Introduce yourself / meet the posters

[englishman26]

So in relation to the "good place to hang out" thread, I thought it would be good to get to know each other, get some background info (schooling, job, wife/husband/gf/bf, kids, sports team, etc.), something about how we got into trading maybe, and what we're looking to get out of it.

I suppose I'll start since this was my idea!

After finishing my phd in molecular biophysics/biochemistry in England I came to UCSD to do a post-doc and met my now fiance. (We now live in the bay area and I work for a large government lab.) She had the idea of investing some of our savings, about a year ago, and after a slow start I've learnt a lot and, more importantly, I really love it! (Sometimes I hate it!) It's the first hobby I've ever had that's actually making rather than using money!

I'd say my science background gives me a good insight into the biotech/pharma sector and hence why my portfolio is very skewed towards them.

My fiance is a bit like my Mrs. Cramer - she keeps the disapline for the rules we're trying to set! Our savings/investments are really for the house we'd like to buy once the housing market crashes next year - or at some point in the next few years! I don't want to buy a condo/townhome that's gone up 150% in the last 3 years!!

I went to Oxford University and my religeon is Liverpool Football Club! YNWA! (That's "soccer" people!)

[ki klempa]

Hello, I'm Kim and I live in Massachusetts, I have 2 girls, both ready for college in 3 and 5 years.

I do payroll & accounting for a 2 Deli's and run all financials thru my tax accountant before I file taxes/close the year etc...

I am good at reading a balance sheet/financials so I thought I would start trading/ investing for the kids college.

Started w/ $3000.00 and made 300 or 400 in 7 months already, it's a start., can you make 1.00 at a bank on $3,000... nooooo NOT AROUND THIS AREA... I currently have 2 ira's, 2 roth ira., and many mutual funds., so I thought investing in stocks was well balanced, as long as I don't lose my initial $3,000... so that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hi all

Kim

[Affirmed]

My name is Tim, Im 20 and a college student this is my third year investing. First year I was up 51% last year I was up 22%. I go to Central Michigan University and am trying to get a degree in Finance, right now the damn college algebra is killing me though :( Ive been watching CNBC since i was about 9-10 and first read The Intelligent Investor when I was 15.

I like investing, cars, working out, thoroughbred racing, and hunting/fishing/guns

[optimus25]

Some of you might already know my story. 27 years old, just got married last year, financial advisor.

Started investing in 1999. Made my first $6000 out of $3000 initial investment in the dot com era, lost it all and 90% of my own capital during the implosion. Learned my first lesson in investing...sell while the selling is good. Started investing for clients in 2003 and made a killing on a single stock: IVAN, which brought me back from my funk.

Graduated from the University of California, at Irvine with a BA in Sociology and a Minor in Management. After graduating I was hired by a Retirement Plan Consulting and Administration Company in Irvine. During my time there, I learned about qualified plans such as 401K's, Defined Benefits, Profit Sharing, and Money Purchase Plans. Picked up a number of different investment strategies with the brokers and CPA's that I worked with and decided to try my hand at becoming a financial advisor. Got my series 7 and 63 licenses. Wanted to become more than a stock broker so my career path is leading me towards my CFP designation.

My forte is in securities investing (mainly individual stocks and ETF's), asset allocation, and retirement planning but would like to expand my experience into the financial planning arena. My strategy is long term and I recommend to everyone to read the intelligent investor.

[Luc1Grunt]

38 YO, 20 years in the army as an infantry offcer (getting ready to retire and get a real job with real clothes). Have invested since 20, but really picking up the trading with the technology that's available. Pulling an average of 12% from 10K mad money, and part of that is pure luck. Learning from you folks each day and getting a handle on my "mad money" style. Long term style has been stocks, funds, 401K and some property. It has worked well, but time to up the ante.

Thanks all for your input to these posts......good info. Grunt

[metalheadrr3]

Hey my name is Chris, I am 19. I am going to school here in Georgia for Finance.

I have an account of my own and I also take care of my mom's brokerage account and both of my parents IRAs.

I am about to start an internship with Scottrade so hopefully that yeilds some insight.

[Mike VB]

I'm 37, military (USAF), married, one on the way, recently got hooked on Jim and I've decided it's about time I jumped in and let my money work for me. Otherwise real estate is another means to the end :)

[axb8000]

I'm a 21 y.o. 2005 graduate of Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (logo is my avatar). My major was Public Administration and I have always had an eye on politics.

I just started trading and learning about stocks since last February. I've done pretty well so far and enjoy learning about stocks, business, and investing. I've also been able to get my family involved in investing and thinking of creative ways to spend and grow their money. Now I'm studying to go to grad school for a MBA.

[ki klempa]

Glad to see alot of young folks here... I was too busy raising a family and I didn't get a computer until 1995, so I only did the mutual fund thingy.... lived off the interest for a few years until 2001... HeY;optimus25, Do not feel bad alot of people were burned in that era.... How about losing 10,000 to 8,000 in the dot com era., I do not know my exact lose because I never admitted it., so I stuck to mutual funds, only lost twice in 11 years...

Kim

[helk]

34, married with 3 children (That's why I need to make lots of money!!). Graduated from Muhlenburg College in Pennsylvania. I am an Assistant IT Director.

My investment story is similar to Optimus. Started investing in 1999. Made around 100% my first year with a small amount invested, then added more funds to my account, tried some various trading styles and ended up losing about 30% the next two years. So, after a few years I was actually in the hole. Kept honing my skills and actually averaged close to 50% over the last three years. I'm expecting a slow year this year, because I sold some positions last summer (2004) to help pay for some extra expenses when building a new house - yes, the wife made me rob my mad money account when it was just starting to look decent - how painful! So, I added some positions back this year, but it will take another year or so to see the results. I am a long-term trader. I hold most of my positions about 6 months to a few years, average hold time is probably between 1-2 years. Good luck to all of you in your trades.

[razer]

Male
37
Single

computer science degree
Work as a programmer

Just started trading, about a month now. Trying to get my head around the terms, philosophy, rational, and (IMHO) madness that is the Stock Market. :roll:

[setterp]

I am 25 years old and live in Atlanta, GA. I am VERY happy to say that I am in my final semester at Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business BBA Real Estate Management/Development minor Finance. I've had to put myself through school the past 5 years, all while holding down a (40-hour week) work schedule at a civil engineering/land surveying company, as a civil CAD designer, to keep the mortgage paid. Great work experience, as the civil engineering field is an essential element of real estate development, which I hope to make my carrer. I make fairly decent money currently for a guy my age, but needless to say I am ready to get my pigskin, and get a "real" job with benefits and health insurance. I got my Georgia Real Estate Liscence this past year, but havn't done a whole heck of a lot of business with it, just trying to get a jump start on obtaining my brokers liscence which takes 3 years as an agent.

I invested about $3,000 in some mutual funds about 4-5 years back right at the tail end of the dot com bust, and I got spooked after I lost nearly 20% of my inital investment. I yanked the money out and convinced myself that "I would never invest money in the market again!" Well, fast forward to about 2 months ago, when I was required to buy a subscription to the WSJ for a class that I am taking at school. I have to say that I wasn't thrilled at the $59 subscription cost for a newspaper that I thought that I would find less than interesting, but I decided to make the most of it and really got hooked on investing and reaserching companies, etc. And believe it or not all of those finance course I've taken really have come in handy as of late with stock valuation and the likes. :lol: I can recite without hesitation 17 finance ratios after drilling them into my head for finance exams. Balance Sheets, Income Statements, Cash Flow Analysis, Quick Ratio, Inventory Turnover Ratio, Profit Margins, ROA, ROE, Dupont's Extended, etc, etc. etc. All every valuable kernals of information homegamers............. :lol:

Then one day about a month ago I noticed a loud and crazy guy named Jim Cramer on CNBC at 6:00pm every evening, which is well positioned in my after work relax-time schedule before school. At first I thought Cramer was a mad man, and far too loud for my liking, but I started watching cramer every afternoon, and by god I am hooked!! I absolutely love this guy, and I learn so much every day that I watch his show and listen to his insight.

So reculantly I have decided to put a small chunk ($1,000) of my mad money back into the market with hopes that if nothing else it's a better gamble than online Texas Hold Em, and far more exciting ecspecially with a rally like this afternoon. :wink:

So of course the next step is to search out an internet forum to talk to other Cramer-heads, which leads me to this wonder forum! I've enjoyed my stay thus far and really look forward to the future. 8)

[metalheadrr3]

I am 25 years old and live in Atlanta, GA

Awesome, another person in GA. I thought about going to GSU before I decided on KSU; the traffic is what ultimately made up my mind. But as fate would have it my internship is within walking distance to most of GSU's campus so I will be driving down there anyway. I'm just starting my degree in finance. I still need to knock out the business core so I can get into the Coles College of Business.

[setterp]

Very cool metalheadrr3. I totally hear you about the traffic. Luckily I own a penthouse condo right in the heart of downtown on the GSU campus, so it's only a hop and a skip to classes for me. I've been without a car for almost 6 months, so I've relied solely on MARTA for transportation to work and the grocery store. :) I got in a wreck and lost my 81' Chevy pickup (only had liability insurance) :cry: , which I loved dearly and which I had put an ennomerous amount of wrench hours into, but it surely has cut down on my petroleum consumption and my pockets are feeling much heavier as a result. :lol:

I noticed that you said you had an internship with ScottTrade coming up, that's awesome dude. Is it the office in the Georgia Pacific building? That office is like 3 blocks up from my house, and it's where I started my Scott account with Ryan Busby, the branch manager. Very nice fella.

Best of luck at Kennesaw, I had a buddy that graduated from there about a year ago. From what I"ve heard KSU is a really good school. I have to tell you that you might want to consider GSU in the future, as Robinson College is TOP ranked nationally, and by in large the professors are of a very high caliber. I hope to one day persue my MBA, as the masters program is ranked 3rd in the nation! :wink:

[jacobnbr1]

my name chris, i live in cincinnati ohio, self employed in a wrecking company, auto service company, used car lot and i am an ebay powerseller for used autoparts. 35 years old, married, 3 kids. started trading stocks with my brother as a part time deal, made some good coin, took some dumb stupid courses about trading, made some idiotic moves with options, lost some good coin, took some more courses and read a chitload of books. been trading since 2002 and was a member to another group that was buy and hold even through the throughs. left there and found this site and now booyahoo is basically helping me put it together with commonsense. i work daily answering phones and shipping orders as to why i am always here. the ebay sales is the feed to my trading account which is really cool because if i loose it, it dudnt madder. trading is now fueling my account until this last downside drop. but, im not-skerd. i hope to be fully focused trader by 08 and make a 5th income from it anyway. and i hope retire soon :D this is a real great site full of those who are willing to help the other out. you can only imagine my time is limited from 8-5 m-f but i stay logged in all the time and if anyone is in cincinnati give me jingle at 1-888-313-6268 so i can sell you a car or fix yours or tow it or sell you some used autoparts :D 'thats my story and im sticking to it"

chris :wink:

[UMHOCKEY]

My name is Dave, 24 years old, I currently live in Michigan, not married. I live in a small city called Rochester Hills, just north of Detroit a few miles.

I graduated from University of Michigan in 2004 with a BBA in Finance, and currently attending Kettering University for Master of Science in Manufacturing Management and Master for Science in Operations Management, I will be done with both in 1 yr.….can’t wait.

I am currently a cost/inventory manager at a private auto parts supplier.

Very new to trading stock which I currently use ScottTrade. I have been investing in a Roth IRA and mutual funds since I was 15 and a 401K plan from my work.

I really want to start investing more in stocks…..Started my ScottTrade account 11 months ago and have seen a 9.34% return so far…better then any of my mutual funds, IRA, or 401K…they have seen about 6-7% return.

I love all the advise from this board…..I give a little of mine…but I know it is not the best…still have a ton to learn.

Well….thanks to all on this board and kept it up…

Dave

[phlocker]

32, owner of a computer hardware distribution company and a computer services company. married, 2 kids...have a broker with Smith Barney, lost a ton a few years ago, have been very leary about getting back into the market. Probably have way too much cash in the checking acct earing 4.25%, no cc debt, no debt except the mortgage (which i dont consider debt) maxing out the SEP, montly contributions to the girls 529 college funds,,,still have CSCO, Nortel, Qcom, MSFT, IRA's etc....after reading here and watching the man I might be ready to dabble again,,,dont really have time or knowlege to research and do my own picks/trades. Should I still go thru my boy at SSB? Any suggestions?

[gtg657g]

My name is David and I'm 23. I recently got married in June and am residing in Atlanta. I'm in my fifth year in Architecture at Georgia Tech and about to apply to grad school here for arch also. I decided to sell my 2001 Ram Air Trans Am...a car I loved dearly, due to rising gas prices and not needing two cars living here in the city. So, I bought a motorcycle, and threw 10 G into the market. My dad made a few bucks during the dot com boom and has some good insight, so I figured what the heck, that money is going to make nothing in the bank. I've only been in the market since Aug, I really appreciate everyone's advice on this forum...it's great!

[setterp]

^^ Another Atlanta resident. Very cool, gtg and glad to hear that you're about to finish out your undergrad in architechture from Tech. I was accepted at Tech out of high school, but after I took the campus tour and found out that the male to female ratio was 5:1 I decided on GSU. :lol: Damn good school though, and I certainlly respect the amount of work I'm sure that you've had to put in over there. Anyhow, very nice to see so many ATL residence here on the forum.

[helk]

Excellent post Michael! You've already accomplished what the rest of us younger folks here are trying to do. Congrats on your success, it is very inspirational! I agree 100% with your advice and I am glad to hear it from a seasoned trader. I wish you continued success in the future. Thanks for sharing your story.

[Damon]

My name is Damon and I’m 23. I’ve lived in SoCal all my life and am currently living in Pasadena, CA. I have always saved money – even back when I first started getting an allowance in my early teens. I have a B.A. in Business Administration and am working for my father bringing the family business into the 21st century. I built every computer on our office network (a hobby of mine) and helped my dad to develop an online presence. Pops would like to retire within the next couple of years, but my real passion is crunching numbers and doing research. For this reason, I have always had a fascination for the stock market.

Unfortunately for me, my father is extremely conservative with his investments (focusing mainly on municipal bonds) and has not been able to teach me about investment in equities. He bought and sold a few stocks years ago, but pretty much avoids the stock market today because he feels that it’s too risky. So, I’ve turned to my grandfather, who has been teaching me about the stock market for the last year and a half.

My grandfather, who has made millions in real estate and in the stock market, was very excited when he learned of my interest in trading equities. In fact, when he learned that I had already opened up a brokerage account and made my first purchases, he matched the $10k of my own money that I had transferred to the account in order to help get me started. :D

He’s been teaching me the basics, but I’m still very green. I have been reading and watching every article and financial program that I can, in order to make up for lost time. After watching a few episodes of Cramer’s show, I stumbled across this forum. I'm excited to see more people close to my age who have similar interests have success in the market. I’m sure that I’ll continue to learn a few things from other users here.

[optimus25]

My name is Damon and I’m 23. I’ve lived in SoCal all my life and am currently living in Pasadena, CA. I have always saved money – even back when I first started getting an allowance in my early teens. I have a B.A. in Business Administration and am working for my father bringing the family business into the 21st century. I built every computer on our office network (a hobby of mine) and helped my dad to develop an online presence. Pops would like to retire within the next couple of years, but my real passion is crunching numbers and doing research. For this reason, I have always had a fascination for the stock market.

Unfortunately for me, my father is extremely conservative with his investments (focusing mainly on municipal bonds) and has not been able to teach me about investment in equities. He bought and sold a few stocks years ago, but pretty much avoids the stock market today because he feels that it’s too risky. So, I’ve turned to my grandfather, who has been teaching me about the stock market for the last year and a half.

My grandfather, who has made millions in real estate and in the stock market, was very excited when he learned of my interest in trading equities. In fact, when he learned that I had already opened up a brokerage account and made my first purchases, he matched the $10k of my own money that I had transferred to the account in order to help get me started. :D

He’s been teaching me the basics, but I’m still very green. I have been reading and watching every article and financial program that I can, in order to make up for lost time. After watching a few episodes of Cramer’s show, I stumbled across this forum. I'm excited to see more people close to my age who have similar interests have success in the market. I’m sure that I’ll continue to learn a few things from other users here.

