Category: Time & Money News

I knew something was up as my inbox began filling up with messages from Twitter announcing new followers. I couldn’t recall any thought provoking tweets that would have enticed that kind of response. Certainly my retweet of “The Sam Jackson siri ad is so effing good http://stks.co/3NKP $AAPL” couldn’t have won over more than a couple of new followers.  Then I saw someone on my stream thanking Business Insider for including them on their “The 101 Finance People You Have To Follow On Twitter” list.

As I clicked over to the list, I began scrolling down.  There was former White House Advisor Austan Goolsbee.  Dr. Doom Nouriel Roubini.  Josh Brown. Those guys are on TV all of the time – it made sense for them to be on the list.  As I continued scrolling, I passed a few guys that I have exchanged tweets with in the past.  I began scrolling faster and then – low and behold there I was smiling ear to ear.

I am very humbled to be on this list and thank Business Insider very much for my inclusion.  According to them, the reason to follow me is “specific ideas and general hilarity.”  I laugh at my tweets all of the time, but you really have to be a geek to think some of the stuff I say is funny.  Here are a couple samples:

Hopefully, my ideas are better than my humor. One of my favorite plays right now is Liquidity Services (LQDT).  It is often referred to as the E-Bay of Government and Business surplus and salvage assets.  That may not sound exciting,but take a look at this Nightline video featuring the company.

Wall Street is loving LQDT as they are delivering the goods.  Last quarter its earnings were up 85% year over year and its revenue was up 41%.  Its IBD rankings are off the charts.

If you are not sold yet – check out its chart. As the market has pulled back over the last 10 days, LQDT has bucked the trend – showing incredible relative strength.  It may need to rest here, but LQDT is definitely one to keep your eye on.

 

Disclosure:

Long LQDT.  I may sell at any time.

 

Yesterday I noticed that I was getting more new Twitter followers than normal.  Usually if I nail a blog post or tweet something really interesting, I will notice an influx of new followers.  However, on yesterday, nothing provoking from moi hit the wire.  I was certain that my sarcastic tweet about Google Plus hitting 750M users by August didn’t move that many peeps.

It turns out that yesterday – my blog was featured on The Reformed Broker’s Blog. Now folks this is big time stuff. For a blogger this is equivalent to – I’m not sure, but trust me it’s big 🙂

All kidding aside, I was deeply humbled by the shout out.  Josh Brown, author of The Reformed Broker Blog, is an incredible guy. Each day he cranks out 5-6 blog posts, many days he is on CNBC or Yahoo’s new finance show “Breakout” and he manages money also. He is the Master of Multitask. The fact that he finds time to read my blog and shares that with his many thousands of readers is very gratifying.

It’s pretty simple here – I blog about what I love to do and that’s trading & investing.  Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I get it wrong.  As long as the “wrongs” are not so wrong, we live to see another day.  That’s the secret to this game.  It is impossible to win if you are not in the fight.

After about a half-hour conversation, with my Mother about blogs and trading, I convinced her this was an honor.  For some reason, she didn’t go bragging to her friends.  Trust me, Ma, this is big time stuff….

Since it always seems as though time is a premium, I very rarely read Financial books from beginning to end.  I jump around based on interest.  As I began planning my attack for “The StockTwits Edge,” I browsed the table of contents.  Chapter 1 is “Find Trends, Ride Them and Get Off” by Howard Lindzon. According to Howard, it’s the best chapter in the book – so that may be a good place to start.  However, Chapter 2 sounds interesting – “Trade, Trend, Tail” by Keith McCullough.  Keith is a smart dude.  I see him on TV a lot.  Next up is “Don’t Quit” by Michael K. Dawson, @TrendRida.  No need to go any farther; I will start there.

Last August I had lunch with Phil Pearlman and Justin Paterno, of StockTwits,  while they were in Boston for meetings.  Interestingly, 5 years ago our paths would NEVER have crossed.  I was a high tech salesman – selling software to the likes of IBM and Intel, while Phil was behavioral strategies wizard  at a hedge fund.  StockTwits, a social media site for traders and investors, brought us together.  At the end of our lunch, Phil asked me to write a chapter for their upcoming book.  Without hesitation, I said yes.

As I discuss in my chapter, I began trading in the mid-90s.   While the market marched straight up, it appeared as though I was a genius. However, in March of 2000 I learned the meaning of the phrase “do not confuse a bull market with genius.” Over the next nine months my genius label disappeared, as I watched my account go up in smoke.

At the time, I had never even met anyone that worked on Wall Street.  Most of us outside the financial meccas of New York and Chicago learned everything we knew about trading from books.  Unfortunately, most of those books focused on buying – while very few discussed selling and even fewer shared money management strategies. Although, I haven’t read all of the chapters in The StockTwits Edge yet – I can guarantee you that you will be bombarded with selling and risk management strategies. I believe that we all collectively agree that there is nothing more important.

In the book, you will learn that there are many different ways to skin a cat.  There are numerous successful strategies and approaches to the market.  I describe my strategy that works for me and it may not work for you.  However, I hope that I have shared a message that transcends trading styles. I conclude with a quote from Donald Trump.  I realized that there would be some baggage attached to Trump’s name and his Presidential attempt has added even more.  Regardless of what you think of him this quote sums up my philosophy in the markets and in life – “Never ever give up.  Never quit.  You can never be successful if you give up.”

Trading is an easy game to get into, but it is a very hard one to succeed in.  It seems as though losing a large sum of money at some point – is almost a rites of passage in this business.  Trust me after losing more money in 2000 than I believed that I would ever have – my confidence was shaken.  It would take almost 2 years to start trading seriously again. Many never tried again.  However, it was my persistence combined with a understanding of risk management that allowed me to quit my high paying corporate job and reap the rewards that trading provides – freedom, independence and the Green.

The StockTwits Edge is an absolute must read!

 

PS,

The StockTwits Edge may be destined for the best sellers list, but StockTwits, the community, is destined for far greater accolades.  The ability to communicate and share ideas, in real-time,  with so many market experts has never existed before.  This significantly shortens the path to success.  That’s extremely valuable and will be realized in time.

Last Thursday, 3/31/11, marked 5 years since I walked away from sales conferences in Hawaii, drinks on the 19th hole with customers and a big fat paycheck to trade full-time on my own account.  My first thought is WOW!  How have I survived countless unforeseen expenses?  How did I survive the Great Recession? How have my wife & I maintained our same lifestyle?  Vacations haven’t changed and we are still living in the suburbs and driving nice cars.

It is simple.

I WANT IT!

In Napoleon Hill’s book “Think and Grow Rich,” he shared a story of Edwin Barnes – a man who desired to become a business associate of Thomas Edison.  According to Hill, “Barnes desire was not a hope! It was not a wish! It was a keen, pulsating DESIRE, which transcended everything else.  It was DEFINITE.”  Barnes described his desire as such, “There is but ONE thing in this world that I am determined to have, and that is a business association with Thomas A. Edison.  I will burn all bridges behind me, and stake my ENTIRE FUTURE on my ability to get what I want.”

That means putting my Engineering and Business degrees back to work for the man is not an option.  It means means working 12-14 hour days. Constantly analyzing my trades.  Determining which set-ups work best for me. Forever reading and writing.  I didn’t understand this until lately, but writing fine tunes my thought process.

Trading is a business.  Treat it as a business.  Protect your capital.  And with a little luck, trading may take you to places of your DREAMS.