As i finish that post i turn the tv on to see the markets came back but not before the second half of my longs got stopped out only to go vertical the last 20 minutes of the day.  Meanwhile my shorts rally and it's yet another write off day.   I hate, ,,,hate is a strong word, but appropriate...hate this market right now. Ok, i'll stop posting.

Tough, tough, tough market...

Tough markets come and go, the oil embargo of the 70s, the S&L scandals of the 80s....the post tech boom crash of early 2000 and on.....the market has always recovered.  If ever it doesn't, then we'll have bigger concerns.

Krill...my comments weren't meant to say it will last forever.  

Look at '29 Many thought it was the end for stocks...and it has recovered...we are just in the environment that is choppy and isn't ripe for longs.

there are 3 or 4 times every 10 or so years where you get an opportunities for HUGE gains...

...and this isn't one of those times

I will say...ok I double checked my numbers this time...(again apologies)

The Nasdaq did fall 1.4% on VERY LIGHT trade...basically I am not saying we are turning around and heading to 5k tomorrow.  It is a good sign, finally that we didn't sell off on HUGE volume for the Nasdaq...I think its the first step of a few hundred but its a start.

yay ckfr

phailin, I heard so much about Jeff now, I am aware the book HIT and RUN, is it good book ?  Amazon score is only 3+, is there any else I get to understand his method more. I guess that he is not CANSlim, he is a hit and run guy ?

some thoughts from me an amateur investor - its boring mkt and tough not to get worked up with the large intraday swings but i keep it simple and even though i enjoy reading stocks mkt books all the time(i just finished Dr. Elders book on Josh's list) i dont get caught up in all those technical indicators interpreting the same data(GANN, fibonacci bands, point/figure,etc.....the list goes on, and the thousands of technicians on the thousands of trading sites that all have their own opinions for trading the market and they all seems to make sense but not everyone can be right(if i could personally train with a professional trader that implements lots of those indicators and is continually beating the mkt then i would be more interested) but very few beat the mkt like CANSLIM or make as much sense to me as CANSLIM, etc.....the more I read and work at it after reading most succesful trader, the more that CANSLIM makes more sense for my style as i dont like watching the mkt all day and having the emotions with that....i admit to making some small shorts to keep my feeling involved in the mkt.....I would like to see a correction as i would like to put money to work but right now ill just keep learning/reading and not overtrading because there IS NO DIRECTION IN THE MARKET, look back at all the "attractive breakouts or breakdowns" from the last month and many of them whipsawed all over the place......i remain in almost all cash with only about 20k short, 5k long and and will add shorts after the Fed announcement b'c even if mkt bounces some more there is no leadership to make anything sustainable and too many negative divergences

I'm a big believer in dollar cost averaging....when dealing with "quality" stocks, those that have + earnings and/or pay a dividend.  Trying to time the market, imo it's alot of guesswork...everyone thinks they're a genius when they time things right, and have a boatload of excuses when their timing is off.  

Dollar Cost Averaging...

I can't say that I am a fan of it...Actually, I am not a fan of it at all...but hey if it works for you then that is the only thing that matters...

I don't think I am smart enough to pick a stock to DCA with...

Dollar cost averaging is very dangerous. Just ask anyone long MSFT. Nice earnings, nice dividend. Too bad I have owned 130 plus stocks that have gone up 100% plus in the past three years. How is that dividend treating you??

You CAN time the market using the CANSLIM system.

Don't believe what anyone else says. The greatest traders NEVER dollar cost averaged. NEVER.

As for Jeff Cooper just take allof the noise in guys. Don't trade off of it. Just take it in. The only thing you need to know is the current market, the trend, and are there any leading stocks breaking out.

CANSLIM has it all. It is history. DO NOT EVER DOLLAR COST AVERAGE. It is an underperformer strategy.

The best strategy for the GAZILLIONTH time is CANSLIM. It has been proven via a real time study done by AAII

Go look it up.

It may work for some but I am telling you you will not get rich and go from 5k to 1 mill. using dollar cost averaging.

what you think may be quality may be trash underneath. The big boys always know more than you. The market doesn't care what you think is value. The stock is worth the price it is NOW. If my stocks go up it is a good stock. If it goes down SELL!

AAII studied how many strategies from 98-04???

Always assume that someone is better or knows more than you...Michael Jordan was always the first to arrive, last one to leave practice...you wouldn't have thought he was the best player to ever live...the great one knows that there may be somebody better and so I need to work twice as hard...same thing with stocks...someone out there knows more, smarter, better than you.  So you have to work, WORK at this to get yourself better.