Hey Damon, a good primer would be "The Intelligent Investor". Great book. I must have bookmarked at least 50 or so pages.

[PirateMe]

I'm Chad. I'm 30 and am a sheriff deputy in Greene County Ohio. I want to break into the stock market but am currently trying to learn as much as I can before I do so. I enjoy watching Cramer just because he is entertaining.....and oh yes, I learn stuff too! The only investing I have done is with my deferred compensation program here at work and with my 5 year old son's college plan. I think that Helk is the person I most closely relate to risk wise so far. I do appreciate the advice about cutting your losses though. I am going to have a conservative approach to this. I don't have the cash that most of you do for investing, since I make around 40 to 50 k a year (because there is a lot of overtime in law enforcement and you aren't allowed to say no). I should have my car paid off by next year and my house by 2015. After that I am debt free. I think I might be able to have about 1000 bucks from the tax return to start investing this spring. My biggest struggle now is where to put my extra cash (before my wife starts spending it) either into paying off the debt or socking it away for retirement. My question is this: how much is a good amount to start off investing with? I see that there are many aproaches to investing, what is a solid approach to conservative investing to get started with in your opinions?
Thanks for letting me learn from you all.
-Chad

[mrcoin]

My name is Ed, live near Chicago and am a commercial floorcovering estimator. I like Cuban cigars and making money.

[optimus25]

Hey Chad/Pirateme,

There is no amount too small to start investing. I suggest taking advantage of your work's 403B plan. I'm sure they have some sort of salary deferral program that includes matching contributions. After that you should look into doing a Roth IRA with a mutual fund account. I think the sweet spot for investing in stocks would be if you had around 5-10K. Start with this website to practice the trading methods that you pick up from this website as well as Cramer. www.clearstation.com

Good luck.

[deepinwonder]

We are boomers, self employed in the construction business, now living on the coast of NC. For those of you interested in RE in GA, you might be interested to know that, right now, 1/3 of all home sales in this country are in four states: NC, GA, TX and FL. If I lived in GA and was a student just starting out with little experience in real estate, I would probably focus in on sales and getting commissions while the market is hot, learn more about it, then go for my broker's license during a lull. Good luck!

[Naghebe]

Hi guys and gals, my name is Naghebe and I’m 25. I have just recently started investing after deciding they are much better ways to save and earn money than the typical norm.

For the last 3 years I've been into car racing. HPDE's, SCCA, IDRC, NHRA, you name it, I was wasting money on it :( Then I woke up one morning and poof....I was mature and my head was finally clear. I had $37 in my bank account, was still paying rent, but had $10,000 worth of parts on my racecars. Not very smart :oops:

So I sold the cars (and a basement full of parts) and decided to invest the money for my future instead. I put 75% of it in a Roth IRA and I'm here learning as much as I can to 'play' with the balance.

At my day job Im an embedded engineer, and this 'homework / research' is now what I do with my spare time.

N.

[optimus25]

Hi guys and gals, my name is Naghebe and I’m 25. I have just recently started investing after deciding they are much better ways to save and earn money than the typical norm.

For the last 3 years I've been into car racing. HPDE's, SCCA, IDRC, NHRA, you name it, I was wasting money on it :( Then I woke up one morning and poof....I was mature and my head was finally clear. I had $37 in my bank account, was still paying rent, but had $10,000 worth of parts on my racecars. Not very smart :oops:

So I sold the cars (and a basement full of parts) and decided to invest the money for my future instead. I put 75% of it in a Roth IRA and I'm here learning as much as I can to 'play' with the balance.

At my day job Im an embedded engineer, and this 'homework / research' is now what I do with my spare time.

N.

Good job. Especially with the Roth IRA. You can do it.

[sparta]

Hi I'm Patti; I chose University instead of College, felt it would be an advantage to have a higher level of Education. Just finished Uni myself 3 years ago (at a later stage in life) and am now in Child Protection. I got into the market when I met a lovely man from Alabama who was obsessed with the market. His nest egg was growing slowly and when he'd talk about it, I thought he was talking about how proud he was of a child who had landed on the moon. As a 'touchy feely' Social Worker, I find it hard to jump in with both feet. I often have to step back and analyze things way too much. But I am enjoying my new found hobby of snakes and ladders in the market and find Cramer's opinion to be important in my decision making.

[RRX]

Hey what’s up fellow Kramologists my name is Rick 39 (damn birthdays). Recently retired in northern CA after spending 20 yrs in the USAF and now currently work for one of those Biotech companies Jim keeps mentioning on the air. Started investing back in 1992 with mutual funds and eventually progressed into individual stocks. Have made more than I lost so I can’t complain but you can never learn too much. I started listening to Jim in July while driving home from work and have been hooked ever since.

[church mouse]

Hi,
My name is Beth Ann. I’m 47, very happily married mother of one (a recent college graduate). I work as a web developer and also hold a very part time job as the office manager of our local church- a job I just love.
My husband and I just celebrated our 25th anniversary, and have been focusing financially on becoming completely debt-free by following Dave Ramsey’s books, which have been great for us. We have eight more pretty tight years to go to reach our goal of being completely debt free with three months worth of income in savings for an emergency.
I’ve been investing since 1984, when we started contributing to my husbands Vanguard based 401K plan, which is now valued at 150k. Since we are in the midst of paying for our son’s education, our home, a vacation/retirement property and a piece of adjoining land, autos and so forth, we have had very little outside income to invest until now.
I have a brand new Roth IRA and an individual account at Scottrade, and can now break away from the mutual funds we have been restricted to in the 401k. Although Vanguard has been very good to us, I am looking forward to the freedom of investing in individual stocks, soaking up all the investing advice I can get both from Jim Cramer and this site to invest my "mad money".
It’s been wonderful reading your individual life stories, and I look forward to getting to know each and especially look forward to learning from everyone.
To the college students- keep up the good work! I know it can be a struggle, but we’re in your corner cheering you on!
Beth Ann

[UMHOCKEY]

Beth Ann,
Sounds like you are on and have been on a great track!!!

This Dave Ramsey, is it worh it? What does it show u?

Thanks,
Dave

[ownitondvd]

Hi,

My name is Eric and I am a senior in college. Graduating in May with a degree in finance then going to hopefully work for the FDIC and get my masters. I just started watching Jim Cramer and I like his show. I got Microsoft Money and watch it all day on my computer with the stocks I have chosed to play around with. I can't get away from this now.

BOOOOYAAAAAAH!!!

[church mouse]

Hi Dave,
Dave Ramsey has a national radio show on finances. His latest book, The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness, focuses on how to get out of debt and build savings, then on investing and saving for the future.
He's pretty down to earth, and his ideas are very practical. He basically believes that our income is our greatest asset, which we unfortunately tie up with debt.
The book is under $20.00 at amazon.
Beth

[umassjsp]

I am out on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Have a degree from Umass Amherst in Finance in 1984. I made a killing selling mortgages just after college and invested in Mutual Funds like Fidelity and Pax World. Used most of my money to drink and tip bartenders however. I have been in Property and Casualty Insurance biz since 1990. Have done very well in 401 K and Cash Balance Pension Plan and started picking individual stocks about 5 years ago. I got invovled with some penny stocks that went down the porcelain. However I hit home runs with Brown Forman, Lions Gate, Crown Holdings and Baldor that offset my losses. I have learned a ton from Cramer books and TV show. I also stream his radio show which is available 24x7 on thestreet.com. My Cramer stocks that I have bought so far are MSFT and JDSU. Wish Mad Money was around 5 years ago and I would be doing much better. Good luck !

[CapeCodSue]

Hi

I'm also on Cape Cod - lovely place to live!! I'm a bookkeeper for a non-profit and live here with my husband and two grown sons. I have a 403B at Valic which is doing okay although I've been told they have high fees. I started investing in 98 by joining a stock club - which unfortunately did poorly (NAIC way). I did my own Roth IRA a few years back and just invested the money in stocks in April 05 and it is now up 101% as of today!! I have my husbands up 23%. Mine is mostly due to HANS which is up 248% - wish I had gotten more of it. I probably should sell some and not be a pig - but its doing so well I hate to sell it. I have learned a lot by watch Cramer and enjoy his show. (He was against HANS when I bought it.)

I wish I had learned about investing a long time ago. I just inherited 1/2 of my dad's portfolio so I will have some money to play around with now. Just wish I had more time to study and learn.

Happy investing!

[dmanos]

Hello. North Texas here. I am 39 year-old Department of the Air Force Civilian (GS-11) where I am a course supervisor for one of the largest training courses in the AF. I spent a total of 22 years and a few months in the uniform (both AF and Army) and have been civil service for about 13 years now. Needless to say I haven't been getting rich doing what I do. My wife is a teacher and I think everybody knows how well paid they are. :roll: I have just recently started venturing into the stock market and I believe I have found myself a new hobby. My goals are both long-term growth for retirement and short-term income. I currently have several mutual funds, a couple of high yield savings accounts and my Thrift Savings Plan all set aside for retirement. With 5 daughters I am going to need every penny I can get....not to mention presently financing gymnastics, cheerleading, dance, soccer, softball, basketball and drag racing (my 8-year old).

I have been following Cramer for about a year now and I have to say he is definitely addicitng. Glad I ran across this site as it seems to be a good sounding board for Cramer's ideas.

Donnie

[sticconi]

I'm a beginning investor and caught the tail end of one of Mr. Cramer's TV shows. I am an internet sales manager at a nissan dealership in michigan. Trying to pay off student loans so i can begin in investment real estate and the stock market

[Affirmed]

Looks like I am the young one :D So I can continue to call myself the Lebron James of investing 8)

[reed]

Hi everyone...my name is Reed and I'm 29, married and have a 5 month old daughter. I'm an insurance agent here in Phoenix, I own my own agency and like to invest in the hot Phoenix real estate market. So far, my real estate investments have been doing better than my ameritrade account. I got interested in trading stocks this year and started my Ameritrade account with about $7K. I'm up to about $12k year to date. It's mostly play money, so I'm willing to take more risks than most. My goal in life is to get my agency running like a well oiled machine so I can spend lots of time with my daughter. I got interested in investing because my parents never taught me a darn thing about it. They taught me the importance of being debt free, however, they never taught me how to put your money to work. I got out of the Marine Corps with 10K in a savings account and decided to get my money working for me. Since then, I bought some real estate and now i'm hooked. I own a house, 2 rental properties, 3 pieces of undeveloped land and my net worth is now at about 700K. I've worked hard for everything, and I just don't want to end up like my parents...both working full time jobs at 61 years old who never have time to see their only granddaughter. :?

[deepinwonder]

I think that it's great that you are investing in yourself, first, then using what's left over to invest in the businesses of others. We have been doing the same. Boo yah!

[Affirmed]

Hi everyone...my name is Reed and I'm 29, married and have a 5 month old daughter. I'm an insurance agent here in Phoenix, I own my own agency and like to invest in the hot Phoenix real estate market. So far, my real estate investments have been doing better than my ameritrade account. I got interested in trading stocks this year and started my Ameritrade account with about $7K. I'm up to about $12k year to date. It's mostly play money, so I'm willing to take more risks than most. My goal in life is to get my agency running like a well oiled machine so I can spend lots of time with my daughter. I got interested in investing because my parents never taught me a darn thing about it. They taught me the importance of being debt free, however, they never taught me how to put your money to work. I got out of the Marine Corps with 10K in a savings account and decided to get my money working for me. Since then, I bought some real estate and now i'm hooked. I own a house, 2 rental properties, 3 pieces of undeveloped land and my net worth is now at about 700K. I've worked hard for everything, and I just don't want to end up like my parents...both working full time jobs at 61 years old who never have time to see their only granddaughter. :?

How hard is it to get a good rental property? Also does alot of it matter on location for example area where a housing boom is you prolly cant miss, but up here in Michigan where its not so hot it would probably be alot harder rght?

[reed]

Affirmed, as for finding a rental property, you have to do your research with that as well. I like to find a niche in the market, just like you might have a niche with your stock picks. To answer your queston, getting a good rental property is much easier than getting good renters. My niche in real estate is two-fold, I buy properties near the university and I also buy land in developing areas. If you have a university nearby, check out the prices of a duplex near the campus (within walking/biking distance). Then check the prices of rent in the area...would you have positive cash flow? Investing near a campus gives you a good pool of renters. You never want to be short of renters. If you are, you're taking a large risk of losing your positive cash flow for months at a time. As for developing areas, this is my buy and hold approach. It's a waiting game...it may not work as well in Michigan. This is very good for places like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Texas, and Florida where you can buy some land outside of town and wait for the growth to come to you. You are right about investing in booming areas. Phoenix just happened to be the number one spot in the nation for increasing costs of housing (I think it was about a 40 percent increase this year alone). I personally like being a landlord and managing the properties myself, which is another thing to consider. Will you manage it? Or will you pay management fees of 10 percent? Lots of things to consider when it comes to the risk of an investment property. You may want to go to a real estate club and find a mentor. Get a mentor, find a niche that will work in your area, and try to minimize the risk in every way possible.

[deepinwonder]

Where in Michigan are you located, Affirmed? We are members of the National Association of Home Builders. For rental properties, I would stick to areas with colleges or tourists. There is always a demand, no matter what else is happening. Find a community you like that is not too far away or that you vacation in, so you can check on the properties from time to time, and hire a property management team to lease it out and check on things for you.

Also, take advantage of the slowdown to wheel and deal a good price. Do not compromise on incurable defects to save money, like noise, schoolyards, graveyards, easements, power lines, flood zones, etc. You will pay in the end. Don't buy property that needs a lot of work. If you want a lower price, look for something that just needs some cosmetic upgrades, like new paint, carpets, maybe appliances, or else in move in condition, so you can start renting right away. Condos are good because you don't have to worry about yard work, too. I would not get into an interest only or adjustable rate loan, right now.

Personally, I like vacation properties, because you can lease them out weekly and take advantage of them in off season, for your own enjoyment, but college areas could be lucrative, too. They would have better deals in the spring or summer, I would think, but good time to scope things out. Also, with the auto layoffs, some of those people might want to sell off properties to get the money out of them, so there could be some good deals around there.

[Affirmed]

Where in Michigan are you located, Affirmed? We are members of the National Association of Home Builders. For rental properties, I would stick to areas with colleges or tourists. There is always a demand, no matter what else is happening. Find a community you like that is not too far away or that you vacation in, so you can check on the properties from time to time, and hire a property management team to lease it out and check on things for you.

Also, take advantage of the slowdown to wheel and deal a good price. Do not compromise on incurable defects to save money, like noise, schoolyards, graveyards, easements, power lines, flood zones, etc. You will pay in the end. Don't buy property that needs a lot of work. If you want a lower price, look for something that just needs some cosmetic upgrades, like new paint, carpets, maybe appliances, or else in move in condition, so you can start renting right away. Condos are good because you don't have to worry about yard work, too. I would not get into an interest only or adjustable rate loan, right now.

Personally, I like vacation properties, because you can lease them out weekly and take advantage of them in off season, for your own enjoyment, but college areas could be lucrative, too. They would have better deals in the spring or summer, I would think, but good time to scope things out. Also, with the auto layoffs, some of those people might want to sell off properties to get the money out of them, so there could be some good deals around there.

Well Im going to Central Michigan University which is in Mount Pleasant, Michigan so its a college town about 27K students attend. Theres always houses and other places for sale all around town. I just dont know what to look for how to buy it or anything like that but Ive always been interested in it. Since Im going ot be up there for at least another year at least prolly another 1.5 or 2 years I could probably manage it myself ( although I dont know exactly what all involve din that)

[John Paul Sanborn]

Hi all!

I'm a self employed treeworker (for those who scratch their head at the term Arborist - One who works with trees, to shorten the official definision) based in the Milwaukee metro area climbing and consulting for a number of small tree companies and landscapers in the SE to S Cent. part of the state.

