Stocks Edge Up...

Fearless investors continue to push stocks higher, displaying their confidence in the economy. I think it would be especially bullish if we can close in positive terroritory today. I expect more upward and downward swings throughout the day as MM's push down stock prices so that greedy institutions can load up on a discount. So, what stocks are doing good today? Lots! Unfortunatly, this makes finding new longs especially difficult, but I am happy that several of my holdings are fairing well today.

Add to: HINT, FLL (great price to get in), ADY (good adding point), ATRI (pulled back so load up), TWI, SJW, KALU

Good to buy: INXI/INXIW, SYNM (and its options), VNX (lets try this one again), KALU

Keep an eye on: CVLT, RVBD

What you should avoid: MPEL - this is a loser stock. No matter how much the losers rave and rant about it, it is a loser as far as I'm concerned. When and IF it is ever ready to be bought I will let everyone know, so don't sweat it for now, just let it fall.

Take Profits: HLYS - the stock had a nice run-up off its bottom but if does not close near its HOD or in the negative, it may be a good time to take some profits and buy again if a better entry comes along.

Easy Does It...

Hey guys,


Just wanted to come through and give you the heads up on a few longs that I think you should keep an eye on. Some of them have been previously mentioned and are either past winners who I continue to like and some are completly new findings.

Longs: TWI, ABPI, FLL (great time to have added a position today), HINT (still smoking), JSDA (one of my all time favs since $5), NWK (loving it since $5 and change), KALU (coming back on high volume), AGL (great place to add or initiate a pos), MFW (great place to add or initiate a pos), WCN, TRI and
CCRN, PRGX, VSAT

Missed Opportunities: For the last couple of days, I have been following a very thinly traded stock called DIT. During this time, I had contemplated many times on whether I should have bought it or not. I was fascinated with the fact that this stock had a low float, and that it was cheap with great earnings potential. Alas, due to my lack of time with school and the fact that I keep track of hundreads of stocks, I had placed DIT in the back of my mind and sort of forgot about it. Should have I kept tabs on it and bought it? You bet. Today, the stock reported earnings and soared over 50% from the previous closing price. Unbelievable! Am I kick myself in the a$$? I should be, but I'd rather quickly get over it and concentrate on finding more winners.

P.S. I have also been watching SILC but was less likely to buy it than DIT. Needless to say, SILC was another missed opportunity. At the moment it is difficult to say if the stocks are still good buys. They may very well be, but after a 50% jump in each, I would be hesitant to buy. I would wait for them to base for a few days. That way you can get a better idea of how other traders and investors are reacting to the stocks price action and who knows, you may actually catch a good break and buy in at a better price for the next leg up.

Rules to Trade By....

Rules to Trade By: Focus on your top stocks in your portfolio and do not be afraid to let go of laggards.

Regardless of whether you have been following my picks or adding your own, there is one important rule that you should keep in mind that will help you out in the long run. It is a simple rule (and I'm sure most of you know it) and for those of you who are not familiar with it, pay attention. The rule is, add onto your leading/top positions and cut loose your lagging/losing positions (laggards). This of course all depends on what you have in your portfolio. Some of you may have a portfolio filled with laggards and little to no winners. You may be thinking that it is better if you wait out on your losing position in hopes that it will resurrect itself and give you back your money. This is usually foolish and only leads to more losses. Losing positions (those that were bought at the incorrect buy point) usually continue to deteriorate in value (unless there is some spectacular news or inside info that saves the stock). It is usually better to cut your losses early on and move on to another stock. IBD says to bail out on an 8% loss. This is a good idea and I try to follow this rule as well. Sometimes I even lag and unfortunately allow a loss to escalate over 8%. This is of course human nature. No one wants to admit their wrong and we all hope that we were right on the buy and believe that it will bounce back up. Alas, we need to abandon our emotions when it comes to trading and instead, follow precise rules (such as the sell at 8% loss rule and buy only at proper buy point rules) that will allow us to maintain a competitive edge in the shark infested waters that we call the U.S. Stock Market.

- Nick M. H.

Stocks Toss and Turn Until the Close...

