Stopped out of GOOG

Unfortunately, I was stopped out of GOOG.  Frankly, I shouldn't have made the trade.  It was a bit impulsive on my part and I didn't follow my strategy on this one...

On another note, Ben Bernanke is coming up for confirmation. Please email your senate and house representatives to urge them to reconfirm him. He's doing a great job and the markets don't need the uncertainty of a new appointee. Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Google

Made 10% on HAL. Have a position in GOOG now. Not sure why the small drop after earnings but it should be good "long" term.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

My Halliburton position

My Halliburton position is doing well so far. Their earnings are coming up on the 25th of January. You can learn more about the price targets for HAL here - http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ao?s=HAL. Cheers.

Update (1/20/10): Today's pull-back seems like a good buying opportunity for those looking to capitalize before HAL's earnings announcement on 1/25. Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Lessons learned from 2009

I had a good year. My self-managed 401K was up 17%. However, it's always good to reflect and learn from mistakes. Here are some of my lessons from the past year. I just started getting serious about trading this year.

• Stop Loss: It's good to know your exit strategy in case you're wrong on your pick or the market moves against you. Some recommend 7 - 8% as a good stop loss from your buy point. I usually use 8%.
  
• Volume: Volume is a good consideration as well. After you buy, will you be able to sell?
• OTC: I would stay away from OTC unless you really know how to trade them. FMNJ was one that looked good on the chart but there was no demand for buying at the point I wanted to sell. Thankfully all that I lost was the trade commission (which is small with Fidelity).
  
• Sector: It's good to consider the sector too. I had a position in JOYG and it had a great quarter but there was little price action afterward. I made a little but it seemed that the gold decline in price affected this company's results.
• Price Target: Analyst price targets can be helpful. In my opinion, the more data the better. I remember hearing a quote one time too to the effect of "don't fight the market". Price targets can give you an idea of what price you might be able to sell at.
  

Good luck with your 2010 investing and/or trading. Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.
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Online resources

The are all sorts of great online resources from ranging from financial news, blogs, and stock screening tools.

Here are several.

• Google Finance Stock Screener
• Google Finance
• money.aol.com
• CNBC (they have some good news videos for keeping up on the market)
• BloggingStocks
• Yahoo Finance (has great data regarding analyst price targets)
• Earnings calendar (from Yahoo Finance, another tool helpful when screening stocks)

Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.
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Potential trades from 12/3/2009

Below is some data that is interesting from a swing trading perspective. It might be easier to view in a spreadsheet if you copy and paste it. Cheers.

