Stock Duel!

1400 SIM @ 5.26 limit buy for Monday.

Had I gone long in equally weighted positions for every stock in my watch list since Feb 15. I would have 5 gainers and 2 losers.  I can’t comment on Frank’s list because he probably has shorts he’d like to play so it wouldn’t be accurate to assume default longs.  Here’s my stats:

YHOO + 1.66%

SIM + 4.70%

HRAY + 1.63%

MCD - 0.85%

HANS + 12.71%

WLP  - 0.17%

PAL  + 8.00%

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Average Gain: 3.95%.  not bad for 1 week of buy & hold style investing.

After the long-weekend, crude prices went up. I knew that if crude doesn’t go any higher when the american markets begin trading, all the oil stocks will close the gap. For that reason, I wanted to day trade 100 shares of PBR at $93 and short it. The reason I wanted to do that was to exploit the overbought situation and play off a sell signal as PBR failed to make a new high (94.35). However, Interactive Brokers prevented me from entering that trade because they forced me to upgrade their software and then it failed to load. After 2 hours of technical assistance, I got it working and the stock was already under $90/sh. As of today’s close, the stock went even lower, currently at $88.70. I would have made about 3-4 points off the 100 shares which would equate to $300-400 off an easy play. Razvan, one day I will take the lead for good…just watch.

I haven’t had time to watch intraday activity and pinpoint a good entry but I’m going to establish some decent medium term entries for a few positions available in my watch list.  First MCD.  35.5 should be a decent entry assuming we continue the uptrend successfully.  If not, I would place my stop near the bottom of the bollinger band which is around 34.78, so between than and perhaps 34.5. Remember these are rough values and can be further refined.  PAL saw a breakout just before February, a reconfirmation of the support/resistance line at ~ 9.50.  Ideally we’ll see this move at least as high as the previous high but volume is not as strong indicating less fervor than the breakout.  The black candlestick is not very reassuring and there is a small gap left to be filled in the 10.6’s.  Careful on this one.  I’m considering entering SIM with a limit buy at 4.8 for the purpose of this contest.  I’d like to see some evidence of accumulation first before being sure of the next leg up on this one.  More to come.

I attempted an entry into HRAY in the last 20 minutes of trading. I was playing some Level 2 games without success. I’m down about $0.20 for cancelling the orders and don’t own any shares. I want 200 shares at this bullish MACD crossover at a price under $8.

Let me justify why I picked these 7 stocks for my watchlist for this challenge:

SPY - Potential options play or quick market sentiment day-trading stock. I can also buy put options to hedge myself in case i’m loaded with longs with the other stocks and an unexpected market turnaround happens.
GOOG - A big mover–up or down. I am ready to play this one both sides at any moment. I like the liquidity of this stock and I’ve been watching it for a while so I know where all the resistances and support levels are at.
CELL - Major uptrender. I am planning to play the strength on this one. It’s always great to have a nice upwards moving stock that is consistent and predictable.
IIIN - I’m new to this one, but it runs around fast and I would like to day trade or swing trade this one from time to time.
GG - I added this one because playing gold is important especially with the geopolitical issues.
PRB - Don’t forget about an oil play! It’s always handy to have this one in case oil decides to tank or shoot past $70/barrel.
CAT - A long-term winner that never quits even when the market is doing bad. A dependable stock to trade long when the market is gloomy.

My strategy is to include stocks from different sectors so I would be able to catch the major market moves. Whether technology, metals, materials, construction, or oil is moving, I have the choice to jump into the action. I think this will be a key advantage to be able to trade a wide variety of stocks.

To start things off I’d like to post some general information on the positions I have selected by listing their respective sector and industry. These stocks were picked through arbitrary means such as recommendations from friends, good looking charts based on technicals, and real-life acquaintance with the company and it’s products or services. Hover your mouse over the ticker for a complete company name. Here goes:

YHOO: Potentially oversold, timing a bottom using options may be a nice play.
Sector: Technology
Industry: Internet Information Providers

HRAY: Looks like this will be my swing trader; balance sheet is sexy.
Sector: Technology
Industry: Business Software & Services

PAL: Precious metals play.
Sector: Basic Materials
Industry: Industrial Metals & Minerals

SIM: Fantastic company.
Sector: Basic Materials
Industry: Steel & Iron

HANS: I’ve heard a lot about it; also on barchart’s top 100.
Sector: Consumer Goods
Industry: Beverages - Soft Drinks

MCD: Looking like a long-term breakout. Chose MCD over my other candidate CMG because of the history.
Sector: Services
Industry: Restaurants

WLP: Sustained price growth; people who eat at MCD will need to go somewhere for healthcare, right?
Sector: Healthcare
Industry: Health Care Plans

These positions are not intended to be diversified or for S&P style sector diversification/breakdown. As per the rules of the duel I can choose to “do nothing” at any time of the contest. When my positions reflect activity that I do not like and I do not wish to hold on to them this rule gives me the flexibility to remain in cash thus earning interest through my broker. Unfortunately, none of my picks includes a broad-based ETF such as Frank’s SPY which would allow me to go with the flow of the market.

Hello. I am Frank C. from Technicator.NET.

This stock duel challenge is a personal one in which I hope to grow and learn from the experience. I have picked 7 stocks and these are the ones that Razvan and I will be trading for the next month or so. We cannot trade anything else. Real money will be used. Please note that our trades are NOT public recommendations and we are not professional investment advisors. Let’s start.

First off, greetings to fellow friends and new visitors! As part of my ongoing mission to improve my trading techniques I have accepted Frank’s challenge to this stock duel. Here I will post my outlook and trades for the 7 stocks I have listed in my watchlist. I am looking to go both long and short as well as to use leveraging strategies via options techniques. As I refine my game and continue to learn I will post here and allow everyone to follow along, post comments, offer advice (and constructive criticism).  Wish me luck in this duel and consider the gauntlet dropped!

7 stocks are chosen for each of the two competitors: Frank C. and Razvan R.

Buy/Sell/Short/Options/Do Nothing are the rules for trading these seven stocks. For the next month or so, only these 7 stocks from each corresponding watchlist could be traded at any time for Frank and Razvan. You may day trade, swing trade, and or buy and hold any or all of the watchlist.

The scores will be tallied up for realized trades and will be in units of profit/losses in USD. Each combatant is responsible for broker transaction fees.