So I'm jsut a big kid, I get to climb trees and am paid for it. :lol:

I'm a 40 y/o USMC enlisted Vetran (8.5 yrs) with some disabilites, which are slowing me down more and more. So I've started looking for otherways to make money.

I can see how this way can work, but have been learning the hard way.

I've been in funds since I was in my teens, but lost around 3/4 of it in crash others have mentioned. Just prior to hat I had enough to start my own buisness... :roll:

So now I'm dabbling in eqities and calls and making a little money (or should I say making it back...)

Oh, and I cannot spell to save my life, so Apologies In Advance :wink:

[meth]

i am a freelance artist in SoCal. 29, college grad in '01.

i have no overhead, live at one of my mom's houses (she doesn't live there thank god) :lol: and i got sick of the small amounts i was making in my savings account. :roll:

i am pretty much through wasting money on my car and so i have extra cash laying around because i was saving up to buy a house, but prices in california are so utterly rediculous i gave up on that so i dumped a little of what i had saved up into scottrade. i don't know crap about what i am doing, but in 3 weeks i am up a goliath 1%. 8) i hope to learn a lot here from everyone. i think i will lurk for a while tho before i open my mouth.

my other home is s2ki.com

[HOGDEALER]

I am a hard core unemployable. I am a 42 year old recovering Lawyer. I have 5 kids & one on the way. I own a Harley-Davidson Dealership. I have been in the market since 1987 got wiped out twice and SIRI is helping to get wiped out a third time. Have about 100-k in the market which is worth about 90-k or less today. :wink:

[deepinwonder]

Edit: Oops, I wrote being unemployed with kids is not funny, but then you said you own a dealership. Sorry, I got confused. Why would you say that, if you do own a business? Did you know that many developments won't allow Harleys in them, because of the noise factor? Ours won't. Thought I'd bring it up, since that would affect sales.

[Bayard]

Bayard here. I'm a 58 year old retired shrink living in the hinterland of Texas. What money I've made via investing has been through real estate (which was truly God's generosity & not my savvy). Lately I channel surfed to "MadMoney" and have become enthralled with the possibilities.
While a therapist back in the 80's I did some unfocused day trading and made beaucoup mistakes; the only winner was my Paine Webber account exec, and she made a killing on my $250 round trip trades. Well, I got thrown and I'm getting back on the horsey. In a few days I'm opening a Scott Trade account with a little retirement money. I don't require much cash to be entertained. My best friend and my lover are the same person and we've been married 24 years. We're blessed with 2 sons, 7 grands, 9 cats, and two dogs.
Looking forward to learning from you folks, and passing along any "hot tips" that come my way ;~)

[the_menace]

Dennis here, 24 YO from CA, college student studying business with emphasis on management information systems here @ CSUS. I'm pretty new to investing in stocks and I'm slowly adding funds into my Scottrade account. Majority of my money is in ING account but my stocks fund is the one I've been focused on adding some more. I got interested in investing in real estate and still looking into it until I build my confidence. We haven't really done any transactions yet but we've been looking around; and our non-formal education in real estate is starting to build.

I got my gf into real estate but my gf got me into stocks just recently. She signed up @ E*trade but realized that they were charging so much, that I need to find something affordable and still good. Then I signed up for Scottrade. Since then, I spend almost 2-3 hours a day researching stocks and learning how to analyze stocks. During the weekends, me and her spend time reading books on the subject and its been fun so far. Especially that I'm in the business field, all the education has been helpful.

Thanks to everyone here who has been helpful in extending my knowledge in stocks.

[deepinwonder]

Dennis, sounds like you have a really great relationship going, like my husband and I. We study stocks at night together too and have also done real estate investing over the years. Been a lot of places, seen a lot of things, and married 21 years. No kids, but we do have five cats who showed up in the form of one pregnant one that someone dumped in a Nor'easter in the woods behind our house, seven years ago. She's a beauty, too. They all are.

And Bayard, we could use a psych around here, LOL. Cramer said there is no cure for our obsession and I think he's right. Now you get back on that horse, cowboy, and ride 'em! Welcome to the boards. :o

[Bayard]

Thanks for the kind welcome Miss Deepinwonder.

After 24 years as a therapist, I'm the one who needs the couch (but instead, I think I'll try to make some cash).

When my wife and I moved to the outer boonies we didn't have cat one, and I wasn't all that interested in such critters. Then I went to the local shelter and got Sharny a "barn cat" and in the following 11 years eight more have shown up and taken-up residence. I have grown immensely fond of felines and their graceful complexity. They're much more interesting than most folks. (Don't tell anyone I said that ;~)

Bayard

[the_menace]

Dennis, sounds like you have a really great relationship going, like my husband and I. We study stocks at night together too and have also done real estate investing over the years. Been a lot of places, seen a lot of things, and married 21 years. No kids, but we do have five cats who showed up in the form of one pregnant one that someone dumped in a Nor'easter in the woods behind our house, seven years ago. She's a beauty, too. They all are.

My gf loves kitties too but she can't have one because she lives with her dad. I would love to have one someday when me and her move in together.
A couple that has the same interest, stays together :wink: .

[UCBANKER]

My name is Joshua 28y/o I am working towards a degree in Finance at the Uninversity of Cincinnati. I work currently for Fifth Third Bank. Married with a 5 month old daughter. I have been reading about stocks and investing for almost 10 years (7 of those in the Marine Corps so not much during that time) just trying to find a good broker and Scottrade seems to be the choice here. I am looking into them as we speak and trying to get the nerve to start. I think I will do fine but since the baby i worry a little more. I really enjoy getting everyones point of view and seeing how it relates to my life. 8)

[mst06]

My name is Mike and I'm from Phoenix Arizona. I'm 28 years old (where did the time go?) and still looking for financial freedom. I currently work as a hospital security dispatcher but go to school for real estate to become an agent. I love the thought of becoming a day trader but enjoy fantasizing for now. I have a live in girlfriend of 5 years and she supports my crazy hairball ideas. Like they say, behind every good man, there is a great woman!

My goal is to make a few extra hundred dollars a month to play with and go from there. I'm learning a lot from the show and from all your posts. Keep up the good info! :lol:

Mike

[the_menace]

My name is Mike and I'm from Phoenix Arizona. I'm 28 years old (where did the time go?) and still looking for financial freedom. I currently work as a hospital security dispatcher but go to school for real estate to become an agent. I love the thought of becoming a day trader but enjoy fantasizing for now. I have a live in girlfriend of 5 years and she supports my crazy hairball ideas. Like they say, behind every good man, there is a great woman!

My goal is to make a few extra hundred dollars a month to play with and go from there. I'm learning a lot from the show and from all your posts. Keep up the good info! :lol:

Mike

Welcome man! That's the way to go if you want to be successful in trading/investing. I'm in the same boat as you are; still learning each and every day, and loving it.

[berberick]

UC , Iwas also in the Marines [0331] . Check into a good solid company first . And you work in one of the best investing indust . Your worried about your fin. because you have a family now , smart . Check into BAC , WF , and USB . All are stable , pay good dividends , and have very low PE . They are good long term investments . Good luck .

[UCBANKER]

berberick thanks for the vote of confidence, and I will check those out. I was a 0352 and a 9916 thanks again and stay in touch.

[berberick]

If you go to Yahoo fin. you can see what I' m tallking about . The return on BAC , WFM , USB , WM , JPM , C is impress. You can see the return by charting them on the max setting . A couple of them have earned over 1500% since 1985 . They are cal. div. and stock splits , so keep that in mind . They are boring , but steady . Also look into GE , a good solid comp. It is temt. to try to go high speed W/ with trading . If you have rt trading and a team of pro's to help you out that is great . But for most traders slow and steady is better . Don"t end up like a lot of traders and chase the "BIG" returns . Value trading is good for most traders . "BIG" is usually bust ! Sell at 15-20 % over at what you buy the stock at , Buy it back on a pull-back . Read B. Gramam's book on value investing . "The Intelligent Investor " , a great book on buying str. I've used the str. to get a excellant return over the years . Double dig. over the last dec. Every year , slow and steady . Buy low , sell high . Look for a low PE , good div. yield , and a good val. on the comp .

[optimus25]

If you go to Yahoo fin. you can see what I' m tallking about . The return on BAC , WFM , USB , WM , JPM , C is impress. You can see the return by charting them on the max setting . A couple of them have earned over 1500% since 1985 . They are cal. div. and stock splits , so keep that in mind . They are boring , but steady . Also look into GE , a good solid comp. It is temt. to try to go high speed W/ with trading . If you have rt trading and a team of pro's to help you out that is great . But for most traders slow and steady is better . Don"t end up like a lot of traders and chase the "BIG" returns . Value trading is good for most traders . "BIG" is usually bust ! Sell at 15-20 % over at what you buy the stock at , Buy it back on a pull-back . Read B. Gramam's book on value investing . "The Intelligent Investor " , a great book on buying str. I've used the str. to get a excellant return over the years . Double dig. over the last dec. Every year , slow and steady . Buy low , sell high . Look for a low PE , good div. yield , and a good val. on the comp .

I like your line of thinking. I've also read The Intelligent Investor and have over a hundred little "tabbies" for pages that I look back into from time to time. I also own BAC, WM, MRK, & HPT for dividends and total return. Investing is a marathon. Don't be afraid to put money into the companies that can go the distance.

[berberick]

Thank you ,


Value investing is king for most . A lot of people fail to ed. themselves on the market . They watch Cramer and think their pros . They don't realize Cramer has all ready done the trades he he sugg. , and that he has a team to help him. And that their is a hundred rooooooms full of guys who watch his program at Bac , and Jpm ,thinking easy money moneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey . They buy a---hours as soon as he men. it [first half hour ] . Sell it shortly after open to make a quick buck . Their paying tui.

[roehrigs01]

Since seems to be the same folks posting on here daily, thought I start a introduction thread... do request whatever you post be truthfully, no bs, since we have other threads to post that in...Stuff like name, location, status, job, interests (other than stocks), broker, strategy, goals, whatever...

Name: Shawn
Location: Honolulu Hawaii
Status: single w/ gf...
Job: Web Developer for the Army as a civilian contractor
Interests: My 2006 Mini Cooper S, Racquetball, good ales.
Broker: Interactive Brokers - best commision rate.
Strategy: Diversification with discretionary stocks usually from IBD100 (hold for the month and re-evaluate), a handful of short-term speculative stocks for fun and quick gains. Possible shorting. No buy&hold or boring companies. Stocks only...no options, futures, forex, etc...
Goal: make money and add to it money from my pay to make more money and repeat...

[teno4212]

Name: Joe
Location: Newport, Rhode Island
Status: high school senior, Northwestern next year (engineering/business)
Broker: eTrade
Strategy: None really. Learning how different investors work with their money (techs and such) and making some small cash in the meantime. I just think it's fun and a good potential day job when I'm much older and out of work.. or just before that if I so happen to strike a gold mine!

[Pinguin]

Name: Lee
Location: DFW area Texas
Status: Married, one child, ummm
Job: I'm an engineer for a mining company, specializing in Economics
Broker: Scottrade
Strategy: Technicals, and starting to learn about penny-plays

[Gonz]

Name: Inigo Montoya
Location: Florin
Status: Bachelor
Broker: Fezzick the Giant
Job: Swordsman in the employ of (the late) Vizzini
Strategy: In the event of rocky terrain, Bonetti's defense. Attack with Capaferro and Agrippa.

[fightknight]

Name: Ahmed
Location: Vancouver BC
Status: Studying Business at University
Broker: CIBC
Strategy: TA, but mostly a learning process right now.

[Damon]

Name: Damon
Age: 23
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Status: Single w/gf of 2 years
Job: Operator & part owner of an Internet business
Interests: Stock market, real estate market, car modding (my 2005 Audi A4), computer systems building/modding, American microbrews (Stone Brewing Co. in San Diego, CA is my favorite brewer).
Broker: TDWaterhouse - flat $9.95 trades - started with them.
Strategy: Mainly trying to learn as much as possible at this point about how the markets work through reading & practical application. Goal is to learn as much about fundamental analysis and technical analysis and how to use both to choose stocks and entry/exit points. I try to maintain a fairly diverse group of 8-12 stocks at any given time (with some as long-term holds, some as short term holds and the occasional one or two extreme short-term plays for kicks). I don't mess around with shorting or options currently - mainly because it's unfamiliar territory - but I'm interested in learning about both.
Goal: My main goal at this stage is to learn. Any money that I can make along the way is just a bonus. Ideally, I'd like to work as a broker or advisor, or be able to simply manage my own investments (stock & real estate) full time.

[BigBoi1881]

Name: Bernie
Location: North New Jersey
Status: single
Job: Currently PT CIS student; looking to be my own boss
Interests: Day-Trader, trying to become a Real Estate Investor.
Broker: E*Trade
Goal: to become a millionaire or retire by age 35; or to have my own business of some kind.

[InvestingMoron]

Name: Nick
Age: 26
Status: Married
Occupation: Meteorologist / former Navy Missile Technician
Interest: Soccer referee of 11 years
Broker: Scottrade (previous broker was ShareBuilder)
Strategy: No skill and alot of luck
Goal: Since I've already nearly doubled my 1000 this year, let's see if I can turn that into 3000.

[Mad Girl Investor]

Christina
Miami, FL
Age: Aw come on!
14 year old son who is THE best kid ever
Divorced...and single :)
Realtor
Blonde, blue eyed..(Oh, this isnt THAT kind of forum, is it?)

Motto: Live, Love, Laugh

[TheChartGuru]

Name: Frank
Age: 43
Miami, Fla
Status: Married, 2 sons 13,15
Little League baseball coach
Occupation: Own a carpet cleaning service for 18 years

Interest: anything football :), Dallas Cowboys, Miami Hurricanes, working on my 1985 Monte Carlo SS, metal detecting(yes, I'm one of those guys you see on the beach swinging a metal thingy wearing headphones and scooping up jewelry ;), Mass on Sundays

Broker: Interactive Brokers
Strategy: Strictly use technical analysis and charts to trade
Goal: Spiritualy, eternal life. Financially, to compound my investment at least 5% a week. That will turn a $10,000 investment into $126,428 in one year :)

The Guru has spoken

[NATHAN LLOYD]

Name: Nate
Location: Louisiana
Status: BS from UNC and DMD from CWRU. Working on a dental license and then move to Georgia suberbs. Engaged.
Hobbies: Got bored of Texas Hold'em/House training my 2 month old Chihuahua/trader. I've been trading for about 3 months. I've shorted and lost some doing it, but not much.
Broker: Awesome commission. Paper trading account is fun to mess with.
Strategy: Losing money. :) I'll be fading a gap up tomorrow morning. I've read Rule The Freakin' Markets and Short-term Trading in the New Markets. Thinking about Cramer's book.
Goal: To retire with some mula.
Holdings: Am I diversified? LOL

MSFT
DELL
AAPL

[aiki14]

Jim
Wallingford, Pa
45 y/o
married, 2 great kids 16 and 13
Manage a few rental properties, investment properties.
Motorcycles and Martial Arts take up much of my free time, love to travel and have been fortunate enough to do so. Enjoy a good single malt now and then.
I trade the market for enjoyment and probably take riskier plays than I should.

More info than you probably want:
http://community.webshots.com/user/aiki14

[Bman409]

Brad,
Holley, NY (outside Rochester)

6 ft, 180 lbs.

36 married, two kids (3 y/o girl and 5 y/o boy). My son is mildly autistic. Both kids are awesome.

B.S in Chem. Eng, and M.S. Environmental Studies, Univ. of Rochester .. where I'm currently employed in environmental compliance (Hazardous waste management)

Learned to trade in late 90s, early 2000.. just as the bubble was ending.. Made a fortune and lost a fortune , before learning to sell short.

Strategy is primarily technical.. I trade breakouts and buy signals but with an eye on the news as well.

I write a daily swingtrading newsletter which I've done for about 5 years now, which is currently available to subscribers at www.swingtradercentral.com (we feature picks with exact entry prices, stop loss sets and target prices, etc.. short term trading.. most trades last a week or two)

Brokers is Interactivebrokers.com, where I trade on the US exchanges as well as the Toronto Exchange.