Hey folks,

What a crazy day! I have been in school for a majority of the morning and noon and only took sneak peaks of the market whenever I had a small between class break. From what I saw, the market was all over the place! Still, despite this, a majority of stocks closed higher, reflecting investors and traders confidence in this market. Home sales fell? Who cares! Oil prices up? So what?! Now thats what I'm talking about!

So lets take a look and see which stocks did good today: ABM, ADY, AGL, ALC ALGT, ATRI, BARE, CCF, CDZI, CSU, CYNO, EPHC, ESCH, FLL, GRC, GT, HINT, HLYS, HMIN, IFF, JSDA, NYX, OEH, SJW, SPAN (new buy), WRLS

Down Stocks: ARKR, AWI, ATX, CALM, EBS, HXM, ITMN, MFW, SMI, SWS,

Focus on Stocks with Strength...

Hey guys,

In times such as these it is very important to cut you laggard stocks and continue to feed your winning positions. History has shown that laggards continue to lag behind while strong stocks continue to post increased gains. This is true no matter what kind of market enviornment. Even during the bearish plunge in May 2006, there were still a handful of long candidates (CPY and CTCI for ex) that continued to outperform the market. It would have been an ideal strategy for one to have had several strong short positions in their portfolio, while anchored with those 2 previously mentioned longs. Today we are faced with a situation in which one has to cut loose the losers and feed the strong stocks:

Strong Stocks: HINT, FLL, ATRI, ESCH, AGL, AWI, ADY, ATX, CALM, CDZI, HMIN, ITMN

Weaklings: GRC, EPHC, ROCM, SLP (I still think most of these will do fine in the long run. Regardless, they are still taking a hit today along with the general market.

New Longs (added withing the last few days): EBS, CCF, ARKR, NVH, SPAN, MAPS, CSU, ATX, FLL, VNUS

Keep an Eye on Strong Sectors...

Hey guys,


Whats going on?? So much for the SYNM options! I feel as if once I mentioned this play, it began to get sour immediatly. Still I bet SYNM will go up in the upcoming weeks and months. Again, play at your own risk and play small (especially if you are new to options and stocks).

Anyway, just wanted to give you a general heads up on which stocks to watch.

Take some profits: TRCR (recommended at 3.5o at the end of Dec., now at 5.97)
Add to: GT, FSYS, HURC, HINT, CCF (new in the folio), HMIN, ITMN
Sold for partial loss: BTRX, KONA

Casino/Gaming Stocks: LVS, MGM, WYNN, WMS, WGA, FLL... ( I have been mentioning these all the time..well at least some of them).

Tire Stocks: GT, TWI

Oil transport/pipeline stocks: AHD, ULTR, LGCY, APL, TK (these are all on fire)

Trees/Lumber - BPOP and WY

Of course, I have plenty of more stocks up my sleeve but it doesn't make any sense to mention them all tonight. Lets hope that todays gains hold up tommorow and the rest of week!

Stock and Option Play...

Hey guys,


I got a little idea for any of you who are into options. I am always on the hunt for finding cheap and technically strong option plays. One that I recently found, centers on SYNM. This stock has bottomed out and has been under tremendous accumulation. Right now, its options contracts are trading at a very cheap price. I recommend the ones for Feb, March and April. If you want to play it safer, you can go for the longer term April contracts which are trading at a discount of 0.40 cents. This is just an idea and a suggestion..

School Daze.....

Hey guys,


I'm back! Just took a few days off to relax and finish off my winter session class. That meant just chilling, relaxing, finishing off my last papers, studying for the final exam, hanging with the gf and getting over my cold. No blog posts and no real stock research. Just taking it sleazy! But anyhow, I did do some searching today and found a couple of winners.

New longs and ideas: ATRI (cheap as hell), SJW ( I already added, but if you didn't, this is a great entry), SMI, PRX, ORBC, SVM, CASH (low float, and good entry), AMK (great entry)

The regular semester is starting so its gonna get hectic again. Hopefully the market picks up and doesn't get too crazy because its hard to monitor all my positions during the semester. Anyways, good luck with trading tommorow! I hope to have some time tommorow to give everyone any heads up on new longs. Later!

