Do you trade stocks etc?

[SatinKzo]

I'm curious what members here trade stocks (not just buy and hold for long term) and who they use to do so (etrade, scottrade etc)

Also just out of curiosity, what kind of stocks do you trade (large cap, small, micro, penny, etc).

I don't want stock tips or anything, I'm just curious who else besides myself uses short-term trading to complement their long term investment strategies.

And honestly, the one thing I want to learn is Options trading and was curious if anyone here had a good suggestion on a site or book to learn Options in depth.

 

[firebirds]

I did very little trade , I think most people will go to ebay for trade .

 

[SatinKzo]

ebay?

 

[Tom in TX]

I'm curious what members here trade stocks (not just buy and hold for long term) and who they use to do so (etrade, scottrade etc)

I normally don't do any stock trading, but I asked my wife for $5k, back in April, when Warren Buffet was investing in Burlington Northern (BNI). It spiked in price right after he bought his initial stake, the leveled out, and when it hit $80/share, I bought in. So far, so good! I used Scottrade, so the transaction only cost $7!
Plus, they (BNI) recently declared a dividend of 1.9%!!

Tom in TX

 

[Neutron]

I have some Sirius stock.

 

[charper1]

I trade, but mostly the longer-term hold. Tech and pharmaceuticals are my biggest holdings. I am looking into funds now that deal with real estate holdings as that market is likely at the bottom right now and begging to be cherry picked. I started with AFTrader/Fleet's U.S. Clearing which has recently been bought out/changed names (2004).

 

[Bob Haller]

my big regret, my mom died a little over 10 years ago. I could of sold her home and invested it in E whick skyrocketed right after that. 80 grand in would of netted me what 5 years later? at least a million, i could of retirred at 45........

 

[Claude Greiner]

My dad trades alot and I will occasionally give him some money to buy stock for me such as Pegasus when they sold out to Directv.

The problem is that after I tell him to sell the stock and ask for my money back we get into this big conversation of how I should re-invest it in something else and I never see my fricken money again.

So I just don't give him any money anymore, invest in stocks, or talk about investing in stocks with him.

As far as making money, I do very good for myself just running the Dishstore and signing up customers for DISH Network. Its not necessary to suppliment my income by playing around in the stock market.

Over the years I have probably made more money holding on to a stock pile of receivers with a certain "smart card", and selling them on ebay for 5-10 times more than what I origionally paid for it, then my dad has made trading stocks!

 

[stevenl]

I use Scottrade they are fairly cheap, and execute trades pretty fast. Their free Trading system is pretty nice most places charge about 20 bucks a month for a similar system. Oh its also fairly easy to get an account they have only a 500$ minimum opening balance alot of other places are 1000 or higher.

 

[AllieVi]

I do a good bit of short-term trading, including options.

Options offer the lure of spectacular profits and losses and aren’t for the feint of heart. Many option strategies exist and I’ve been successful at losing money using each of them.

The safest way to use options and a good way to start is to “write” covered “calls” on stock you already own. Someone pays you money for the right to buy the stock from you at some future date for a certain price.

Here’s an example using a stock that I trade, Office Depot. As I write this, the stock is selling at about $18.60/share. The bid price for the call option that expires in December (it’s always the third Friday of the month) is $0.65/share. Selling the option gives the other person the right to buy the stock at $20 until December 21. If the stock is trading below $20 at that time, the option won’t be exercised and I’ll pocket the $0.65/share. If it is trading above $20, I can allow the stock to be bought from me (at $20) or I can repurchase the option at the going price at that time.

If I bought the stock today at $18.60, and immediately sold the option, I’d be out-of-pocket $17.95 (plus commissions). If it sells next month at $20, my gain would be $2.05 on a $17.95 investment for a gain of 11% (less with commissions). If the stock goes nowhere or down in the next month, I still have the stock and the $0.65 and I can do it all over again. This technique can be used to gain extra income from stocks that you intend to keep for the long term.

The buyer of the option expects the stock price to rise and can benefit handsomely if it does. Using the same example, if the stock is selling at $25 on December 21, the option they pay $0.65 for today would be worth $5.00 (they could pay $20 for a stock that’s selling for $25). If I really wanted to keep the stock, it would cost me $5.00/share to repurchase the option.

Continuing with this example, other options with “strike prices” of $20 prices are:

Jan ’08 - $1.10
Apr ’08 - $2.10
Jul ’08 - $2.70
Jan ’09 – $3.60
Jan ’10 - $5.00

This is just a very basic example of one strategy, of course. It’s the safest way to get your feet wet if you are interested.

 

[TheForce]

Did so years ago and made and lost it.

I was a new engineer with a startup company and received stock options, I knew nothing about. I invested, as my boss instructed $500 in 100 shares. and the stock portfolio grew and grew on paper. When it got to $11,000 I was eligible to sell under the SEC rules. At that time I was moving on to a new company and after 7 years it went public and I had an option to buy in. I sold the stock in the former company which had grown to 15,000 now. Well, things didn't go so well in this company. First of all the company was not fully public but only a portion, which I didn't work for. I worked in the janitorial supplies end and this public part was a car wax division. My $15,000 investment went to zero and the car wax company went bankrupt with a bulk of the cash leaving the country. Learned my lesson. I formed my own company, own 100% of the stock, and it is doing great! No partners to screw me. I invest OPM in equipment. Use the equipment to earn money and then dump it and buy new. Other people invest in my company now with unsecured loans I pay them avg of 2-3% and make 2-3 thousand % on the money borrowed. Then when I talk to my banker about checking act charges, he wants me to put money into some bank account at 1.99% and I bust a gut laughing as I walk out the door.

Well, if you didn't get it by now... I invest in stocks I have total control over. The rest is more insurance policies for loss, ie life, car, and health. To date, I have about broke even on invested premiums vs. need to collect. That's my strategy- stay away from the NY Stock exchange, S&P and OTC stocks. The only people really making it big in those are the brokers making commissions on your wins and losses.

 

[thecristman]

I'm curious what members here trade stocks (not just buy and hold for long term) and who they use to do so (etrade, scottrade etc)

Also just out of curiosity, what kind of stocks do you trade (large cap, small, micro, penny, etc).

I don't want stock tips or anything, I'm just curious who else besides myself uses short-term trading to complement their long term investment strategies.

And honestly, the one thing I want to learn is Options trading and was curious if anyone here had a good suggestion on a site or book to learn Options in depth.

If you are interested in learning how to trade and make some great money. check this out, Investools Investor Education: Trading & Stock Market Courses & Investment Classes

I and several of my friends took this course a year ago and it has worked great. Their advice has always been good and we have all made some good money, even when the rest of the market was going down. The course is $1,000, but they will let you pay$199 a month if that helps. I strongly reccomend this and it could be the best money you could spend.

 

[SatinKzo]

No thanks thecristman, I don't pay people to teach me things I can learn for free. I make "great" money now doing what I am doing. If this Ivestools product is so great, they wouldn't waste their time teaching, they would be doing. The inestools stuff is all over the web if you search and there is nothing ground breaking with their info or tools.

Like I originally posted though, I am not NOT looking for tips or anything like that, I am just curious who else that used short term investing by actively tracking and trading stocks as a compliemnt to their long term strategies.

My motto in the short term game "There is no such thing as a bad profit"