Outside of stocks I live on a tributary to Lake Ontario, which has allowed me to perfect my technique in catching salmon, steelhead and brown trout in some of the best fishing streams in the eastern US!

[Madmoneymaker]

Name: Nick
Location: Auburn, Washington
Age: 24
Status: single but looking
Job: Journeymen autobody tech
Interests: cars, diesel trucks, real estate investing, stocks
Broker: Scottrade
Strategy: try all different strategies and use what works for the moment. Usually swing trade whats hot or way oversold though.
Goal: to retire at 35 with 9 more rental houses and a beautiful healthy family

[Surfr4evr]

Name: Andy
Location: island in southern pacific
Status: married
Job: military
Interests: surfing, enjoying the journey
Broker: IB
Strategy: Only invest in interesting tickers...ie JAH, POT, SRF, COOL, j/k...I use insider buying as a basic strategy, it's worked pretty well so far. I don't use this board to pump a stock I'm losing money on
Goal: retire and not have to worry about some shallow, high-maintenance lifestyle, and god-forbid I ever have to wear a suit. End up in Fiji spearfishing for my lunch :) Riding waves with friends

[Martin]

name: Martin
age: 19
location: arizona or connecticut
status: single
occupation: student - major information/network security
broker: ameritrade brokerage now for 5 years. fidelity for ira/retirement
strategy: still learning the game
hobbies: computers, snowboarding, cars, trucks, off-roading, riding quads, fishing, nascar

[Sect]

Name: Dustin
Age: 19
Location: Edmonton, Canada
Status: With gf of a year and a half
Job: Network Administrator
Interests: Guitar, stocks, and my addiction to World of Warcraft
Broker: Interactive Brokers
Strategy: Technical Analysis for a monthly paycheck bonus, and a diversified portfolio for long term once I have the money for it lol
Goal: To become a full time active trader or a broker or analyst

[stockviper]

Name: Tom
Age: 40
Location: Kissimmee, Florida
Status: Single
Job: Telecom Services

Interests: Stocks, Sportscards, Gardening and my old corvette which would be better off in a junk yard...but it's still a corvette. :-)

Broker: Scottrade
Strategy: Fundamental & Technical Analysis and I like playing the special dividend stocks.

Goal: To become a full time trader.

[pmb1010]

Name: Vic
Location: Niagara, NY
Status: Age 50, married 28 yrs, no kids, 2 cats
Job: Network & Communication Manager 29 yrs same company.
Interests: Electronics, ham radio, getting into woodworking.
Broker: Fidelity in a Roth IRA
Strategy: Been at this about a year. See what I can learn to do, from tips, experience, guesswork. Fun money. If I lose it, won't affect me one way or another. 98% of retirement funds in 401(k).
Goal: Education, mostly. Another hobby. Enjoy the competetion to "win".
Results: I'm up 9.2% thru the 1st quarter on the stuff I've bought and sold.
Holdings: ING, INTC, JNJ, UNH (I know, I know... but I think these are damaged stocks with good potential)

[tekbubble]

Name: Tekbubble
Location: Georgia
Status: Age 35, married, 1 son, 2 cats, 1 dog
Job: CTO.

Interests: Too many to fit in my day. BBall, Programming, learning.

Broker: FolioFn. 400 free window trades a month. $3.95 market/limit/stop....

Strategy: Playing with several strategies right now. Reading a pile of books.

Goal: Figure the whole thing out and make a fortune.

Results: Started investing after the tech bubble burst. I figured it would be a good time to get in since everything fell so far. While things continued to fall, made 40% my first year. Averaged 30% my first three years. I only owned a few stocks at the time and got lucky (things I knew like Amazon.com). Feeling smart, I decided to get more active. At same time, I read an article about wireless technology that mentioned the up and coming players. So I invested in 5 new stocks and promptly lost 50-90% in each of them (house of pain). Went back to my previous strategy, held 3-5 stocks I felt good about, bought and sold on downs and ups. 20% per year results. Now I am doing it different than ever. Up 7% first quarter (Non-IRA).

Holdings: IRA's -- 50% Mutual Funds, 50% Ready-to-Go Folio in FolioFn.com, NoIRA -- One portfolio that matches ActionAlertsPLUS identically, and one portfolio that I experiment different strategies.

[BigDawg291]

Name: Spencer
Age: 21
Location: Mississippi
Status: Single
Occupation: Junior in College, Double Major of Business and Accounting
Broker: IB
Strategy: I am still learning, but getting better and better. I have watched the stock market for quite a while, but didn't get into trading until 4 months ago. I am enjoying it so far, because since I started, I am up 23%. I started trying to do L/T investments, but now I am into more day trading.
Goal: Turning the 10,000 I started with, into 1,000,000 one day.
Hobbies: Computers and games, PS2, love the big 3 sports, fantasy sports, and of course, stocks

[englishman26]

Name: Richard
Age: 29
Status: Married very recently!
Occupation: Computational Biochemist
Interest: anything sport but mainly soccer (Liverpool football club) and cycling.
Broker: Scottrade
Strategy: To integrate fundamental analysis for long term plays into technical analysis to maximize profits
Goal: To make enough to get a deposit on a house in the bay area!

[jeffwils]

Name: Jeff Wilson (DUH)
Location: Hot sticky smelly Dallas, TX...Lord willing not for much longer!
Status: Maried w/2 step kids
Job: Graphic designer...wanna be engineer
Interests: Family, Flying, Farming, Boating, Stockmarket Charting
Broker: Scottrade
Strategy: Charts, charts and more charts
Goal: Would like to day trade from the ozarks. If it gives me a heart attack at least im not in Dallas. Did I mention I hate Dallas?

[bludevil007]

Name: Stefan D
Location: New Haven, but NYC in two months - thank god!
Status: Single, long-term gf
Job: Yale Law Student, soon to be lawyer
Interests: DJing, guitar, music festivals (especially obscure random ones), 24, Lost, and Nip/Tuck, duke basketball, miami football, my XBOX360, and of course, trading.
Broker: Ameritrade
Strategy: disciplined tech analysis
Goal: well, isnt that obvious - to be rich.

[InvestingMoron]

You're welcome.

[clavocat]

Name: Chris
Age: 18
Location: Buffalo New York..GO SABRES!!!!
Status: currently dating a beautiful girl
Job: landscaper, going to school for engineering but will prolly transfer to become a financial advisor.
Interests: recently stocks, hockey, all other sport, weight lifting
Broker: Scottrade but soon switching to Interactive Brokers
Strategy: Right now trying to gain back money i lost, but soon i will be a 5% a week trader, thanks to TCG
Goal: id like to become a broker, or a full time day trader if all goes well

[mldtrades]

Name: Mitch
Age:46
Location: Min-e-sooodah
Status: Married, 2 sons 20,22 and 1 daughter, 15
Occupation: 23 yrs. in printing industry. Recently sold my printing biz.
Interests: Family, Golf, Flying, Honest Living, and now trading.
Broker: Scottrade
Plan of action: new to the trading game, so I am in the learning stage. Learning alot w/ this forum of great folks.
Goal: Be successful at trading.
My trading inspiration: TCG! Love the focus of chart trading he offers and willingness to offer to others. One of the reasons I like this forum.

[Diezed]

Here's alot of background info im currently attending a University in Ontario Canada (btw im 21 years old) single,no girlfriend,no kids and I enjoy working out, listenning to music and reading.

I have always been interested in investing (more so penny stocks,etc...) But currently I'm just planning to complete my exams get a new job and start investing.And make some MAD MONEY ....BOOOOOYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAA!

[Surfr4evr]

Andy, 36...South Pacific. First intelligent thing i did in life is buy a piece of property a block from the beach in Destin Fl. Cost a few grand almost just over 15 yrs ago, now worth about $500K. Began investing in 1997, proceeded to make a bunch, then proceeded to lose a bunch a couple years later (i'm sure many of you out there know the feeling of the dot.com era). Continue to invest in value, but I now align most of my trades with insider buying. I tend to ignore most of the "STRONG BUY" or "LOAD UP" recommendations on this board by those with questionable motives. However I've learned a good deal on technical trading by TCG and he's made me a few bucks as well...thank you for that.

Life to me is about the journey, not the destination. I'd rather sit on my beach out back and surf clean glassy waves than wear a suit and tie, trudging through traffic, only to work 50+ hours a week, and for what?? When you look back on life you'll never say to yourself.."you know I should have worked more in life". NO, you'll say, "you know I wish I had spent more time with family, friends, etc". I'm just glad I've figured this out early on in life. I define myself by what type of friend or father or husband I am, not by my job title. But if you're interested I'm a military officer who thinks we should get the hell out of Iraq, don't support illegal aliens, and thinks the key ingredient to life can be found in a blender :)

[Luc1Grunt]

huah

[MoMoney4Me]

Hi, I'm Mike, age 52, from Cartersville, GA, married w/ 3 children, 4 grandchildren. High school education and have been working past 30 years for the same company driving a delivery truck in the Atlanta area.

When I graduated from high school in 1972 I just began work and started saving a little of my money each week. My grandmother gave me $10000 when I got married in 1974 and I put that into a savings account.

In the late 70's the stock market was terrible, inflation was at 10%, the Dow was at 800, but CD's were paying between 13% - 16%. I put my money to work and began to watch it grow. In 1982 I read a book by Vanita van Caspel " The Power of Money Dynamics", and it changed my outlook for the future. I learned that the power of compounded returns and a strict discipline to save first from each payday, would reap rewards untold.

By the mid 80's I had accumulated about $50,000 and open my first investment account with USAA Investment Management Co. No-load mutual funds had become popular then and I split my choices between several funds that USAA offered, and continued to add a little every week. In the spring of 1990 I opened my first brokerage account with USAA and began to select my own stocks. I started with picks of Coca Cola, Mc Donalds, G.E., Phillip Morris, IBM, and a few others.

In 1993 my luck really began to go my way. I sold several of my positions at the advice of an elderly co-worker in April of 1993 and bought 1000 shares of a little company named LDDS at $25 a share. In May of 1995 they changed there name to WorldComm. My original shares split 2:1 three times and I was fortunate enough to sell 8000 shares in April of 1999 at $58 a share for a profit of $439,000. Just a year later the stock was going in the toilet.

I got caught up in the dot.com era like many others at the time, reaping rewards on stocks like Cisco, AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon.com, only to see most of those profits obliterated in 2000 and 2001. In a matter of 6 months I lost back over $240,000.

Since then I have been blessed with nice returns on some of my long term holdings, and my short and intermediate positions have fared quite well for the most part. Following 9/11 I began to watch some of the airline stocks and picked up 10,000 shares of Airtran AAI in Oct.,02 @ $3.15, selling a year later at $18 for a profit of $150,000.

My wife lost both her parents in 2003 and 2004 and inherited a sizable estate that added another $300,000 to our brokerage accounts.
During the past year my most profitable position has been a risky stake of 40,000 shares of Anadigics that I bought last May and an average cost of $2.25 and is now up to $8.00. That has put me ahead another $230,000. And a substantial investment in a gold and metals fund is up about 85% since last July.

There have been times when I could'nt pick a winner, but since my major losses in 2000-2001, I learned to cut loose anything that drops 15% and be willing to take what's left and pick something better.

In 30 years we've been able to grow a modest start of $10,000 into over 3 million. Today I have a taxable brokerage that I use for my mad money and keep about 100k in it. The bulk of my positions are in Roth accounts for my wife and myself in an asortment of diversified individual stocks, index funds and ETF's in most every asset class. I've established trust brokerages for my children and grandchildren and they should be financially secure before they hit 30.

Friends at work often ask why I don't retire, but my wife has been a dialysis patient since 1995 and the company provides insurance at no costs to me. When I quit and start paying the premiums they can eat into income quite quickly. And besides, in another 6 or 7 years it's very likely that my portfolio will double or more again.

All these years I've never earned more than $40,000 a year on my job, but I contribute 30% of my gross every week to my 401(k), carry no consumer debt , no car payments or mortgage. We travel 3 or 4 times a year and pay cash for everything. I plan to work until I'm 59 1/2 and then start living off the Roth account.I guess my point is that starting early and staying in, often when others are heading for the exits, has paid off for me in the 30 years I've been in the market.

I'm living proof that you can build wealth if you save every week, start young, and take a substantial amount of risk. Remember the difference between trading and investing and stay in the market for the long haul, regardless of it's direction, buying everything you can when the markets are really beaten down.

You'll probably be getting that opportunity later this year!

Good luck to you all.

[blackhawkzone]

dan 37 years young

accountant

work with trusts and estates that invest in stocks, bonds, etc.

invest some of my money every month in a roth and an investment account.

more of a invester than a trader.

[panchdhar]

My name is panch. I am a physician in NYC. Single, 39. I don't think I'm a great investor, as I have never made a killing in the market. But I keep trying. I am careful and cautious since I don't want to get burned.
As far as the market- I read, listen to the news, research the net.
I have no background in finance. What I do is completely self taught through trail and error.

[Imperator]

Hello Everyone, This is my first post- looked like an appropriate place to start.

I am 20 year old college student studying.... business! More specifically Economics, Marketing & Management, etc

I've been wanting to get into the market for a while. I have recently opened an Ameritrade account, but it is being difficult and won't let me log in, so I haven't been able to get anywhere.

I have self taught myself and researched a lot in the stock market. I am also a big fan of Cramer obviously.

As far as work goes, I have a meaningless job working for Darden Restraunts (DRI) that pays the bills, but I also work for a small real estate rentals business.

I've lurked this forum for a few weeks and now decided to join, it seems like a great place with great people.

[Katibel]

36

insurance

very new and would like to make a little money

work hard

play little

pray alot

that's me:oops:

[Luc1Grunt]

Play more!!! Keeps you young. I don't listen to my own advice though. I'll go lay down.

[Psampson]

My Name Is Peter And Im From The Small State Of Rhode Island. Im 23 Years Old And Going To College For Business (so Far Leaning Towards Finance Or Accounting)
I Love To Invest And I Am Making Many Mistakes And Learning From Most Of Them. Hopefully I Will Learn A Little Quicker Because Its Hurting My Wallet.
Originally I Wanted To Swing Trade But I Have Not Had Much Success So I Am Currently Veering Towards Longer Term Value Investing In Larger Cap Aggressive Growth Stocks. The Dream Of A Quick Buck Is Slowly Disappearing(along With My Money) Lol.

[gatorboy2424]

Name: Dave
Age:18
Location: FL
Status: gottta gf
Occupation: senior in highschool... going to University of Florida (2006 national champions yeah yeah!) in the Fall to study finance... can't wait
Interests: Swimming, golf, working out, lifeguarding and now trading.
Broker: Scottrade
Plan of action: Started trading 2 weeks ago, actually up around 20%, couldnt be happier.
Goal: Conquer this trading thing and make some mad money. Hopefully I'll make this initial $500 dollar investment into thousands and pay off college.
My trading inspiration: jim cramer beleive it or not, now that Im more acknowledgable about the market, i dont watch his show but hopefully I am as sucessful as him one day.

[InvestingMoron]

gatorboy, don't give up hope. I started with a grand and already made my investment back and then some. Be smart with your money.

[moneyman]

Name: Chris
Age: 31
Occupations : High School Teacher and Swimming Pool Installattion Owner

Strategy: 70% into growth and income (dividend payers) 20 % mid cap and 10% speculative. I started with $10K and have it up to $14K in just over a year. I hold around 5 positions for the most part. I have only been hurt by one stock (VPHM) but I got out at $16 and bought at $10 to get some back and now I am out for good!!!

Current Positions ROME, GILD, CSCO, JDSU, PII

KRY intrigues me.

I watch Crammer but never buy one of his stocks within 2 weeks time so I can do my own research.

[gatorboy2424]

gatorboy, don't give up hope. I started with a grand and already made my investment back and then some. Be smart with your money.

ha im not giving up hope, i said i was up to start with, just gotta learn the game and conquer it

[rski]

name: Mike
age: 27
location: Houston area, Texas
status: married with a 15 mo old son
occupation: Pipeline inspections and survey//and Student over the net
broker: ameritrade
strategy: Still learning from many of the great ones around here. My job is a travel job, but thanks to mobile internet in my truck, I am able to keep up with things in the market.
hobbies: My son has given my life more reason than I ever thought possible. I just wish I didnt have to see the look in his face when daddy has to leave for work 2-5 days at a time.