Stocks Continue to Display Strength...

Hey guys,

I'm very busy today (and still recovering from my cold) and I have a ton of hw and reading to do for my winter session class, so I will keep this post as brief as I can. First of all, I hope most of you have been following and acting on the strengths of individual stocks and not just the general markets. If you have then you probably are doing just fine.

So, what stocks did good today?
ADY, AFAM, ALC, AWI, BARE, BTRX, CDZI, EPHC, GRC, HINT, HMIN, ITMN, OMTR, TWI, NYX, FSYS, MFW, STEC

What didn't do so well: AGL, LCBM, ISPH, GSH, KONA, SJW, HLYS, SNCR, TX, MSB (sold for a loss)..

Time to take Profits: GHCI (just decided to go private... +16% gain)

Time to buy: ??

End of the Day Recap...

Just a little note to myself and anyone else interested...



Positions that I may add to: ADY, AFAM, ALC, CDZI, GRC, LCBM, AGL, AWI, GAIN, JSDA, MFW, ISPH, GSH, FSYS, SNCR, WRLS, NYX, SJW, OEH, DAR, KONA, EPHC, OMTR, HINT

New Positions: ITMN (add to it as well)

Looking to soon Sell: TX, LORL, MSB

Good to Go: CSU, CWT, ABM, TTC, SVM, PFIN, MLM, IESC ....

Long Term Plays...

Hey folks,

First off, I'd like to mention that this is the blog's 500th post! I know it's hard to believe but its true. I've been working on this blog for a while now and will continue to do so. I'm not going anywhere. Anyways, I do not feel well, so I'll make this quick. I simply wanted to share some stocks with you that I feel will do well in the near term future.

Nursing Home/Home Care Stocks
NHC (good buy at current level), SRZ, GHCI (wait a bit), ESC (wait a bit), CSU (good buy at current level), VSTA (wait), BKD (good buy), CNU (i), LNCR, ALC (good to go)

Keep your Eyes On the Prize...

Hey folks,

What a hectic week! I am very glad it is over! I am still sick and recovering from a nasty cold. The only thing that sucks is that I have school and I am coughing and sneezing all over the place. Oh well, sucks for the rest of the students! =)

So what should you keep an eye on?

AFAM, RVBD

Good time to Add (and add too)? CWT, SJW, TWI, HLYS, LCBM

Missed opportunities: A few days ago, I was eyeing some HLYS Feb Calls. They were selling for a little over a dollar (1.15). I remember thinking how that was a great price and that the stock started to perk up a bit. Needless to say, I have been so busy that I completly lost track of this idea and it slipped away from me as they are now asking 3.60 for them! Sh!t!

What's Hot and What's Not...

Hey guys,

Welcome to another installment of what's Hot and What's Not. The object of this post is to comb through some securities that traded today and see which ones were hot and which ones were better off going to the pink sheets.

What's Hot: Stocks that I own: ADY, AGL, ALGT, AWI, BTRX, EPHC, GSH, MFW, OEH

What Flopped: Stocks that I own: BKC, CPD, HINT, LYTS (flopped since a few days now), STEC, UOVEY

What I want to add to: ADY, BTRX, AWI, AGL, GAIN, ALC, EPHC, SOFO, TX

The comeback stock: HLYS

What I am looking to buy: ??

End of the Day Recap

Hey folks,

Here is another recap of some of the stocks in my portfolio....

Up: ISPH, EPHC, ESCH, ADY, AGL, AWI, NYX, BARE, BTRX, CDZI, MSB, TX (finally, a decent day for TX), BKC, GAIN, ININ, MFW, OEH, STEC


Down: TWI, GT, SJW, CYNO, ALC, ALGT, CHT, DAR, DRA, GRC, HINT, HMIN, SOFO, WLRS, LCBM, CPD, FSYS, JSDA, UOVEY



Check out: CTB, CWT, NLC, NAV, FMX and others. I have to study for a midterm tonight so I don't know how much time I will have to devote to finding new longs (plus, I am sick as a dog!). If not tonite, I will try by the end of the weekend.