Price targets (use with a grain of salt) symbol target$ #brokers earnings date potential% potential date from
JOYG $64 (11 broker average); 12/16 earnings (17% from my buy point) JOYG $64.00 11 12/16/2009 17 12/3/2009
EBAY $29 (23 broker average); 1/18/10 earnings (22% potential from 12/3) EBAY $29.00 23 1/18/2010 22 12/3/2009
APD $92 (17 brokers); 1/22/10 earnings (11% potential from 12/3) APD $92.00 17 1/22/2010 11 12/3/2009
SLB $75.50 (22 brokers); 1/22/10 earnings (20% potential from 12/3) SLB $75.50 22 1/22/2010 20 12/3/2009
HAL $38 (22 brokers); 1/25/10 earnings (34% potential from 12/3) HAL $38.00 22 1/25/2010 34 12/3/2009
GD $74 (16 brokers); 1/27/10 earnings (10% potential from 12/3) GD $74.00 16 1/27/2010 10 12/3/2009
QCOM $52 (29 brokers); 1/27/10 earnings (16% potential from 12/3) QCOM $52.00 29 1/27/2010 16 12/3/2009
CSH $40 (9 brokers); 1/28/10 (20% potential from 12/3) CSH $40.00 9 1/28/2010 20 12/3/2009
CYMI $45 (7 brokers); 1/28/10 earnings (22% potential from 12/3) CYMI $45.00 7 1/28/2010 22 12/3/2009
OI $43 (12 brokers); 1/28/10 earnings (40% potential from 12/3) OI $43.00 12 1/28/2010 40 12/3/2009
TDY $45 (5 brokers); 1/28/10 earnings (29% potential from 12/3) TDY $45.00 5 1/28/2010 29 12/3/2009
FISV $53 (13 brokers); 2/2/10 earnings (14% potential from 12/3) FISV $53.00 13 2/2/2010 14 12/3/2009
SLGN $63.5 (10 brokers); 2/2/10 earnings (20% potential from 12/3) SLGN $63.50 10 2/2/2010 20 12/3/2009
DB $81.89 (2 brokers); 2/3/10 earnings (12% potential from 12/3) DB $81.89 2 2/3/2010 12 12/3/2009
LNCR $40 (12 brokers); 2/8/10 earnings (12% potential from 12/3) LNCR $40.00 12 2/8/2010 12 12/3/2009
TAP $53 (9 brokers); 2/9/10 earnings (17% potential from 12/3) TAP $53.00 9 2/9/2010 17 12/3/2009
ALL $36 (15 brokers); 2/10/10 earnings (27% potential from 12/3) ALL $36.00 15 2/10/2010 27 12/3/2009
GPI $33.50 (8 brokers); 2/11/10 earnings (29% potential from 12/3) GPI $33.50 8 2/11/2010 29 12/3/2009
DVN $80 (20 brokers); 2/17/10 earnings (20% potential from 12/3) DVN $80.00 20 2/17/2010 20 12/3/2009
HPQ $59 (28 brokers); 2/17/10 earnings (20% potential from 12/3) HPQ $59.00 28 2/17/2010 20 12/3/2009
NXY $29.63 (2 brokers); 2/18/10 earnings (21% potential from 12/3) NXY $29.63 2 2/18/2010 21 12/3/2009
JCP $36 (12 brokers); 2/19/10 earnings (26% potential from 12/3); chart didn't look real great though JCP $36.00 12 2/19/2010 26 12/3/2009
APEI $45.50 (12 brokers); 2/22/10 earnings (50% potential from 12/3); chart didn't look to great though APEI $45.50 12 2/22/2010 50 12/3/2009
JWN $40 (16 brokers); 2/22/10 earnings (14% potential from 12/3) JWN $40.00 16 2/22/2010 14 12/3/2009
M $22 (13 brokers); 2/23/10 earnings (39% potential from 12/3) M $22.00 13 2/23/2010 39 12/3/2009
TGT $57 (17 brokers); 2/23/10 earnings (22% potential from 12/3) TGT $57.00 17 2/23/2010 22 12/3/2009
DCI $48 (6 brokers); 2/24/10 earnings (13% potential from 12/3) DCI $48.00 6 2/24/2010 13 12/3/2009
TJX $45 (15 brokers); 2/24/10 earnings (20% potential from 12/3) TJX $45.00 15 2/24/2010 20 12/3/2009
ACIW $20 (6 brokers); 2/25/10 earnings (23% potential from 12/3) ACIW $20.00 6 2/25/2010 23 12/3/2009
GPS $26 (22 brokers); 2/25/10 earnings (21% potential from 12/3) GPS $26.00 22 2/25/2010 21 12/3/2009

Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Disclaimer: I have a position in HAL currently. I had a position in JOYG but unfortunately only made a small amount...

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My first post

So, I'm starting this blog as an experiment of sorts to share my experiences with others regarding investing. Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Last year my mutual fund investments were down ~40% which as you could imagine was quite sickening to me. This year through 12/16/2009 my self managed 401K is up 15.1% via swing trading. So, I am thankful that things are going much better this year. Update: as of 1/1/10 here's what Fidelity says my return is "Personal Rate of Return from 01/01/2009 to 12/31/2009 is 17%".

Some of the resources that I've used to learn are:

• How to Make Money in Stocks
• Ahead of the Curve
• The New Market Wizards
• Investors.com
• The Richest Man in Babylon
  

Cheers and good luck with your investing goals.
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