[Kapparaider]

name: Matt
age: 25
location: Kentucky
status: married
occupation: Insurance Agent
broker: Scottrade
strategy: Newbie! Listening and learning from you guys!
hobbies: Golf & Cars, played Golf in College and still play in some Tournaments

[Thierry Martin]

Hey Kapparaider that's a cool avatar!

[Tooty]

name: Pete
age: 32
location: Glenview, IL
status: single with cute gf
occupation: Student. Always learning ya know.
broker: Scottrade
strategy: Waiting for Great West Crap to do something. GWGOE J/k folks
hobbies: Golfing, fishing, studying French, and gardening. Giant Pumpkin grower. HEHE

[GDFLS]

Name: Eric
Age: 36
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Status: Married, no kids, 3 dogs
Occupation: Billing Manager for an Environmental Consulting company
Broker: Scottrade
Strategy: Still in development, LOL. I think what my strategy will come down to is to invest, take a small profit, then reinvest the entire amount. Much like what TCG outlined a while ago.
Hobbies: Cooking, going on cruises, and volunteering with the non-profit animal rescue group I help organize. I sit on the board of directors currently. We are set up for the rescue and re-homing of northern breed dogs, Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, Samoyeds, and a few others LOL. Our three dogs were all rescues, two Siberian Huskies and one Sheppard Collie mix who is blind.

[Katibel]

Name: Kati
Location: I speak with an accent.
Status: Studying and entering the final phase of CMT certification.
Hobbies: Anything QUIET...paper trading about 7 stocks right now:roll:
Strategy: Paying attention.
Goal: Disney World :lol:
Strategy: To start small ( no pennies or subs)....swing trade those....do that again and again and again and again.8) 8) 8) 8)
Goal: :confused: To have full understanding of candlesticks and be able to utilize for gain.:confused:
Personal: 1 daughter, age 8.

[loslobos71]

name: Stu
location: 'burbs of philadephia
age: 15
job: Student at a private school
broker: eTrade
strategy: Generally long term stuff with excellent growth prospects.Im down 2% since I started in January, but Im just starting so whatever. I read whenever I can online and watch tv a lot, so Im learning...
Stocks I own (in order from what I made the most $$ on to lost the most): IIF, MER, NBR (Only three that are profitable), ELOS, AMGN (what should I do with it?), PWAV...
Looking to buy...: RCL, MOV, BBBB ( I found 2 of these before Cramer lol), ATYT, GNSS, ERJ (opinions on these please)...maybe load up on some more ANF too

Thanks!

[KPN_1991]

Name: Kirk
Age: 14
Location: Madison Hgts, MI
Status: Single
Orientation: Straight
Job: Golf Caddy
Interests: Golf, Hockey, Stocks
Stradegy: Work the stock market with short and long-term stocks
Goal: Make money with money

[TheChartGuru]

Name: Kati
Strategy: To start small ( no pennies or subs)....swing trade those....do that again and again and again and again.8) 8) 8) 8)
Goal: :confused: To have full understanding of candlesticks and be able to utilize for gain.:confused:


Kati, you have the right idea about swing trading the same stock over and over. I have said before that you can make a killing trading the same stock over and over by watching the trading channels. You can use the bollingers bands, stochastics, trebd lines or moving averages to pick a stock's top and bottom. Take a look at WEL. A beautiful uptrending stock. It pulled back nicely and formed a doji Friday. Guess where it closed near? The lower trend line. Ca ching. Easy money. Buy it around $2 on Monday and sell it around the upper trend line, currently, near $2.60 for a 30% gain. Paper trade it and see. IMHO

The Guru has spoken

[Katibel]

TGC....yes, I am following WEL.


Everyone,
Again; all my thanks for your encouragment, patience and kindness.

Kati

[tanpod]

Name: Tom

[sportsmadness80]

Name is Dave and as you can see I'm a diehard Suns fan. The damn Lakers are ruining everything right now. :lol:

[Joel90069]

Name: Joel
Location: West Hollywood, CA
Status: Single/ Gay
Hobbies: Gym, cycling, reading, traveling
Occupation: Mediator
Broker: Banc of America Investment Services
Strategy: Trust my own instincts

[Katibel]

Easter is over.

My tie dyed egg avatar is retired



<~~~~~~ That is my doggie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sportsmadness80]

I like the pic of your dog. I have two yorkshire terrier/chihuahua mix puppies. If I find a pic I'll post it here.

[sportsmadness80]

http://mud.mm-a2.yimg.com/image/517155398 Well I cant get my own to post but I found a pic of a female yorkie chihuahua mix that resembles her exactly. I named her Sierra.

[Katibel]

cute doggie.

I like dawgs!!!!

[GDFLS]

Nice looking dogs!

My avatar is my one Siberian, Isis. She was a foster dog of ours that we decided to keep!

[teno4212]

Name: Joe
Age: 18
Location: Portsmouth, RI (yep... it's a state)
Next year: Northwestern University
Strategy: Still mainly learning, this summer I'll have more time to read books and what not, I've lived on investopedia and other sites like that for a while learning what's what. I'm only starting to get in the loop!

[chemist308]

My name is Rob and I'm a 32 year old married guy from Pennsylvania (U.S.) I just started investing--sorta my New Year's Resolution. But really it's more than that for me. I work as a chemist and used to believe that it was possible to find a good company to work for and retire without too much worry. Witnessing layoffs and running into a couple of horid bosses have completely changed my views on that. There is no such thing as job security :mad:
I started dripping into a couple decent ETFs to get cash together (IFN took good care of me, maybe shoulda stayed with that one) and am now ready to take on stock picking. Wish me luck :)

[Robmeister]

My name is Rob, too!

I'm 35 years old, also married (sometimes I'm not sure why, though! :D)

I'm a computer programmer/analyst at a company called Labcorp - Stock symbol LH in case anyone's interested.

I've been doing some simple investing for around 10 years... mainly mutual funds. In the past year or so, I've really started to take more interest in shorter-term trading and learning technical analysis. I've read several books and also learn by scouring the internet and learning from the pros on this cool site. I've learned a lot, but I feel I've only scratched the surface.

I have a goal of retiring by the time I'm 50 (or earlier), so I've really got my work cut out for me. I'm saving in my company's 401K and maxing out my ROTH IRA each year, but it's gonna take more than that to reach my goal in 15 years!

My hobbies are landscaping (I built my own 400 square foot greenhouse), muscle cars (Have a '69 Camaro and a '98 WS-6 Trans-Am) and I also enjoy computers/technology. I also enjoy hiking in the North Carolina mountains and searching for waterfalls. It's really great stress relief!

...and yes, I still watch cartoons! REAL cartoons! I LOVE Dragonball Z and Dragonball GT. My avatar on this site is Goku, the main hero of Dragonball.

I have 2 dogs (dachshunds) that are a lot of fun (except when they're barking)!

I guess that's about it! I don't wanna write a book. Yep, I guess I'm one weird dude! I like to be unique and different, though!

[dlbehrns]

I have been into KRY for 10 years and I can tell you that I know this company inside out. 13.6 million ozs of gold reserves and ongoing infill drilling to add to the reserves. All they need is the final environmental permit to begin contruction. Crystallex does not own the property therefore any fears of taking the property away through nationalization are unfounded. KRY has the permit to "exploit" Las Cristinas 4,5,6& 7 "concessions." More than likely a major miner will make an offer to buy the company or at least, that is the general opinion among other shareholders that I communicate regularly, some of whom are former mining executives now retired. If you can handle the volatility you should be able to make some $.

I'm not a pumper. I'm a personal banker who, after laboring over this company for 10 years would like to finally see the stock live up to it's potential. In this gold bull market Crystallex could easily triple from its current levels in the event of a buyout offer.

David

[Luc1Grunt]

Nice introduction dlbehrns :roll:

[bahroor]

I really like MOVI, the potential is amazing, the MACD is showing..

jk, cheesy i know..

name: AR
occupation: graphic communications (anyone have any jobs?)
age: 27
status: getting married in August (thank you)
broker: sharebuilder (IRA) and scottrade (love em)
total investments value: 1,000,000,000,000 (jap yen)

this place is great, trying to learn from all you guys

[trebor64b]

trebor64b

Hello,
Names bob.
Family man, 3 kids just trying to make some MAD Money ..


Green at investing.

Pleasure to join.

boooooyaaaahh

[Bachen_Updatruck]

Baron Bachen Von Updatrucken, 55, from the glorious kingdom of California, Silicon Valley, the birth of BooYaaah, the land of the $2 million 1500 sq. foot fixer-upper, married, two kids, a Lab/Chow mix Wonder Dog. Made and lost a fortune during the magic bubble of '98-2000. Biggest trade was Digital Island, bought 7500 shares two days after IPO @ $13...sold at $135...
Went thru four 2-1 splits of CSCO, MSFT and AOL before it got taken over.
90% of my $$ now in Mutuals, weighted in International sector.

There is a lot of opportunity at minimal risk in OTC now & pinks, don't laugh..made over $250K on those whacky things.

Biggest tip today:
Stay away from PEIX unless you short or buy puts. All the insiders sold all their shares...(why would they do that???):lol:

Mortgage the farm and buy:
>>>WWEN >>>> HRRP >>>>PGPM >>>>TGC: mrgreen:

The three commandments of trading:
#1>>>Never buy a stock at the Market
#2>>>Never buy a stock at the Market
#3>>>Never buy a stock at the Market

PS: If the stock flies up, don't push your luck.
FREE SHARES***FREE SHARES***FREE SHARES

[Jiorden]

Hey.

I'm a 24 year old.. Living in NY. A couple of years removed from college... Currently working on applications for some MBA programs.

I'm here to learn... Initially to mooch off of ideas. But I do intend to contribute once my feet are wet.

I've already read "Real Money." I bought a couple of other books to help me get started. I intend to read them over the summer.

The Intelligent Investor - The definative Book of Value Investing by Ben Graham

and

Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets - By John J. Murphy.

Im thinking these two books cover alot of the trading/investing spectrum. If you have any reading suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Im a sponge, and i hope you guys dont mind me occasinally asking questions, etc.

Any body want to take me under their wing n teach me how to FLY!!!!??!!!??!

[ocsi]

My name is Ken Scordo, I began my financial career 22 years ago as a stockbroker in Manhattan after graduating from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. I'm a multi-licensed financial profession. My career includes experience on floors of the NYSE, AMEX, small NASD brokerages to the largest wire houses.

In 1992 I continued my brokerage career on the West Coast after moving to my current home of Orange county California. Three years ago I created my vision of what I believe to be the first true blend of a discount on-line broker with the full (and instant) support of a retail stockbroker.

OC Securities is one of only 80 on-line discount stock brokerage firms in the nation. We are well known among many financial boards and are said to have a cult following due to our (retail brokerage type) service.

Please take a look around and feel free to ask any questions

http://www.ocsecurities.com/index.html

[concrete]

sunny salutations from parker county, texas.

i've owned a architectural concrete manufacturing company since 1989 and in my spare time enjoy riding motorcycles. currently i ride a 1991 bmw r100gspd that i spend alot of time on the jeep trails in colorado and locally here in texas. recently became interested in trading online and loving it.

[PMitc34947]

My name is Peter. I am 34, male and single. I moved back to CT after seven years in NYC. I just started investing in October with $10,000 and a Scottrade account. In the past, I had my savings in an investco mutual fund, but I am out of that. I have read and re-read Cramers' Mad Money book which I think is excellent.

I am now trying different investment philosophies. I watch the show nearly every night and read the posts here and try to pick up the WSJ or IBD as much as possible. After trying some day trading, I realized I was over my head and am now more interested in holding stocks for longer periods and buying more as the price comes down.

My intent is to build up this investment, so I am moving away not from big gambles on stocks that might or might not pay off in an afternoon. Instead I am try to play trends in the market and this seems to be working better for me.

I love this message board and find those who post have a lot of great insights .

[operation stocks]

Hello Everyone – I’m 21 years old and I have just started to do some smaller investments in a few long-term stocks but still a little wet behind the ears, looking to learn and continue to build on my basic investors platform. I’m happy to have found this chat forum and looking to make some MAD MONEY!

A little about my professional Back round:

I live in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. I did own my own importing business for exotic cars at age of 19 and now I am heading up as the C.O.O. of a Cosmetic Clay company which myself and my partners are looking to take public! (Anyone interested in picking up first investment stock options contact me) I am also working on the board of directors for an exploration mining company in northern Canada, that deal also we are looking to go public with as well.

A little about my educational Back round:

I took a course in Business Management when I was fresh out of High School and have only been going up since then. (I guess one could say I have that Entrepreneurial drive and spirit) I have also taking some correspondence courses on business and related fields.

A little more about me:

I currently live with my girl friend in Vancouver, been with her for just over two years. I enjoyed mountain biking, snow boarding, solo climbing and just about anything under the extreme sports category.
Well I guess that’s about it for now. Anyone interested in knowing more feel free to contact me.

[Dublin]

Hello ,
my name is Fahad
25 years old
kuwaiti
4th medical student
Royal college in Dublin

nice to meet yaa all :)

[KTaylor]

My name is Kyle and I am 25. I live just outside of Indianapolis Indiana in a city called Fishers. My background is in pharmaceuticals and hospital administration. I currently work as a pharmaceutical recall coordinator for a company that does medical device and pharmaceutical recalls.

In my spare time I train working police K9s and am in the process of becoming a Sheriff's deputy in my county.

I like to keep an eye on the pharma/biotech stocks and I am glad to have found this board!

Thanks,

Kyle

[Stas1976]

My name is Stas. I am an immigrant from Belarus, now living close to Princeton, New Jersey. I am a software engineer. I have written some web-program to help me and friends to work with stocks. It became such intresting that I just could not stop investing:-) I am loosing money at the moment but I don't care because it what I was anticipating. My focus is commodity stocks (Uranium and copper).
I hope when I get more expirience I start to make some cash :-)

[Seamus]

I figure that if I am working on the computer out of the house most of the week, well I can do quite a bit of "homework" and improve the returns I have been getting on some old investments dwindeling (that darn high core inflation) in a Kemper fund.

Nothing like trying to make your money work for you a little more. Plus with the computer and internet trading, information is very accessable and trading is cheap.

Brother-in-law got me interested in trading, Cramer has provided an interesting analisys on how to look at companies, quite a learning experience! My favorite line of Cramer's is "Why do you think the stock that you are invested in will go up?" A hard question to come by without doing homework.

[Tinalera]

New to the boards, will probably do more lurking to start off with, but I'm a family man who is on the newer side of investing, and I figure the more knowledge the better, and this seems like a good place to read and share ideas. Having just caught Mad Money on CNBC recently, it's easy to get wrapped up in what Mr. Cramer has to say, though I find his advice on investing in general(and what things like bottoming, shorting, ect really mean) and not so much what stocks he suggests(although it's interesting to take a pick of his and do some homework)I find to be more interesting than anything.

Plus he's entertaining as heck!

Pleased to meet you all, and look forward to contributing to the boards!

[wkdforit]

Hi,
My name is Michael and my wife's name is Cindy. We have three kids 2 boys, and 1 girl their names are Adrian 13, Alex 10, and Shelby 8. I am 37 years old and my wife is 34 years old. We have been watching Jim Cramer now for about 4 months and we really love his show. We have not started investing yet but we are wanting to get started soon, but we are not really sure how to do it all yet. I got the BOOK, and it says that you need at least $2500.00 to be diversified, but can you start out with less? What do you recommend for us to do?

Thanks,
Michael & Cindy:D

[berberick]

I'll keep it short . Born in Oxford , England . Lived in Montana most of my life . Went to college in Missoula, Montana . Got a black belt in Judo and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu . Just fought in the FCFF last week in MMA and won by choke in 31 seconds . {Full Contact Fighting Federation}Search engine[fcff] should be top response . Big fan of Jim, and his style of trading . Former U.S. Marine .