For the Picking...

Hey ladies and gents,

Just popping in to disclose some new positions.

ADY in at between 20.55 and 20.75

CYNO in at 18.71

End of the Day Recap

Hey folks,

Just a little recap on some of my winning and losing trades of the day..,

Stocks Up:
GT
MFW
HINT
HMIN
SJW
ISPH
BTRX
NYX
LORL
AGL
CPD
ININ
GAIN
GSH
ESCH
NHWK
MSB
CHT
DRA

Stocks Down:
EPHC
TWI
TX
JSDA
AWI
SOFO
ALC
ALGT
LCBM

*Note, these are just some of the stocks currently in my portfolio.

Ideas for the Upcoming Week...

Hey folks,

The last few days have been rather indecisive for the markets. On top of that, my stock screens are not producing that many exciting longs. Most of the new longs that I have found are industrial (tires), health care (ex. nursing home REITS) and utilities (water co's.)

As far as the industrials are concerned, I a have already mentioned GT and TWI as good stocks. I own a little bit of both of them. As far as health care is concerned, SNH and HCP comes to mind. With utilities I like SJW. There are a couple of other stocks that have caught my eye but it is too soon to mention them (they can't qualify as longs just yet). I would also keep an eye on NYX. I know I've mentioned this before, but this is a stock that can be played long or short if you are skilled and nimble. It can be classified as a short if: It fails the 50day MA and closes at the LOD on high volume, has resistance at 104/105, or if it can't go over 112 and stalls at that level. It is still technically a good long even at this level as long as it can hold the current level and continue to uptrend. I would add now and even add again only if it can clear the past 52wk high.

I would also keep an eye on ZNH, CEA, AGL, BTRX, ISPH, TX, ALC, ALGT, BARE, HMIN, HINT, EPHC, DRA, SVM, NHWK, LCBM, INMD and AWI. These are all hanging in there and doing just fine.

Markets End Week on Negative Note...

Hey guys,


After a tough intra-week tug of war, the bears edge the bulls in a slight victory (except on the NASDAQ). Todays action was even more intense as negative market news dragged the indices near the LOD's up to the close. To make a long story short, if you were long, you've probably felt the pain today. A majority of the stocks in my portfolio were down today with a few exceptions. Some of the notable stocks that went against the grain include: NYX, HMIN, BTRX, ISPH, TWI, LCBM, NHWK, and AGL. Of course, lets not confuse this as something positive. For every stock that I had up, I had a handful of stocks that closed down. Without a doubt, this was a crappy way to kick off the first week in '07. Hopefully next week will be more promising. FYI, I will be adding to NYX if we can hold onto these current levels. I will also be keeping an eye on its resistance and hoping we can surpass it.

Crazy See-Saw Action....

Hey folks,

By the end of the day, the volatile tug-o-war between the bulls and the bears ended up with the bulls edging out a victory. But it wasn't easy. The indecisive up-down action made most traders run to grab the Bonine as the market whipped back and forth like a see-saw. I did not participate in much action today as I was in school all day. My internet service provider also blocked me out of my own trading platform as well, so I had very little time to tinker with the market. I was able to gain access to my account near the days end which suited me perfectly as I was able to sell my CANI for a profit and also add some shares to several pre-existing positions. I added to TWI, HINT, EPHC, AGL, MFW and several others. I am basically still playing the same longs and have my eye on the same stocks that I have mentioned over and over again within my blog. Are there other great stocks to keep an eye on? Sure there are. But I don't have the time to stock hunt for now. I am simply going to continue playing what works. It is all a matter of cutting the laggards loose and continuously adding to stocks that are heading higher. It sounds simple and it really is, as long as the market is working in your favor.

Stocks Start 2007 out on an Indecisive Note...

