is needed to prevent a groupthink atmosphere. Ever heard of the phrase, "if one jump off the cliff, they all jump off" An organization (such as one of Trump's divisions, where everyone dresses (in $3k suits that nobody can afford) and acts (if they work for Trump they think they're invincible), that is an organization built for disaster. Does someone want to explain how Trump Taj Mahal went from being the destination casino of Atlantic City in 1990 to just another casino by 2003?
7) Prioritize your challenges.
It is ok to defer or delay an important decision if you making progress on solving a challenge. Sometimes its better to have ten small challenges on your plate than one all encompassing challenge.
8) Look at the numbers from the real world, NOT from projections.
The market is the final arbiter in any decision. Stubborn refusal to accept what the market is telling you results in losses and lost opportunity in another area.
9) Get financing for business ideas if you want to earn a return on investment.
Having a business line of credit allows you to focus on generating sales and profits versus figuring out how to meet next month's payroll or fund inventory purchases to meet orders.
10) Let someone else be first to come up with a solution, so you can second it and make everyone feel they collectively came up with the decision.
In the "Me" generation, seems everyone wants to feel special. Ever notice, when you propose a great idea that there's a lukewarm reception to it; but then a few days later, someone else, will pitch the same idea and generate great euthusiasm. While its disheartening, you have to decide if the benefits of working with the group exceed the costs of dealing with office politics. If the answer is yes, then this is one of those sacrifices you may have to endure. But at least, don't sign away your patent, copyright, or trademark.
Two buys at close
Dow down 60 as we speak but one of my positions up 4% on no news.
1) 2nd purchase of ESRX, 200 at 70.50.
2) New position, Long ATW, 150 at 89.70.
Both at 52 week highs. Will figure it out tomorrow.
1) 2nd purchase of ESRX, 200 at 70.50.
2) New position, Long ATW, 150 at 89.70.
Both at 52 week highs. Will figure it out tomorrow.
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