My latest portfolio...

I borrow this statement from a fellow blogger called Robert from Bobs Advice

"Please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisors prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website."

Good advice Bob and I will be putting this on my blog regularly! Please make sure you visit his excellent blog.

Okay, here is what my portfolio looks like right now...

CPX	$25.02	+0.64%	16.4%
FTK	$32.47	-1.14%	17.7%
SF	$56.9	+5.80%	7.1%
SPTN	$31.04	+7.02%	8.7%
VCLK	$30.19	-1.26%	16.1%
OYOG	$76.12	+5.02%	17.0%
VSEA	$39.17	+3.55%	16.9%
Total		+2.09%	100.0%

I added positions of CPX and FTK today. I would also have liked to have added MTOX and JOSB too (for reasons I will explain in a minute) but my portfolio wouldn't allow.

You might not think that it is too impressive (neither do I come to think of it!) but please remember that I may have different trading rules than you. For example I rarely keep a stock longer than 15 days so a 10 - 15% increase every 15 days adds up to a nice income... trust me.

For example, I sold a big position of RS for a 10.5 % profit which was very nice. It took my percentage total down considerably but i don't mind too much because one of my rules is to sell at 10%. RS achieved that within 8 days.

Sometimes I do keep a stock longer but that is a different set of rules for me... different portfolio too.

My stock screen threw up four stocks today:

SYNL, JOSB, FTK and MTOX . If you are interested you can track all my picks through social picks (look at the widget on the right). I just started using Social Picks and I find it to be a great tool and community.

First SYNL - this has appeared on my screen every day for a week. This is not good as my screen is looking for certain parameters that show that a stock is oversold and ready for a turn. The overall chart fro SYNL is not good as it is in a general down trend. I am surprised at this as the company has had some good news recently. I have a feeling that the sellers are getting out. I would not be at all surprised if SYNL has BIG turn around within the next week. I just lost 8% on it over the last few days so i am not in a hurry to jump back in just now.

JOSB, FTK and MTOX have all had recent good news. It might be in the way of excellent quarterly earnings (all of them) and upcoming quarterly earnings to be announced. My theory is simple, why would they appear on my oversold screen if not for the reason that sellers are getting out before a good up turn? I bought FTK to see if I am right although this one is unusual for me as it has just had a 2 for 1 stock split. Generally they do well after these splits (in the long term) but I am interested to see how it does in the shorter term.

In upcoming posts I will explain my rules in more detail.

Bitten, kicked and thrown...

In this entry I want to elaborate more on how I have come to do what I do when it comes to investing.

I started 2 years ago by accident as I was looking around Chapters bookstore with a luke-warm latte in my hand. I have always been enterprising, I was already heavily invested in real estate and I had a good job (still do). I felt I was in a good position to look for hobby / business that I could learn and maybe make a few bucks as I go along.

I stumbled upon "Making Money in Stocks" by William O'Neil. I had owned some stocks through a company that I worked for once but knew next nothing. What little I did know is that it is possible to make lots of money (hence the name of the book!).

I bought, read it, read it again and then bought How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market by Nicholas Darvas. That was it, I was hooked. This was an amazing book that inspired me to 'go for it'. I bought every possible book I could find about the stock market, trading, swing trading, investments etc etc.

I opened a trading account with Tradefreedom ($9.99 per trade), deposited a few thousand and started frantically losing as much money as I could on crappy stocks. I was frustrated but more determine than ever to learn and make some money.

They say that you are not truly a horseman or horse woman until you have been kicked, bitten and thrown off a horse a few times. I think it is the same with trading. Paper trading is great (I still do it along side my real trades) but until the market has kicked, bitten and thrown you off you have no real idea what it is like to trade or invest. My losing some money at the beginning was probably the best thing to have happen to me. It was the best learning experience!

More to come...

By the way... I bought FTK and CPX today after selling RS for a 10.50% profit. I will be posting my portfolio / stock picks in more detail over the next few days.

Just another trading blog?

Well, actually, yes.

What makes this blog different is that it follows the trading / investing adventures of ... me. That's a first for me and therefore a first for the internet too!

I don't admit to being an expert (by no means) but I do believe that I have what people like to call an 'edge' in trading. What does that mean? Not much to be honest unless you know how to actually use that edge to make money. I'm still learning to use the edge that I have been developing for a couple of years now and this blog is going to be a reflection of my journey. Ups and downs - brutal (and often embarrassing honesty!) That's the way I learn tho.

I am hoping that it proves beneficial in some way even if it is just to make yourself feel better about your own investments!

As we go I will explain why I choose the stocks I do and how my trading philosophy plays out.