Hey guys,

I know, I know, it sucks how we went from over 102 points to basically nothing. I was able to sneak in some glances of the market during my morning class and saw that we were up, only to come home and see everything deteriorate after the Fed Meeting. I guess housing concerns still wield enough power to rain on the bulls parade. It sucks, but that is how it is. On a brighter note, some stocks shrugged off this news and continued to perform well. GT comes to mind as one of the better (and few) top performing stocks of today. Tommorow I look to sell OPTM (the stock has been lagging considerably) as well as CANI (it recieved a buyout bid and a very lackluster one at that). Other stocks that I mentioned such as TX, TWI, EPHC and HINT are fine as long as they hold onto their support.

With the little time that I had today, I picked up some GAIN, GT (small pos), UOVEY, CPD, CDZI, ALC, LYTS, TX, HINT, EPHC.

Also my short on RVBD is working out well. I haven't actually initiated the short just yet, but I did recommend it as a short. Add to the short if it fails to hold the 50 day.

What Can We Expect in 2007?

Expect the unexpected in 2007 and every year for that matter. No one can predict what will happen, or what stocks will rise and which ones will flop. I can only give suggestions and ideas on what I think you should keep an eye on.

Keep an eye on the price movement of uranium and any uranium plays. This may be a hot ticket for the early part of 2007. For uranium plays, check out URZ, URRE, URME, CCJ, BBL, and FRG. If you are looking for risky pure plays, check out stocks listed on the TSX (Canadian Exhchanges). China Stocks will also continue to be hot and appreciate in value. Some of my current favorites that are still good buys include GSH, CHT, ACH, and MPEL. Steel stocks should also take off. My two current favs include TX and TS. Of course, there are others that I would like to mention, but now is not the time. I have some reading to do for my winter class and some research to run through, so I will hopefully be back later with some picks for tommorow. Later!

Welcoming in the New Year : 2007 - To the Readers

Hey ladies and gents,

I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays. Unfortunately, for most of us, tomorrow is the day that the holidays come to a crashing end! It sucks, I know. But what can you do? You have to work and make money and do you. Tomorrow I will be in court fighting off a speeding ticket (what fun! Not!) and then I have school (I am taking winter classes). That doesn't sound fun, and you are right, its not. Still, because the markets will be closed, I will have plenty of time to form a strategy and comb through the long list of potential longs. I will also try to give you, the readers, a special sector trading post and then some of my hot sector/industry predictions for 2007. Will 2007 be better than 2006? Who knows? I certainly hope so. Although 2006 was considered a "bull market", it was very difficult to navigate and trade through. There was a ton of volatility and uncertainty that thrashed around bulls and bears all over the place. It was a very tough trading year. If you survived it, you should feel proud of yourselves. If you had a tough time, do not become discouraged. Just take it as a lesson and learn from it. I know I did. And I am still learning. I am learning when to spot market tops (like back in May 2006) and learning how to wait things out before I begin to add (waiting for clear market bottom signals). I will remember these lessons (hopefully) in 2007 and use them to my advantage. In case you don't know, I will be around stocks and the markets forever. I love this stuff. I actually think its fun. So stick around and check back often because I will always be looking for the next hot stocks. And for anyone who doubts my picking prowess, go through some of the early 2005 stock picks. Sure, I picked some stocks that flopped, and sure, I didn't always buy and hold onto some of the top winning positions, but without a doubt, I called some of the bigger and better moves. I am still learning and my technique is still a work in progress. I look forward to learning more and hope to share even more hot stock picks with you, the readers to utilize. And why? When I first started investing in late 2004/early 2005, I started with a broker who could care less what stocks he bought for me. After some lackluster picks, I finally realized that I could do better by myself as an individual investor/trader. And I did. I just want to simply share some of the great and exciting stocks that I find with anyone else who cares about stocks and making some money. I am not pumping. I have nothing to gain by sharing my info. I do not even have a position in many of the stocks that I recommend. I am just a trader and a stock and market reporter trying to give you the reader, a heads up on what's hot and what's not. That's it. Plain and Simple! I do enjoy writing this blog as it gives me a space to post my picks and trades and helps me vent some of my thoughts, feelings and frustrations. It certainly is a learning experience! I hope that everyone of you continues to enjoy the blog and benefit from it as well!

Happy New Year and Happy Trading in 2007!

-Nick