Sean Berberick

[jwoods]

hi i am Joel woods a currency broker and i just wanted everyone to know the new firm i went to has ver low commissions for customers please feel free to give me a call if you are or ever have been interested in trading with foreign currency at 415-625-6888

[cautaro]

I am Andrei, 26 and new to investing.

I am reading some books on the subject but I intend to do more investing. I am interested in investing in developing countries but I understand that the environment is much more volatile.

I am glad to join this community and to learn as much as possible.

[bobwatford123]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I made berberick submit once in 29 seconds. I am huge and strong.

[hooch]

I'm Eric - been investing and following the market since I was 18 - I'm 28 now.

Went to OSU in Columbus, OH (is there really another one?)

I invest in any stocks that I believe will make money - generally a short term investor. From hours to weeks.

[MaxedOut]

I'm Ellison, 26 from Connecticut originally, but now in NC,
Chef during the day and learning the stock market at night.
Big fan of Jim's and took some advice from his show and made a couple bucks and looking to make more.

[Rob]

Hi, I'm Rob I'm in NW Florida. I'm new to investing and would like to get to it someday. Right now I'm listening to the show (today is 12-July) and I hope someone is making notes of these picks.

-Rob

[jl1986]

hey... im Jared, im 19... sophomore at Miami, OH. Jus started investing after some months of research. (EGY, CUP)

[impulse]

Hi all, I'm John. I'm 20 and a college student at UC Davis studying Civil Engineering. I just recently started to gain interest in the stock market, and I've been really tempted to just buy some shares of a couple of stocks. But I really don't know what I'm doing yet haha :lol:. So I'm pretty much learning the ropes and hopefully can start buying some stocks soon..

Especially PAIV, I'm bummed I didn't get it when I saw it at .04 :x

[madcowdisease]

Got a bunch of Ohio ppl here. Lou, hooch, and jl1986. I feel right at home here.

btw, I loved visiting Miami U. I had many friends that went there. Hot women too. Wish I could say the same for OSU. Damn the Buckeyes.

[deerhunter]

Hi, I am probably the youngest of anyone on here at 17. I am a highschool student. I am entering my senior year and hope to go to Baylor University in the fall of 2007. I am new to trading but have been watching the markets and keeping up with my portfolio that my parents have built since I entered high school.

This is what I want to do when I grow up... well be a broker but same difference.

[optimus25]

Hi, I am probably the youngest of anyone on here at 17. I am a highschool student. I am entering my senior year and hope to go to Baylor University in the fall of 2007. I am new to trading but have been watching the markets and keeping up with my portfolio that my parents have built since I entered high school.

This is what I want to do when I grow up... well be a broker but same difference.

Being a stock broker vs. a trader are two different things. All you'll need to do to become a broker is to pass your series 7 & 63 exams...nothin to it. Being a trader is a whole 'nother animal.

[tr0llman]

i noticed quite a bit of people from the south here! (im from atlanta)

went to gatech and got a math degree and a physics degree. getting a phd at harvard right now.

new to finance in general but being doing a bit of reading - hull's text on derivatives (finished the first 15ish chapters), fabozzi's bond markets (finished the book), etc, etc


getting pretty excited about finance in general and learning about the process of valuations and trading.

hoping to gain some insight into the market mechanics by reading and following cramer!

i love cramer!

[tbmmbt]

Hello,

Just became a forum member and would like to give a Big Booyah to all the other members out there.

tbmmbt 8)

[TonyM]

Hi all, my name is Tony (surprise) I'm relatively new to trading and have done modestly well so far by playing with the energy stocks.
I've been trying to find some like minded people on different message boards so that I might glean some insight into things I don't yet understand, although I think the #1 thing I am lacking is patience I have never in my life looked so anxiously forward to Monday morning on a Friday evening as I now do.

[scpfoss]

Hi Whats up Everybody-

My name is Pete. I'm 24 out of San Clemente, CA. I am currently working on my M.S. in Biotechnology at UC Irvine. 1 year to go whoooooo! I work at Allergan Pharmaceuticals right now(full-time summer, part-time school year). Stocks give me a rush, probably like a lot of you, too. I did my undergraduate at Washington State in Biotech, go Cougs! Right now I live with my girlfriend that I met at WSU. She is awesome and is into marketing and event planning at a general contractor in San Clemente. Thats really about it. Take it Easy.:p

[jbeard28]

Hi. I live in Hong Kong, but I am from Texas. I find myself having a pretty good surplus in my budget since I am on a decent expat package. So I want to play a little, but need to learn. I have had some success in the past trading on my own, but it was about 7 years ago. It was probably luck. I have some money tied up with JP Morgan now that is doing pretty well (16% over the past year) that I never think about. I want to play a little with my dicretionary money so I hope to learn a few things here. We will see.

[KEESHEO]

Hey guys, I'm KEESH S.

I joined the board just a few days ago.

All I gotta say is, there are some HEAVY HITTERS on this board!!


I'm learning like crazy just from reading you guys posts.

Thank you.



KEESH

[KEESH.S]

I'm using this account now.


Thanks ChartGuru, Mad Investor Girl, Stck8ter for your posts! I'm learning a ton from you guys.

And I'm sure I'm goin to bug you guys with questions in the near future.


KEESH S.

[chacho]

Another Atlanien here. Current GaTech student (ME). Been co-oping so have some extra cash. Put some money in a ROTH and a little in a high yield saving account. My ROTH currently only has one fund (SVSPX) and next paycheck I'm gonna get an int'l fund (DODFX). After that though I'm interested in trading, and I've been looking at this site frequently for the past week or so. I must say, I'm pretty amazed but what I've seen so far.

That being said, just wanna give a thanks to Chart Guru, chinaman, and aiki so far, and my judgements on LadyTrades depends on what happens to CSHD. :lol:

About to buy some books so I can understand what you people talk about, then try some "pretend trades", and then see how I do. Again, thanks to everyone who contributes to the board (well, almost everyone), I'll be checking back shortly!

[a70coupe]

HI my name is Colby...Live in the Panhandle of Florida. Just started getting into trading and am having a blast already. I have been "play" trading for about a month and have been learning new things everyday.

Been reading post on this forum for a while now but haven't ever contributed to it. Hopefully I know enough now to understand most of the lingo :).

Been married to my awsome wife for a little over almost 9 years and have a daughter that just turned 8. Manage a 6Mil/year restaurant and have my Business Administration degree from AIU.

Just happened to have some extra cash laying around and decided to try to make it work for me.

Our successes do not make us strong....it's our failures from which we rebound from

[Billionaire Boy]

Hey People! My names Dan, I'm 22, a senior at college, and stepping into the big world of investing.

[ThePitBull]

Hey, Im Jonathan! Im 24 and new to investing/trading. My main interest is to augment my income through investing/trading. I have read Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing In An Insane World twice and this is where my interest for stocks and making money originated. My goal is to eventually become a full-time daytrader. Wish me luck!

[Justmakinmoney]

Hi guys. I figure Ill let you know a little bit about myself even thought Ive been here for several months. Im 25 and working on finishing my masters degree in nanochemistry. I just moved to the Dallas area and am on the job hunt. In the spare time I have found myself with, I have been learning about investing. Mostly I have been short term trading, but I am really trying to learn about long term investing. I have been reading a lot about trading and I think the internet has been one of the best resources. Of course my answer to just about anything I can't answer is to google it.

[raffster]

Hello everyone,

I stumbled across this website after I saw Jim Cramer's TV show "Mad Money". I am very new to this whole investing business so I hope that my being a part of this forums will pave the way for me to have a better understanding of how to invest money (and hopefully) make more in the end.

I have signed up under Primerica as my first concrete step to understanding this whole finance world. (I am 34 years old and it's only now when I have gotten really curious about how money works and it seems that from what I saw in Primerica, it's a good first place or step to learn.) Please understand that if anybody here is against Primerica for any reason, it was not my intention to advertise or market them but rather give you a better sense of what I have already done in terms of acquiring knowledge in the finance world.

I do IT work (network admin for Windows systems here in NYC) and am looking for IT training opportunities (I love to teach). Currently in a marital crisis that seems to be getting resolved (keeping my fingers crossed). In a nutshell my wife thinks I think like a child when it comes to finances so I'm taking serious steps to prove to her that I've got what it takes to be the man she wants to be with. :twisted:

Okay whatever. I'm looking forward to coming to know most of you as I seek financial wisdom from those who have succeeded in securing financial freedom through becoming keen on financial know-how.

Any advice of course to a financial newbie like me will be most appreciated.

--Raffster

[TonyM]

Welcome, my advice: understate your trading earnings to your wife...just in case ;)

[Empire]

Indeed Tony. I’ve found my brokerage account has been a nice hiding place for my funds; the girlfriend never thinks I have all that much money, Haha! :mrgreen:

Anyways, my name’s Bryan. I’m new, I guess; I’ve been reading these forums for a month or two, and I’ve been following Cramer daily for about six months.

At 20 years old, I just received my Associates in Journalism and am now working on my Bachelors in Economics here on Long Island, New York. The Cramer-esque grouping is purely coincidental.

Glad to be a part of the gang.

Bryan

[Crusher524]

Hi my name is Mike, I'm a college student attending the University of Pittsburgh. My majors are Computer Science and Financing. I'm 19. I'm very new to the market and I am looking to invest some money in it. I watch Cramer when I get the chance and I'm not at school. I love to bowl and enjoy watching NASCAR. Any advice on the market would be appreciated and I am looking foward to investing and learning the market.

[jacobxross]

Hello.
I am a 15 year old kid from New Jersey. My dad was a trader for cantor-fitzgerald, and unfortunatly was killed on 9-11. This inspired me to have a career in the financial field when the time comes.

I only play around with fantasy stock market, but I would love to contribute to the forums, and better yet, develope an individual concept for my own trading goals.

Thank you for everything I will learn in advanced...
Booya from New Jersey,

Jake

P.S. Cramers like....my all time favorite persone ever. 8)

[Thierry Martin]

I knew some traders from Cantor-Fitzgerald that were lost on 911 - what was your dad's name? If you want to keep it private, you can private message me.

Welcome aboard!

[Vulture]

Hi my name is Marty, a college student.

I really need some help starting. I have some money to begin now but whom do I give the money to? Say I want to by WMT, how does that go. Your support will be appreciated

booooya!

[mlegha1]

Set up an account with a discount broker depeding on your budget some require minimum balance, some require you to make certain numbers of trades per month.Use the search function on this forum to look up stuff people have posted regarding different broker accounts.Do your reserach don't jump in a stock just because Cramer said so or some one told you to buy.Otherwise as you said you'll most probably be giving your money away.Do get hold of some books on market and read them.

[sealatte]

howdie folks..
new to this board.. came across from yahoo board.
well 40 something started investing back 80's by getting burnt on pennystocks.
then started to do some research on stock market. Then figure start with mutual funds with $25/month.... then slowly learn about individual stocks and switch and did very well in tech stock.. my favorites..
did some day trades and short term trades, plus my regular long terms.

i look for bargains stocks that took beating and will take dip in fast moving stocks for short term returns..
1yr= ret.. average 30-50%
love see what others can share and vice versa..

good luck.. there is money to made..

[drewdaddy]

22 years old, living in North Florida. I own a car and home stereo business that does well for me. Always had a interest in stocks and the rewards hard work can get for you. Really I am just starting out and learning all I can. Won some and lost some, trying to get more knowledge to increase the odds. Thanks for all the experinced investors who post, so we younger people can learn from your time and experince in this field.

[ProEdgeBiker]

Carlos, TS, FL.

What's going on with Sirius again?

[psichedout]

Hi -
My name is Sue and I am 57. About a year ago I started watching "Mad Money" and decided to join in the fun of investing. I am down a bit but I read a statistic that in the first year 90% will lose 100% of what they start with.
>I spent 25 years doing Accounting and Business Mgt. Consulting.
>Earned my M.Ed in 96. I wanted to do Pastoral Counseling. Was in a car accident 6 weeks after grad. It took 7 years for me to get on my feet.
>I have raised purebred dogs for many years. Decided to change breeds and now raise the hairless dog, the Chinese Crested. They are show dogs and I have done well with them.
> Love the market, investing and the whole 9 yards.
> Thrilled to find this board...Looks like a great place to exchange ideas
Cha Ching and good luck to all
Sue

[mightymouse]

Hey everyone-I've actually been reading this forum for a few months and I've pm'd with a few of you...learning quite a bit (thanks for that!). I'm a 26 year old finance/accounting student (not sure which yet-for some reason I love both!) as well as owner of a lawn business. My whole life I've been interested in becoming a firefighter/paramedic and finally tested and got on a department's hiring list 2 years ago...and I'm still waiting (I hear that's a common scenario). However, my main passion is attempting/trying to follow in the footsteps of Christ working with youth at our church who seek to do the same (and if they don't then that's fine...some kids just wanna hang out and have fun-we still just love them anyway!). Will be married to my wife for 5 years in April, and we are excited to become first-time mommy and daddy in May!

My other loves: weightlifting, the Michigan Wolverines, and the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings (born in Michigan).

[bahroor]

Will be married to my wife for 5 years in April, and we are excited to become first-time mommy and daddy in May!

hahaha, I'll be a daddy in May as well!
Actually, we found out today we're having a boy!:D
First child here also... congrats man and welcome aboard!

[mightymouse]

Congratulations and thank you! I myself am getting really antsy to find out what we are having but wife really wants to wait and let it be a surprise...

BTW bahroor-pleasantly surprised to have you answer my post-you and TCG are the ones who have me interested in technical analysis (and oversold stocks) and I've been reading up a ton on it! Right now just paper trading a few here and there-so far I'm enjoying the method of finding/picking oversold stocks-but kicking myself for not throwing some cash at a few-would've done well! Anyhow, thanks again!

[golfvt1]

Just started with the forum, looks interesting, exactly what I was looking for.
I am 45 years old, married 3 kids, junior in college, senior in hs and an 8th grader. I have a pretty good job, live in Vermont, great place to live and raise kids.
I have saved for my kids education, put money in a 401k for retirement, buy company stock. I want to do my own thing, make some mad money and buy a BMW converible. I started investing sept.1st of 2006, making money every month so far, learning as I go. I have read 2 books so far, Fools work book (ok) and Rule 1 (liked it). Starting on the Cramer seies next.
I am excited about fining an active discussion forum, bounce some of my ideas off of you folks.

[luvH2]

Hello, I am luvH2. I was wondering about UNDER ARMOUR?? I think this is going to be big!:)

[White Rabbit]

Hello Everyone :wink:

I have been investing for 40 years and trade only a few times per year, managing my own portfolios with an On-Line Broker. I look for "Blue Chips" which pay a minimum of 2.50% Dividend and invest for the long term.

I do hold some speculative stocks, but very few, and I do this more for fun than expecting to make a ton of money. I let my value stocks do that for me year, after year, after year.

Happy Holidays
Wabbit

[quanmech]

Greets folks,

New to the game and been trolling the forums for months now. I think it's time to contribute :)

qm

[janos]

Hello Everyone,

My name is János, and I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and lived there for 17 years. I have lived in Manhattan for a while, and now have been a resident of Atlanta for 7 years.

I am 26 years of age, and a student at Clayton State University majoring in Business and minoring in Health. I Co-founded a company called Liquid2k, Inc. which was a major free webhosting firm in New York City that offered free webhosting and email, just without the pop-up’s and advertisement banners on client's websites, but that closed due to the 9/11 incident, and lasted three years. I started a shipping label company, offering whole sale price labels for online companies that do a lot of selling on eBay, and did that for 4 years, but decided to stop because I lost my passion for sticky paper. :D

I am now an Independent Executive Distributor with a company called Monavie that offers a very special blended health product that has changed my family and friends lives. I have been sharing this product with others now for just a little over 1 year; the company is going in its second year in January of 2007, and the distributors are doing very well, and the product is changing tens of thousands of peoples life’s. I also have a very interesting internship with the Health Department in Atlanta. Right now I am looking for some charity work to do, so if you know of any places in the Atlanta area, please let me know.

I have done a little investing in the past, but mostly in just buying bullion and savings bonds, and realized that is not the thing to do. This will be my 13th month investing in the stock market, and so far I think I am doing quite well, my average returns are from 9.15% with 85% being my highest.

I found this site searching for stock related sites on Google. This is a fantastic site, the people here are great and I am very thankful I found this forum.

As always, thanks for sharing your knowledge folks!

[GOD]

Name James I go to montana state, love to make money, cars, skiing, and golf, music; Red hot chili peppers. Goal in life to become a member a the YC.

[bigzip]

Hello to all,
I'm new to the forum but there seems to be some great info.

I am a married father of 2 and a long suffering Detroit Lions fan, which may explain my enthusiasm for homebrewing.

Here's to making some Mad Money!
Happy New Year and Cheers!

[jilla82]

Hey all...Im a 24yr old single guy who has been looking for passion (career wise). The only thing that has ever interested me is money...I stumbled across this forum while looking up stocks on the net. I dont own any now, but im in the process of learning all I can before I jump into the game.

Hope to learn alot from you all and make alot of money

[dochesgriff]

Well I finally broke down and joined the forum. I have been reading this forum for over a year...back to the days of Booyahoo and MadGirl. The information I have found here has proved to be insightful and useful so I decided that I would finally come out of the shadow and begin to contribute.

I am 30 years old and currently live in Houston. For the past 2.5 years I have worked at a credit union and my present position is Business Relations officer, but I spend most of my days trading stocks to be honest.

I use Scottrade for a little mad money quick trading and Edward Jones as my main investment company. Over there I trade too much and get killed on the commish.

My strategy has been to turn over my stocks quickly, but this year I am going to work on holding some of my larger positions for at least 3 months in order to give them a chance. But I will continue to actively trade with my Scottrade account. I also plan to play with options this year and learn more about how they can increase my income chances.

It seems that the number of people posting has dropped over the past 6 months so I hope that we can boost the activity this year.

This is a great site. And yes I have watched every episode of Cramer since day one. I just love this enthusiasm and sometimes follow him on his picks. I do own NYX and AAPL and HAL, but all before his picks of the year.

[Bulldog]

ME: Julien, 33, married with 2 kids 5 & 1. I live in the metro detroit area (yeah for me) and work in the defense industry (GD) as a embedded software engineer.

OBJECTIVE: be in control of my investments, put my money to work, and bring in extra income (I spent all last year trying a few things on ebay, and besides some isolated sucesses here and there it's been mostly a wash). I need to start learning how to read charts, and we need to move out of michigan.

STRATEGY: I started watching Cramer last fall and decided to give it a try with some of my ebay gains. I quickly made some mistakes and decided to stick with cheap stocks to mazimize the potential for short term return (I have no patience). I am rapidly switching from investing to trading.

BROKER: Scottrade (i started with optionsxpress)

[cryder17]

I might as well give this one a go having overlooked it for a while now...

my name is Garrett and i currently attend CWU in washington state (been to UofA and a COM College in seattle and found my way here with my girlfriend of 2.5 years now.) I am a Business major with a double specific interest in finance and economics. little over a year left here

My roomate from highschool fell into a lot of money and encouraged my decision to start my investing career a little earlier than i could afford. my car just blew up on the dyno so i am little shorthanded on funds required to fully turn decent profits.

I am very interested in the market as this is where my career will hopefully end up.

This forum is great and it will continue to do so with the diverse mix of investor personalities and wisdom that our members contribute everyday in continual efforts to make everyone some MAD MONEY

[pete33]

Im new here and hope to learn a little. Only been trading for about 2 years. I mostly lurk but look foward to posting soon..

[dgibbs]

Hi My Name Is Deidra In Live Inthe Sun Shine City Of Ft.lauderdale ,fl
Am A Loan Offices. Am New At This with A Litter Help From The Pro's I Will Do Very Well. I Need To Know About, Dalrq,cype ,vtss,wavx, Stock Picks.what Do Think?


Thank You All
Deidra

[aiki14]

Hi My Name Is Deidra In Live Inthe Sun Shine City Of Ft.lauderdale ,fl
Am A Loan Offices. Am New At This with A Litter Help From The Pro's I Will Do Very Well. I Need To Know About, Dalrq,cype ,vtss,wavx, Stock Picks.what Do Think?


Thank You All
Deidra

Here's my take on delta, DALRQ.
The only real reason to purchase is if you believe there will be a buyout. The stock becomes worthless if they proceed with the bankruptcy.
The evidence for the company going through reorganization is as follows:
The management is the same that has lost $28.08/Share TTM. The management has rejected several buyout offers including higher re-offers, most recently an offer from US Airways group.
They are publicly stating that unsecured credit will recover at 62-78% and they have $14.2 Billion in such obligations.
They are publicly stating that any other plan than the current reorganization would result in a decrease of credit holder recovery.
For a buyout to be accepted the management must bring it to the CREDITORS for a vote. Thats right, not the Shareholders, the vote goes to those holding credit obligations, like Bonds, Notes, and Debentures.

I can't even see a catalyst for a trade opportunity here, no way any broker's gonna let you short this.

Just my thoughts, do your own DD

[dgibbs]

Thank you

WHAT DO U THINK ABOUT
WAVX,CYPE,VTSS

THANK YOU
DEIDRA

[aiki14]

You should start a thread asking for opinions on these, rather than asking here. More people will see it. I don't have any opinions on the stocks you're asking about. I'll take a look and see if I form one.

[pdt203]

Hi, I'm Johnny. Some of my stats... USMC combat veteran, 2 kids and 1 on the way, a wonderful wife, college graduate, constitutionalist, soccer player/coach, and build big rockets. I have been one of those people just putting money in the 401k spread across Dave Ramsey's suggested types. I check it about 1x every 6 months.

I recently started investing with one of those on-line investing accounts... so I'm here to learn by using the Socratical method. First question, what is "Buy and Homework"?

Thanks!
Johnny

[Zoroaster]

Hello, Northern CA here, brand new to investing Just started an investing class and wanted more ideas than the fundamental-style drilling that we're getting. Highly motivated since my wife and I will be going to school at Berkeley Fall 08 with very little cash. I hope I can soon bring some good ideas and topics to the table.

[CaseTested]

Greetings all:
My name is Alex.
I am a recently retired classical violinist living in Louisiana and trying to get by on about less than 40k per year....mostly from investments.
While not really new to this investing thing, I am still willing and able to learn new tactics. Did really good on gold recently.
I am currently invested in CD's, annuities, some stocks (energy, gold and nanotechnology.
Thank you for your patience! :wink:

[mccunedogg]

Howdy all,

My name is Ben and I'm fairly new to the market. I've only bought and sold a few times based on recommendations of friends and family. I just got into CVDT after hearing about it on here. I'm looking for other peoples views on the market and some possible stocks to get into in the future. Look forward to making some money with ya'll..BOOYA

[flashrabbit]

Hey all,

My name is Tin, and I'm 21 from Houston, TX. Been an investor since 14 and have been a long-term buy and hold investor for many years. I have a renewed interest in the market again and is finding my current method to be very boring. :mrgreen: Trying to make the transition to becoming a more short-term investor and of course, to make some money : )

[onlinesuccess]

Hello!

31 married with 3 beautiful children and a beautiful wife. We reside in Louisiana as well.

My wife is a high school special education teacher. I am employeed by Exxonmobil and XOM is my number one holding. We also run an internet based biz from our home office selling both online and ebay...WOW!!! Taking a portion of the capital not currently needed to trade with online. We'll see what else can happen to a middle class family...

I am also currentlry trading SKNN (22,000 shares) and fully expect it to rocket with the product launch of March 07. Perhaps the next CROX.

Best regards to all fellow traders/investors.

[jonson]

Hi everyone, First time poster long time reader. I have been involved with the stock market for about 10 years. I lost alot when the market did its thing in 2000-2001, along with alot other people I am sure. I would like to get more involved again. I was not interested for several years but now I am. I have several mutual funds that have done ok, but would like to get individual stocks. So I hope to find some good ones with the use of the forum and my own DD.

Thanks

[dgibbs]

Hi my name is Deidra am a newbee to this, anyone though bidu:mad: and sknn
ivan,xoma,cvdt,
Thank You

[bahroor]

Hi my name is Deidra am a newbee to this, anyone though bidu:mad: and sknn
ivan,xoma,cvdt,
Thank You

Deidra, you're posting in the wrong section like Aiki told you before.

[kingfisher]

Hello All

My name is James. I currently live in TN.

I make my living as an Aircraft Inspector and have been in aviation field since 1979.

I have been an investor in stocks since 1991. Got lucky on my first pick. Didnt have a clue what I was doing, but saw an up and comming business. I visited three of there locations in three different cities and looked over there operations. At that point I decided to purchase 100 shares of HD. It split many times over the years and made me alot of money. At this point I am still holding 200 shares from that inital purchase. I have been hooked ever since! Most of my investments are in my 401K and CDs but I like my stocks as a hobby and an investment. Nothing like having a hobby that makes you money.

I have been a reader of this site for some time, untill I just had to join.There are a lot of good ideas and intelligent people to bounce them off of here.

[safeman]

My name is Mike. I'm 42 yrs old, took a few college classes while in the Army. Nothing note worthy. Have been married my 2nd wife for 14 yrs and we have 2 great kids. When we are not busy running our locksmith business I like hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. Also big into muay thai and brazilian ju jitsu. So are my kids. I have tried different modes of investing. ie:lost money trading comodities. I have made a little money trading stocks, have had a few very good picks but have watched as my gains dwindled!
Trying to learn to overcome this! Someone mentioned Dave Ramsey? Well I'm debt free except for my 2 houses. Very proud of this fact. Hope to turn this into more money to sink into mutual funds and STOCKS! Love reading the posts. So much to learn though!

[safeman]

oh yea! Love the UFC!!

[mlegha1]

Can't wit for UFC to come public...it is really becoming mainstream.

[JT914]

JIM TUCKER AKA BO
39 Married with 2 kids a 15 yr old daughter and 10 yr old son
Married High school sweetheart.
Union Drywall Taper by trade/ day Trader by hobby.
sleep 4hrs a night and research when not working
My goal Is to be successful enough to only day Trade
Not there yet but.. House is paid for so Im going in the right direction!

[brianlarsen45]

Brian Larsen
29,engaged, no kids
full time college student majoring in Business Admin and want to get MBA
5yrs in the Marines from 1995-2000, finally using my GIBill
I love business and investing and am a huge Cramer fan.
I scrape every penny I can to invest since I don't have lots of dough, full time college does that to ya.

Hello Everyone

[ajdow]

HI! I'm AJ and I've been an investor since shortly after graduating high school. I'm 36 and single. I got interested in investing after taking a business law class in high school and doing well in competition from the class.

I travel around showing people how to be independently wealthy and recently launched 2 websites, LinksforWriters.com and DowellandAssociates.com.

On a personal note-I went to see my all time favorite Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in Dallas and the concert was awesome. Definitely worth the investment.

I'm a writer and Christian and am excited about a growing career as a screenwriter and novelist.

AJ

[onlinesuccess]

Best of fortune for you and the ones around you!

[Luc1Grunt]

HI! I'm AJ and I've been an investor since shortly after graduating high school. I'm 36 and single. I got interested in investing after taking a business law class in high school and doing well in competition from the class.

I travel around showing people how to be independently wealthy and recently launched 2 websites, LinksforWriters.com and DowellandAssociates.com.

On a personal note-I went to see my all time favorite Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in Dallas and the concert was awesome. Definitely worth the investment.

I'm a writer and Christian and am excited about a growing career as a screenwriter and novelist.

AJ
Best of luck to you in your endeavors. I will check out the writing link as well.:lol:

[safeman]

Can't wit for UFC to come public...it is really becoming mainstream.

Interesting idea, maybe Dana White will share the wealth. Here in Atlanta the IFL has made its debut.(International Fight League). Good stuff.

[mlegha1]

UFC is the probably the most profitable MMA org in the US if not in the world.They have been doing great and getting more exposure every pay perview the do.If it ever becomes public there is no doubt they are worth owning.

[aiki14]

UFC is the probably the most profitable MMA org in the US if not in the world.They have been doing great and getting more exposure every pay perview the do.If it ever becomes public there is no doubt they are worth owning.

Pride might be in the same range, and they are older.

[mlegha1]

Pride just started their shows in US, but on the whole, UFC is putting out a far superior product as far as presentation and payperview buys go. Pride recently lost their TV deal in japan, there are rumours that Zuffa parent company of UFC has offered to buy Pride. Inshort UFC is way more profitable.But I am a MMA fan I follow both and will see any and every fight as long as it is exciting.

[wiseforexinvestor]

I am 26 married with 2 beautiful children. In pursuit of my BA from the University of Oregon (GO DUCKS!!). I then plan to attend BYU and pursue a joint MBA and Law Degree. I served a 2 year LDS mission in Baltimore, Maryland where I learned many life lessons. I have been investing since returning from Maryland in 2002. I enjoy the FOREX market most. My personal website is wiseforexinvestor.com (http://www.wiseforexinvestor.com)

[mark_tx]

Howdy:
I'm 50 years old. My parents were good people, albeit west Texas white trash irish hillbillys. I still have all my teeth. My wife is Lebanese, which sometimes mixes not so well with the Irish, but overall she is very useful :-] I have a few long positions, all oil, can't see how one could really go wrong there. Have enjoyed reading this board for about a year but not ready to trade options just yet.

[BigTex]

Hey Guys, my name is Zach. I'm 24 and I'm a real estate agent in Dallas. I was born and raised in a small town just east of Dallas and I love this area of the country, but one day I hope to travel all over. I'm a huge Mavericks fan! I've been investing on-and-off in the stock market since my senior year of high school. I had a few off years during college when I lived as most college students do...BROKE! But I now I have some $$ in my pocket and I'm looking for some good plays. I look forward to chatting with all of you and making some fast money!

[dave123]

Dave..


from Sacramento, California

[reef]

Interesting idea, maybe Dana White will share the wealth. Here in Atlanta the IFL has made its debut.(International Fight League). Good stuff.


UFC is owned by Italians, I don't think Dana has any ownership at all.


-I just looked around and he owns 10% and is the President of UFC.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_White

[myfxreport.com]

my name is Yanni. I am the owner of http://www.myfxreport.com , trying to make a living out of trading.

[clp86rom]

i am cristian from San Jose, California.

i am in college and had electrical engineering as my major and business finance as my minor but now i have both as my majors yet i am only concentrating on business finance. i want to finish finance and learn how to make money work for me. if there are great threads on this forum to learn the basics can anyone please direct me towards them. thanks.

[AJLightning]

Hi! Im Alex, 29 years old from Dallas, Tx. Just started trading 4 weeks ago. Have no clue on trading, stock market behavior, FED reports and all that other crap. Learning on the fly baby!! YEAH!! Not bad so far...AAPL has done well, up over 10% since I became a 10 share owner.? 10 shares?? Damnit, why did I buy only 10 shares? Well anyway, thats just one thing I've learned so far....the more shares, the better. Basically Im here to get some insight as to how this whole thing works. Is Cramer the way to go? I made a little profit last week with PTEN. In and out in one day. Is that the way to go? I want to be short term....BOOM, buy it...BOOM, sell it!! Make some cash and move on to the next victim.

[Marty]

My name is Marty. I am interested in purchasing a stock from a company on the London Market( soon to be) It has bought the shell of FII and will operate as Loto World, Inc. It is expected to open at 4-6 British pounds around Jun 15. Any info on this company would be appreciated.
Would you consider getting in to an equity offering for this stock?
Thanks

[MTomasic]

Hi, I appreciate the opportunity to participate on your website and blog. I'm probably older than most, 63. I have an undergraduate degree in American History, followed by five years in the USAF as a B-52 Navigator/Electronic Warfare Officer during the Southeast Asia conflict. With the GI Bill, I went to law school in Houston, Texas and have practiced law since 1974. Most of my practice has been in business and commercial litigation. I taught for five years before moving to Fort Worth, Texas four years ago, where I am now semi-retired. My wife questions the "semi".

I spend a lot of my time researching stocks. I tend to look hard at the fundamentals before investing, but I am trying to learn more about technical trading. I'm a novice options trader - initially picked a great winner, Yamana Gold (AUY) at around $5.00. Made a nice profit, gave it all back betting against Cheney and Halliburton. Yes, I'm a Democrat too.

Enjoy photography, sports and the outdoors. Hope this will also prove rewarding. Mick

[dadooh27]

Hi,

I am recently retired from the retail home furnishings world having sold my company. My wife and I have two children, one in high school and one in graduate school. I have opened a media company called Storybook and currently we are doing family biographys on video.

I began investing about eight years ago and slowly progressed from betting on hunches to researching and actually thinking. A much better way to make money.

I occupy my spare time with golf and cooking.

[1birdman1]

Figured I'd say hi I'm somewhat new to all this but have been messing around for about 4-5 years now. Just got a few thousand to play with so I am not a big risk taker and just doing it on the side. Who knows what will turn out.

I LOVE THE SITE!

[bblunt]

Hi,
California Residential Real Estate Appraiser here.
Old man, Local College Grad, Single father raising three.
I was checking out posts.
I'm hoping the chat room filled up during Jim Cramer's Show.
I was a regular at a 3com thread on yahoo a few years ago. It was enjoyable.
It gave a feeling of community.

Percentage wise, Is this site pro or con Jim Cramer?
I've been watching his Show lately. I think I like Him. I think I'm a supporter of his show.
I've seen some negitive comments about him on the site.
I've heard hime refer to a similar complaint I read in a post here.
Other than losing money, a sore subject I could understand. I've seen his type before: OLD MAN, "all energy"
has to be working, doing what he loves. None of which are bad traits. Is there something about him I haven't discovered yet?

bblunt

[dochesgriff]

I think you will be disappointed with the amount of Cramer talk. We mostly discuss our own ideas and stock stories on the sight. While Cramer may have drawn many people here the site does not focus on him much. I would say most people on here are neutral on Cramer although we do get a few Cramer haters once in a while.

He does have lots of good ideas, but is basic in his trading advice and therefore is not followed that closely here. But let me say that you will learn a lot from all the posters here. Start watching Fast Money as I think it fits the style of this forum a little better. Good luck and start searching through all the fantastic threads here.

[CO_112]

Hi

fairly new investor.....looking into a lot of short term (and some longer term also) stocks....got a couple of thousand to play with...

would appreciate all advice and tips

Thanks!

[Mustard182]

I am a college student majoring in finance at the University of Iowa. I have been following the market for the past 5 years, but only trading for the last 6 months (it takes a while to save up for a decent portfolio). I am currently long in ECOL and HSOA and I have money invested in HDPMX.

I really want to learn some more technical analysis and with that charts so if anyone has any good books let me know. I am currently going through stockcharts.com's Chart School.

[EightCounts]

Name: Erik
Age: 23
Born: Neptune, NJ but grew up mainly in Bucks and Berks Counties in PA
Job: Information Systems Technician in the Navy
Broker: Scottrade

I want to be somewhat conservative as I am a novice to investing, but looking to be more aggressive in the near future. I am a fan of Jim Cramer(own two of his books). Started a 401k when I was 21, and have only been owning stocks for only 2 weeks now.

I currently have small positions in RAD and NYX.

[jasno999]

New to the market and to the baord (6 months)

Name is Jason and I use Scottrade as my broker.

Interested in: Long and short term stocks. Willign to take risks as I would liek to see large growth numbers.

I have been in and out of a few stocks already.

Made money on Ameritrade and MON. Lost Money on PFE & Walmart.

Currently own stocks in BA, ETIM, GSK and a mutual fund called SSgA Emerging Markets (SSEMX).

[lenny247]

Hello - I am new to posting here, but have been reading the Jim Cramer re-caps every once in a while. Best list I have found online - simple, straight-forward, lists the various contexts - nice - and thanks!

I am a stock enthusiast. I recently started a blog dedicated to the stock market and company research. blog.inspectorSTOCK.com

I look forward to trading information and ideas – the great thing about the stock market is that sooner or later the market itself will determine whether you are right or wrong, so there is little room for BS – there is no middle ground, you are either right or wrong.

I got into stock investing back in 2004 before ever hearing about Jim Cramer’s Mad Money. I used to see him on Kudlow and Cramer and was shocked when I saw Mad Money for the first time, a year or so later, because suddenly Jim seemed so animated. I am really inspired by Jim’s passion and creativity, though I do not act on his picks.

My track record has been very good for the last 3 years. I INVEST in small, mid and large cap US and Canadian publicly traded companies. I typically go for a 12 – 18 month investment window.

[BentleyVTech]

Hey everyone....I've been a lurker on this site for awhile, mainly just reading the Cramer picks from the day before- not really investing much, but just getting an understanding. Now that I've graduated from Virginia Tech with a Finance degree and concentration in Investment Management, I have become interested more and more in the market. Currently I have a job in Richmond, VA as an associate financial analyst...ehhh its in my major, and it helps me make money to invest! Hopefully someday, investing will be the main source of my money!!

So far after working for part of the summer, I've invested in 100 shares of Activision(ATVI) and I am currently looking to invest another $3000 in shares of Sony(SNE), HOKU, PP, and EMC...

I definitely am not a daytrader by any means, but the stocks I do buy, I only plan on holding for a couple months and the taking the money and profits elsewhere...in the next few months I'd really like to learn more about the market, as far as chart reading goes etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated! THANKS!!!

[Spidercrab2]

Hi Im DAN
I have been investing in stocks for the past two years... I pick some small winners, but Im really good at picking the huge losers. If you need a stock to drop so you can get in just let me know I'll buy a few shares and a falling she will go.

[aiki14]

Hi Im DAN
I have been investing in stocks for the past two years... I pick some small winners, but Im really good at picking the huge losers. If you need a stock to drop so you can get in just let me know I'll buy a few shares and a falling she will go.

Your work has been done by the sub-prime mess. Welcome aboard.

[sizzle1014]

Hi everyone,
I worked on Wall St. for an Int'l Bank. I dabbled into daytrading and other things. Now I'm thinking about getting back into trading but not too the extreme

[microhedge]

Hey everyone....I've been a lurker on this site for awhile, mainly just reading the Cramer picks from the day before- not really investing much, but just getting an understanding. Now that I've graduated from Virginia Tech with a Finance degree and concentration in Investment Management, I have become interested more and more in the market. Currently I have a job in Richmond, VA as an associate financial analyst...ehhh its in my major, and it helps me make money to invest! Hopefully someday, investing will be the main source of my money!!

So far after working for part of the summer, I've invested in 100 shares of Activision(ATVI) and I am currently looking to invest another $3000 in shares of Sony(SNE), HOKU, PP, and EMC...

I definitely am not a daytrader by any means, but the stocks I do buy, I only plan on holding for a couple months and the taking the money and profits elsewhere...in the next few months I'd really like to learn more about the market, as far as chart reading goes etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated! THANKS!!!

WRT your chart reading... ChartAdvisor.com... good place to start, if you haven't found it already

BTW, died in the wool day trader here for 3yrs:mrgreen:

[Aragorn]

Hi my name is Martin (aka Aragorn).

I'm from The Netherlands and I do a lot of trading: Stocks, Options and Forex.
Making pretty nice profits with it.
The total amount for trading is not that big.
But one day I will be trading for a living.

[Kneifl]

Hi there,

My name is Jon Kneifl. Just started investing about a year or so ago. Last month I made a killing on LVS and WYNN shares. I was pretty happy about that. I have read all 3 of Jim Cramers books, watch his show regulary along with Fast money. Look forward upon getting some good investing tips from you guys and Vice Versa.

A Thank you goes out to Thierry for helping me get started posting.

Kneifl

[microhedge]

I will use my 187th post here to say "welcome", enjoy yourself, watch, read, listen, invest and make some money

[DMX4REAL]

I cannot post any messages.

I don't know why.....

[microhedge]

I cannot post any messages.

I don't know why.....

Uhhh... you just did8O

[aiki14]

I cannot post any messages.

I don't know why.....

In order to prevent one time posters who are advertising some product or service, the moderator screens the first couple posts and it may take him a day or two to get it taken care of. Welcome to the forum.

[max2007]

Hello
I dont think i have ever posted on this thread officially introducing myself.

My name is Massimo. and I really enjoy learning from some of the investors on this site. as a newbie to trading, i really have to thank all of you.

Thanks for everything :)

Max

[Albert0373]

Hi, I'm Mike, age 52, from Cartersville, GA, married w/ 3 children, 4 grandchildren. High school education and have been working past 30 years for the same company driving a delivery truck in the Atlanta area.

When I graduated from high school in 1972 I just began work and started saving a little of my money each week. My grandmother gave me $10000 when I got married in 1974 and I put that into a savings account.

In the late 70's the stock market was terrible, inflation was at 10%, the Dow was at 800, but CD's were paying between 13% - 16%. I put my money to work and began to watch it grow. In 1982 I read a book by Vanita van Caspel " The Power of Money Dynamics", and it changed my outlook for the future. I learned that the power of compounded returns and a strict discipline to save first from each payday, would reap rewards untold.

By the mid 80's I had accumulated about $50,000 and open my first investment account with USAA Investment Management Co. No-load mutual funds had become popular then and I split my choices between several funds that USAA offered, and continued to add a little every week. In the spring of 1990 I opened my first brokerage account with USAA and began to select my own stocks. I started with picks of Coca Cola, Mc Donalds, G.E., Phillip Morris, IBM, and a few others.

In 1993 my luck really began to go my way. I sold several of my positions at the advice of an elderly co-worker in April of 1993 and bought 1000 shares of a little company named LDDS at $25 a share. In May of 1995 they changed there name to WorldComm. My original shares split 2:1 three times and I was fortunate enough to sell 8000 shares in April of 1999 at $58 a share for a profit of $439,000. Just a year later the stock was going in the toilet.

I got caught up in the dot.com era like many others at the time, reaping rewards on stocks like Cisco, AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon.com, only to see most of those profits obliterated in 2000 and 2001. In a matter of 6 months I lost back over $240,000.

Since then I have been blessed with nice returns on some of my long term holdings, and my short and intermediate positions have fared quite well for the most part. Following 9/11 I began to watch some of the airline stocks and picked up 10,000 shares of Airtran AAI in Oct.,02 @ $3.15, selling a year later at $18 for a profit of $150,000.

My wife lost both her parents in 2003 and 2004 and inherited a sizable estate that added another $300,000 to our brokerage accounts.
During the past year my most profitable position has been a risky stake of 40,000 shares of Anadigics that I bought last May and an average cost of $2.25 and is now up to $8.00. That has put me ahead another $230,000. And a substantial investment in a gold and metals fund is up about 85% since last July.

There have been times when I could'nt pick a winner, but since my major losses in 2000-2001, I learned to cut loose anything that drops 15% and be willing to take what's left and pick something better.

In 30 years we've been able to grow a modest start of $10,000 into over 3 million. Today I have a taxable brokerage that I use for my mad money and keep about 100k in it. The bulk of my positions are in Roth accounts for my wife and myself in an asortment of diversified individual stocks, index funds and ETF's in most every asset class. I've established trust brokerages for my children and grandchildren and they should be financially secure before they hit 30.

Friends at work often ask why I don't retire, but my wife has been a dialysis patient since 1995 and the company provides insurance at no costs to me. When I quit and start paying the premiums they can eat into income quite quickly. And besides, in another 6 or 7 years it's very likely that my portfolio will double or more again.

All these years I've never earned more than $40,000 a year on my job, but I contribute 30% of my gross every week to my 401(k), carry no consumer debt , no car payments or mortgage. We travel 3 or 4 times a year and pay cash for everything. I plan to work until I'm 59 1/2 and then start living off the Roth account.I guess my point is that starting early and staying in, often when others are heading for the exits, has paid off for me in the 30 years I've been in the market.

I'm living proof that you can build wealth if you save every week, start young, and take a substantial amount of risk. Remember the difference between trading and investing and stay in the market for the long haul, regardless of it's direction, buying everything you can when the markets are really beaten down.

You'll probably be getting that opportunity later this year!

Good luck to you all.

Just reading through this thread as I've never really done it, thanks for the huge amount of motivation and insight in your post Mike.

[hogwild]

Hey everyone...First off sorry for such a long story but I am hoping to provide insight to a few of unanswered questions I have read on this board. I decided to sign up here as hogwild...as you know anyone that has watched Mad Money you have heard the bulls and bears make money and pigs get slaughtered!!!!!!!!!!...well I just may be (may have been!!!) a hog. I just turned 29, have held high management jobs for the past few years but I am definitely not one you would have ever heard me say that I love my job. I realized long ago that you will never get rich working for someone else. I have always had an entrepreneurial mind and the ambition to go along with it but I made the mistake to marry someone pretty young who wasn't very supportive of my desire to break free and take the chance. Instead of doing my own thing I ended up working my way up the corporate ladder as quick as I could...getting many industry certs and completing 3 degrees while working full time and serving in the military, finishing with an MBA. Well the divorce went final earlier this year, I left the corporate job and nice paycheck a couple of months later, took a couple of months off to relax and de-stress and enjoy life a bit, and then I began working on building my own company (which hopefully will become a household name in a next few years).
Last year I started trading with 5k, no experience, but a lot of new knowledge I just received in a couple of market books and many more on options. Till this day I have never bought a single stock…but that will change real soon…I ended up growing the 5k pretty quick...the divorce wiped that out though. Yeah I made money quick without a single stock trade…I only bought and sold options. Well a few months ago I decided to get back into the game again…within just over a month I turned 30K into 110K and started feeling guilty that I never even contributed to the companies with buying an iPhone or surfing that Chinese search engine among others. Then I turned into a hog…didn’t sell when I should have and went all the way down to 50k…unfortunately that k represents pennies where the K’s above represented dollars. I then built that back up 53K (big K again) before turning into a hog again (see the theme?) and having it drop back down to 15K. At first I was fine just making a hundred bucks a day then I set my goal on making a thousand a day and with little risk (as if it is fair to make a statement like that) but the first time I made 20K in 10 min. I admit I got delusional (I am back to Earth now and intend to stay there). I know there are others that have far exceeded my pennies is shorter time but to me it is not a competition on who can make the most as long as we all make some as the potential is definitely there.
Well I am not hear to boast or give out too much personal info about myself but ever since finding this forum last week I have read through so much of it and keep seeing the recurring questions from people asking others how much they are really investing and or making. I had the same questions before I started and now feel like I am robbing someone when I make so much money so quick. I am on a new mission this time…I will still be aggressive with this 5K I left in my account but I will step back when needed and not HOPE a bad position will turn around. It wasn’t until last month that I sold my first losing position, but did it ever feel good. Even the four losses that I have encountered, that took so much money away, were well in the green before they fell so hard. Oh well it was a great learning experience and I actually wake up with a clear conscious each day and do not look back with misery. No need to say should’ve, would’ve, could’ve cause I didn’t. I made a commitment to myself earlier this year when I started trading…and that was to never again leave the game…as I see this as the only way to get over the hurdles that we all will come across in this journey…
I normally do not post anything on forums but I really like the quality of posts here (thanks to the underlying assets (the people…my stock to options analogy)) so I will try to be as active as possible. Thank goodness it is not like many of the forums with constant bashing and frivolous pumping of a stock going nowhere. Stock trading really is a team sport and I don’t believe any single person can do it alone. I also don’t believe there is any advantage to entering any position without discussing it with others…heck if the others take your ideas and jump on board hopefully it only helps the stock and in turn you. I spend 10 or more hours a day on the market now and then work on getting my company going the other half of the day. I still maintain the freedom to take downtime whenever needed though and I race almost every weekend. I am not that big of a technical trader although I will take good info from wherever I can get it when making a decision. I have a nice library on the market, many bookmarks in my browser, and spent a little bit of money on training (or scams). Even spent some on platforms (you know the ones that make the predictions for you?) that I would not recommend as they have always been less accurate at picking stocks then myself and I am far from a pro.
I guess the only thing left to say is that please do not look at the numbers above with a superficial mind. Although a lot of money can be made with options, even quickly as a day trader, if you are not smart and don’t due effective homework it will be hard to keep picking those valuable underlying assets…the stock…and more importantly the company. Hopefully I can contribute a bit here…lets all make money!!! :mrgreen: