11/15 Watchlist

Starting this one early and will add over the weekend seeing as my trading screens are still open at the end of a frustrating week for me personally, albeit one eased by the fact that the S&P finished the day above the dual support of the 20-day SMA and the rising trendline that meet around the 1195 mark.

Bad news after market on Wednesday and Thursday for ASTI (dilution), FUQI (delayed 10Q) and MPG (CEO resigned) ruined three of my swing trades and that, combined with the steep losses in the broader market, left me in some uncomfortable holes to end the week.

As things stand, we've had an orderly pullback to moving-average support after a big run in the market and a couple of days' consolidation early next week, a full week of POMO to boot, should set us up for a resumption of the uptrend... but we'll see.

So, with an eye on next week...

BSX - Nice, tight bull flag formed here, looking to break out again

CPE - Another one bull-flagging. Has a tendency to run all day when it pops.

IGOI - Really promising bull flag here, with low-volume pullback and the RSI coming out of oversold territory

AVXL.OB - A pinksheet stock trading at close to 5.00. Stochastics would suggest it's getting overstretched here but a move over that 4.25 resistance level could present a scalp opportunity.

BEE - This one looks like it's setting up for higher prices when the market is favorable again so here would be a good place to enter a starter position if you're so inclined.

AMRN - Lots of strength here against a challenging tape. Looks like the dips were bought on this consistently and there's room in the indicators for more upside next week.

SMBL - The breakout point is a little fuzzy on this one but it's got good momentum and the indicators are heading firmly in the right direction. Looking for another push through and hold of the 100-day.

Portfolio Update - 10/15/10

Netlist broke out again yesterday, moving out of that large wedge pattern I've been tracking. I added back the half position I sold on Wednesday at more or less the same price when it became clear the stock was going to head north again and am holding the full position over the weekend.

The price is very likely to pull back within the upper bollinger band soon so I will probably look to take some or all off the table if there is a spike at the open on Monday. But I'm still eyeing this as a swing trade again as we head towards the Interop conference next month where NLST will have a booth in the Cloud Computing section of the Expo hall.

Another of my medium-term swing positions that I've held from 2.86 and through the red the past few weeks is FSI International (FSII) and patience is paying off there too with the stock closing almost at the highs today at 3.22. The trend remains up and hopefully we can get to the 200SMA around 3.40 before the full Stochastics peak.

I lightened up my short-term and day-trade positions before the close today, shedding TSYS, OMEX, ATEC and GIGM for more or less break even. My booked profits from NLST and JASO more than offset the small losses in GIGM and DYP so I was green for the week. I'm stuck in PEIX for now but a rising wedge is still in play there so I'll just bide my time. I'm holding spec play ABTL for now from 0.90.

Finally, an update on the stocks I mentioned in my previous post. The bull flag I highlighted for  AAU  may have been negatively violated in the last couple of days and it's for that reason that I held off adding to my position today around the 2.73 lows. The MACD on AAU has a bearish look to it right now so I may have to be patient here before I get back to green. In hindsight, the distance between the Bollinger bands might have been a clue that it wasn't about to break that wedge after all.

 CIGX's chart, one I tweeted regarding a rising wedge pattern, may offer better prospects of a basing/consolidating pattern than AAU, with the MACD a little tighter. Much will depend on the broader market but I'm hoping to see it start coiling back above 2.00 in the next week or so, but we'll see.

HAUP took a breather today, ending down despite tacking on gains intraday, but that's hopefully a healthy sign rather than a retracement back to the moving average support below around 2.40.

Potential Portfolio Movers

The market continues to fly higher but it was a disappointing day for me personally, with none of my short-term swing positions putting enough distance between my buy-in price and their closing price for comfort, and a couple of day-trades also not really panning out.

SATC got as high as 4.30 but despite tapping that level three times, it couldn't break through and I sold in the after-hours session at 4.26 for a gain of just 0.06, basically enough to cover commissions. I ended up holding PEIX overnight as I was encouraged by the action towards the close.

In addition to HAUP coming to life and popping as much as 0.35 today (my order that went unfilled at 2.30 last week is coming back to haunt me!), a couple of swing positions are looking promising.

FSII looked as though it might cut loose based on early volume but ended up adding 0.10 and closing just above the 50-day SMA at 3.02 which will hopefully be significant as we approach the company's earnings results on October 19. Back in May FSII raised their Q3 guidance and that helped propel the stock to 5.00 but it dropped 50% over the summer and then recovered to where we are now.

The chart is bullish and assuming the results don't surprise (either for the better or the worse -- FSII's Q4 guidance was in accordance with analysts' estimates of net revenues of between $5m and $6m), it'll hopefully gradually rise higher, with some nice room to the 200-day at 3.40. The stock has been prone to sharp sell-offs recently, though, so caveat emptor there...

Almaden Materials (AAU) has been popping and flagging in the last few weeks since it leapt above 1.00 and with the last two days' fairly narrow trading range, the chart looks ripe for another potential break-out of the pennant formation that has formed since it rose to 3.29 a couple of weeks ago. I sold on that pop at 3.22 and have since re-bought at an average of 3.05. It doesn't like red market days, though, and sank to 2.80 late last week, a buying opportunity I passed up.

Hauppauge Digital's (HAUP) move off the bottom this week looks to have initiated a new up-trend, with a positive MACD cross on the cards in the next few trading days. Today's close was above the 20-day SMA and hopefully that will provide support, though the 50-day (2.55) has been a robust source of support and resistance during the move higher that started in July.

Portfolio Update - 10/12/10

Medium-term swing trades: AEZS, AVNR, HDY, NLST, FSII, HAUP
Short-term swing trades: AAU, CIGX, GIGM, JASO, TSYS

The strength in the market remains as the pullbacks, including this morning's steep drop of almost 10 points on the S&P, are bought up and that is keeping the Index above 1165 — indeed there was a run to 1172 at one point today following the release of the Fed minutes but there was little response from my portfolio which remained largely unchanged.

Hyperdynamics (HDY) was already charging ahead above the 3.00 mark it broke yesterday and got as high as 3.29 which represents close to a 200% gain since I bought in around 1.20 as a speculative play based on their exploration of a potentially oil rich area off the coast of Guinea in West Africa.

The results of the 3D seismic survey are due in the next few weeks and the surge in the stock is clear evidence of the anticipation of the results as, with 77% interest in the area, a positive find of the order expected by the company would be massive for Hyperdynamics.

For me, I can't help but treat this like an FDA run-up play and have to keep profits in mind as negative news could cause a precipitous drop in the share price. As of right now, perhaps as little as a month away from the publication of the results, the stock is very stretched, showing as over-bought on the RSI and Full Stochastics indicators, but momentum is clearly driving this so we may just see a pause in the action before resuming the up-trend.

Netlist (NLST) finally broke out after a few days drifting around 3.00. It was clearly under accumulation and exploded this morning to the resistance point at 3.60 while I was away from my trading desk so I missed an excellent sell point for may shares averaged at 3.03.

NLST is notorious for giving up its gains quickly so I'll be looking at tomorrow morning's early action with interest, possibly bailing in the pre-market if I get the price I want.

After selling day-trades DYP, ZLC and NEI, I'm a little down for the week so far but also have swing trades running on AAU, CIGX, GIGM, JASO, TSYS, all of which are either slightly red or not green enough and therefore a little uncomfortable given the fact that the market could correct at any moment. It is October after all...

Portfolio Update

The Cruel World of Biotech

This week offered a lesson in the pitfalls of the biotech sector and the FDA run-up, as ALXA's slide continued and I ended up with a paltry gain from a trade that was, at one point, a really solid win. Indeed, the only way I could have played this one any worse was if I'd sold at the week's very bottom (so far) of 2.695. As it was, I dumped at 2.70 and after touching 2.70 again today, the stock promptly reversed to just below 3.00.

Yesterday also saw JAZZ drop precipitously from the 10.80 area to an intraday low of 9.61. Not wanting to take any chances so close to the PDUFA date of 10/11, I quickly sold on the first bounce at 10.14. The stock recovered (of course!) and eventually closed in the 10.20s. So, nice profits from a 70% gain on JAZZ but healthy gains passed up on ALXA. Still in AVNR, though that one has stalled and I missed my entry on BIOD today. Keeping that one on watch.

Other stocks on my radar for the rest of the week:


Sold AAU at 3.22 the other day. Looking to get back in before it takes the next leg up.

Looking to add more HDY on the 2.50 break

Been watching and watching this one. May be time to jump in before it breaks that wedge.

Watchlist 10/4/10

Caution seems to be the dominant sentiment among traders whose blogs and Twitter streams I follow as we go into the first full trading week of October, a month that has historically been messy for the market. While there remain plenty of attractive setups, uncertainty over the prospects of breaking and holding the 1150 barrier on the S&P and the consequent possibility of an imminent pullback to support levels has many  sticking to a short-term outlook.

As a swing trader — and one that is a little in the red on a couple of those swing plays — I'm hoping that there is a bit more juice to this rally before it corrects slightly, but I have also been careful to exit day trades at the end of each trading day where possible, as was the case on Friday.

Most of my focus this week will be on ALXA and JAZZ as I weigh up the best time to exit both those FDA run-up trades. ALXA's run has been checked by technicals and that large share sale and I may need most of the week to see if I can get closer to my trading goal of around 4.00.

Other stocks I'll be watching tomorrow...

CWTR - there may be a little more to this current up-trend seeing as it's sitting on the 200dma but the stochastics remain oversold so a period of consolidation is not out of the question. Keeping it on my radar, though

RAS - much talk of REITs being on the upswing and there's plenty of room between here and the next moving average line around 1.90

SIMG  - I'm long over $5

HERO - Hercules Offshore's chart continues to look great if it can just stay above 2.70/2.71

AKRX - Lots of eyes on Akorn, a stock I sold at break even for cash when the market was in trouble over the summer. I'll look to add of there's momentum above the 4.07 mark

Riding the Run-Up

Over at BioRunUp.com, there's a timely article dismissing concern that the biotech run-up strategy is faltering on the eve of its "Superbowl". October plays host to an unusually high number of FDA decision deadlines, perhaps the most eagerly anticipated being the two sets of PDUFA dates that fall on the same day: JAZZ and ALXA on October 11; and AVNR and BIOD on October 30.

Though JAZZ's JZP-6 Fibromyalgia drug candidate was hammered at an FDA panel in August, the stock has recovered spectacularly and with some investors banking on what would seem to be the outside chance that the company can convince the FDA that its REMS program can successfully mitigate the risk of what is ostensibly the date-rape drug GHB falling into the wrong hands, there may yet be a final boost to the stock's run-up from a steep post-panel sell-off.

The stock hit a momentary low of 5.90 in the seconds after the trade halt was lifted on 8/20 and filled the gap in fairly short order, touching 11.00 in the pre-market earlier this week. Much of that is due to the company's strong fundamentals outside of their JZP-6 candidate, but there's probably a run-up element in there too. The FDA's primary concern at the panel was not so much the safety of the drug but the risk of misuse or accidental dosage.

Though it's surely too much to expect JAZZ to reach its 52-week high just below 14.00 in the next 10 days, I'm hoping we see 12.00 at some point.

With ALXA, AVNR and BIOD all ending down for the week just ended, some might be questioning the effectiveness of the run-up strategy, but as Mark at BioRunUp says, echoing my own thoughts on this, all three stocks have already run up quite a way already and are experiencing what might be considered healthy pullbacks in recent days. All three were over-extended coming into the week and pulled back, though news of an equities sale by ALXA on behalf of a large shareholder helped to dip that stock excessively under 3.00 in the after-hours session yesterday.

It came back modestly today and with some positive speculative noises emerging this week on the possibility that their AZ-004 drug could get the green light from the FDA, a pop in the stock next week is not beyond the realms of possibility.

For Avenir and Biodel, the end of the month is still a way away and there is plenty of time for both stocks to resume their upward momentum. Personally, with a full position in AVNR already established, I'll be looking to scale into a position in BIOD once I've exited my ALXA and JAZZ trades next week. Hopefully, it'll be under $5...

Again, as BioRunUp suggest, If you look at the last few weeks, it's clear that the run-up method is still alive and well and should not be viewed in terms of the home stretch. Both Alexa and Avenir rose around from the mid 2.00s to the mid-3.00s before this week and Biodel rose from below $4 to a peak of around $6. Plenty of money to be made there if you played your cards right!

Of course, in addition to reward, the biotech sector is full of nasty pitfalls, not least sudden dilution, as has been the case with SNSS twice since June. Today's $15m share offering priced at 0.35 came out of left field for me and plunged me further into the red on this stock with no immediate hope for recovery unless I want to aggressively trade my way out. I may have to consider taking the heavy hit and moving on...

Swing Updates

The broader market traded mostly sideways for a second day, ending slightly down, but there are plenty of attractive setups to keep on the watchlist at the moment, with CPE providing an example of one that, with a little patience, can be very rewarding.

Per prior posts this month, I'd been holding CPE for longer than I'd originally planned and it was starting to become a real pain in the backside, threatening to break out but then falling back to support on several occasions. Prior to today, I'd had sell limit orders set for the 4.00 mark (break even) almost every day just so I could take my money elsewhere, but the chart became even more attractive yesterday and today's news of an upgrade provided lift-off.

I thought I'd done well by selling at 4.25 from my 3.98 entry, but the stock rallied hard to close in the 4.60s, above two converging moving average lines, suggesting that there me be more upside as it continues  its recovery from a steep fall earlier this year. I may keep it on the watchlist but must be satisfied with my modest gains.

Elsewhere, my hopes of seeing a further spike for HDY diminished in the pre-market and it actually dipped as ow as 2.23 before rallying back to close strong at 2.43. The stock remains oversold, but consolidation at this level for while would set HDY up for its next leg up.

ALXA threatened to blow a big hole in my FDA run-up strategy when news came out after the close that the company was selling 376K in shares on behalf of a major shareholder —it turns out that Hercules Technology Growth Capital are dumping their holdings at 3.30 after riding them up from 2.69... as BioRunUp.com muses, they've played their own run-up and are cashing in before the FDA makes their decision.

The stock dipped under 3.00 after hours but recovered a little to the 3.10 area. It would be interesting to watch the action at the open tomorrow but I won't be at my trading desk as I'll be taking the pup to the vet to have the family jewels removed (poor pooch!) but I expect there will be a little more juice left in the run-up before October 11.

Seeing Green

Seeing more red than green on my trading screen is nothing new as my portfolio has been weighed down by losing stocks all year, but in addition to Las Vegas Sands (LVS), my position in which passed 1000% in unrealized gains this week, some recent trades have been working nicely for me, adding some nice healthy green to my board.

Hyperdamics Corp (HDY) broke out from a long period of consolidation under 1.20 but hit solid resistance at 1.98 last week, before breaking out again today to a high of 2.50 in the after hours session. The rising wedge pattern it formed below 2.00 made it clear that even though the stock was oversold by the RSI and Stochastics indicators, HDY was determined to cut loose again and I doubled my position as it broke through to 2.00 range.

Seeing as it closed near the high of the day today, there will hopefully be some follow through at the open tomorrow which will allow me to set a stop to lock in these latest gains.

Elsewhere, my three bio run-up plays (see my fellow MSB-er, Mark's BioRunUp.com site for the skinny on what can be a very profitable trading strategy) for October are all working as planned, though there was a curious divergence between the two stocks expecting PDUFA decisions on October 11th.

We're obviously within two weeks of 10/11 now, the time when these run-ups often have their final leg up in anticipation of the FDA's decision, but while JAZZ headed north in healthy fashion towards $11, Alexa Pharmaceuticals (ALXA) headed down and bounced off support at 3.20, a buying opportunity in hindsight.

I was expecting JAZZ to be the unpredictable one seeing as the FDA's panel recommended against JAZZ's fybromyalgia drug in emphatic fashion last month, but I expect both to rise more into next week at which point I'll be looking to take most, if not all, of my positions off the table.

AVNR is my third bio play, with their FDA decision due at the end of October. That stock's run-up started in earnest last week and paused today around the 3.40 level. I'm sitting on 10% (AVNR), 26% (ALXA) and 78% (JAZZ) gains so far on those three plays.

In terms of my other swing trades, $BGP's chart remains bullish but it's a trade I should have got out of with a stop just below my 1.29 buy-in last week; $CPE stubbornly remains under 4.00; $HAUP is basing again in the 2.60 - 2.70 range (again, patience is the watchword there), and I was stopped out of $APTG literally on the bottom tick of the day at 13.14.

What Was That About Patience?

I found out again this week that balancing patience with the need to book profits when they're on the table can be more than a little frustrating!

"Hogs get slaughtered", goes the old adage but I've been passing up gains that aren't even pig-sized on a few of my swing trades recently trying to reach my trading targets as the stocks have popped small but then given back the gains in fairly short order.

Netlist (NLST), Hauppauge Digitial (HAUP) and Callon Pete (CPE) are all cases in point but NLST in particular has been failing at 3.20 and then dropping back under 3.00. Unfortunately, I was away from my screen for much of yesterday so couldn't adjust my sell limit order down from 3.20 when the stock reached an intraday high of 3.19. When I did get back behind my computer, NLST was bleeding away towards 3.00 again so I sold at 3.01 thinking it was head back into the 2.90s where I could re-buy...

...only for it to gap up and run without me all the way to 3.25 this morning! I'd held the stock since last month in anticipation of just such and run and then been left standing on the platform when the train left the station!

The good news, of course, is that NLST usually comes back down and it closed around 3.08. With the bottom of the current rising trend line sitting around 2.90, I hope to add to the "scaling in" shares I bought at 3.17 today as the stock took a breather before deciding which way it was headed.

I was able to re-buy half my position in HDY at 1.90 yesterday, though, and with the stock looking over-bought at these levels, it might be hard for it to crack 2.00 on this go around, offering hope that I can purchase the other half in the 1.70s before any next leg up.

Next week, the October FDA plays — $JAZZ, $HGSI and $ALXA, in particular, as they all have PDUFA dates in the first 11 days of the month — should come into sharp focus. Having ridden $HGSI from $3 but sold prematurely at $12 last year, I've been out of that stock, but hold shares in $JAZZ, $ALXA and $AVNR which has now started it's FDA run-up in earnest, finishing today at the high of 3.22 and tacking on more gains in after hours trading the past two days. More on those to come.

In terms of my unsuccessful attempts at day-trading, I took a small 2% loss on Fuel Cell (FCEL) today after the stock failed to take the next leg up after an early breakout, and held shares of GenVec (GNVC) after buying at 0.61 and that stock too also stopped short of breaking out.

The short-term chart on GNVC looks promising, though, and it's a stock that can move when it wants to, as the last three sessions show.

The Virtue of Patience

A new trading week, the S&P smashing through 1,130 resistance and the Bulls seemingly in control for now offered hope that I could book some profits this week on the swing trades I've had in the works this month... but, no. It seems more patience will be required.

HAUP seems intent on testing the 50dma around 2.48 before too long, while CPE showed brief signs yesterday that it was about to break out but it failed at 4.02 (coincidentally enough the price I've been placing sell orders the last few sessions but pulled it off when the stock start showing intraday strength and potential to start a move towards its 200dma at 4.49) before sinking back to support in the 3.70s.

NLST is the only one of the three that has stayed green this week with a modest move off support to the 2.90 area and that came, ironically enough, when the market was red today.

So no real progress in realizing some gains there but I did get caught trying to capitalize on some of the bizarre volatility in HDY in the final hour of trading as it zinged back and forth between 1.70 and 1.90 in a 10-minute spell. Of course, once I had a sell order in place for 1.90 and it fired, the stock blew past that level and closed a penny off the high at 1.97.

That level just under 2.00 has been formidable resistance for HDY in the past and I'm hoping it rebounds down a bit so I can re-buy my position, hopefully back in the 1.70s!

On the Operation Salvage front, a GTC limit order of mine triggered yesterday at 0.034 on penny turd JEDM, getting me out of a trade I should never have let turn red in the first place with about 40% of my initial investment intact — a couple of hundred bucks more than I would have escaped with last week so I'll take it, especially as the stock has sunk back to 0.024 today.

With a bit more breathing room, I've been upping my efforts to generate some day-trading profits but have found it frustratingly difficult, timing my entries too late and catching stocks as their momentum dies. I was stopped out of LOCM (though I knew going in that the upside was limited as I was jumping on at the tail end of a big move), sold ACAS at break even after it hit a wall of resistance and BGP had moved just a penny by the close today, ending the day at 1.27 (0.02 below my entry) so that's become a new short-term swing trade for me. The chart looks promising for more gains, though, hopefully tomorrow.

On a positive note — and strike another one for patience! — LVS made another 52-week high with a nice point-plus move on a red day for the broader market, bringing me to within touching distance of a 1,000% gain on what is unquestionably my favorite stock!

Operation Salvage 2010

The good news is that, as of the market close on September 17, my portfolio is out-performing the S&P500 by 20%, and that's in spite of the smattering of large red blemishes I alluded to in a previous post.

The not-so-good news is that because of those poor trading decisions made earlier in the year, I'm $200 in the red for the year in terms of realized Gains and Losses as I continue with Operation Salvage  — my attempt to jettison my no-hoper stocks (at the very least the OTC/BB ones) and still end 2010 flat or with profit.

The plan is a two-tier one, concerning on the one hand those stocks where I am in the hole to the tune of a minimum of $500 but have some hope of either trading my way out or actually getting back to even through the company's own performance  — e.g. Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD), TriValley Corporation (TIV), Helicos (HLCS), Sunesis Pharma (SNSS) — and, on the other hand, those stocks where I don't anticipate ever getting my money back —  e.g. Anthracite Capital (ACPIP) or the four dead-end OTC/BB stocks I hold. Priority is obviously being given to the latter category of stocks which I will probably keep in case, by some chance, they get pumped at some point in the future and I can make some money back.

Since that prior post, I've taken advantage of a pop in one more penny stock to offload my holdings there, taking my tally to three. Providing I play the FDA run-ups right, I have potential gains from JAZZ and ALXA that would offset another two of my losers, leaving me in a decent position to complete phase I of my 2010 mission by year's end.

With a bit of luck, in some of the swing-trading positions I'm currently working, I might be able to hit that target even earlier and start working on phase II as well. That is requiring some patience, however, with none of NLST, CPE, HAUP, FSII and now CIGX, a swing position I opened today, moving how I want them to yet. All have plenty of upside potential and a history of moving nicely, though, and I'll be looking to capitalize on any pops to book profits as they come.

HAUP (Bought at $3.04)

NLST (Bought at $2.79). The medium-term case for NLST is bullish, provided it holds that ascending trend line and completes the big wedge that's been forming over the last few months. If I have a concern, it's that the stock has been grinding along the moving averages and giving back gains on short-lived pops at a time when the broader market has been performing fairly well and testing overhead resistance.

If the market fails to push through 1130 on the S&P500 and heads to the bottom of the trading range established over the summer, it'll be interesting to see if NLST hangs steady above 2.65-ish and that rising support line. If it can, it sets up for a bullish break above 3.60 towards the end of the year.

Penny pick hall of shame

It should be noted that I have made money from penny stock pumps but, criminally, left plenty on the table and allowed myself to get stuck in some deep holes.

How? Well, it's a case of "this is a dip and the stock will recover soon," or "the pump isn't over, there's bound to be another pop," or "technically, this is due for a turnaround"... the usual story, only in OTC/BB land, there often aren't any recoveries. Stocks are manipulated by market makers, driven down by shorts, and bloated by dilution by the companies themselves.

A couple of the plays in which I've ended up deep in the red were bought on big intraday pullbacks, others at the time of the alert, but dilution and/or aggressive shorting took hold and there was no recovery... just a gradual decline and increasing paper losses.

Here, then, are the losers I've dumped so far and those that I still have to get rid of:

Stocks dumped:

BROE - $305

SGDH - $701

Total $1,006, off-set by gains in JAZZ, August 2010

AGRT - $630

JEDM - $780

Total $1410, partially off-set by $100 gains in CIGX, September 2010

Still holding:

AVVH - $650

BEDA - $910

FWTC - $857
ENTI - $576
Total 2,993 - ouch!

Luck and the Quick Buck

Post from 9/8/10, moved from Tumblr

Ah... the world of penny stocks. The promises of multi-baggers and making thousands off just one trade suck you in before the reality of newsletter pumps, nefarious Market Maker tactics, dilution, scams and misleading "news" hit home and the novice trader finds his or herself staring at some ever-deepening holes in their portfolio.

I approached trading and the market with a high degree of caution when I dipped in my toe in March 2009 — yes, by serendipity, one day after the market bottomed — and I didn't really try my hand at the OTC/Pinksheets market for quite a few months into my trading "career" once I had some cash under my belt.

When I did, I was fortunate enough to make some small gains but in general I was either too timid to enter or my timing was off when I did. The gloss came off a succession of penny stock newsletters until I started tracking the success of a paid stock-picking service on the advice of a friend.

The cost of membership was small so I took the plunge and was soon getting daily recommendations of (mostly) penny stocks. I was amazed at my propensity to pick the wrong stocks, missing the big winners and getting stuck with the ones that immediately tanked through dilution or aggressive shorting.

Before I knew it, I was down thousands of dollars more than the cost of signing up for the service in the first place and had maxed out my trading cash. Forced into a period of reflection on my errors, I emerged from the experience having learned some important lessons — not least the reasons why so many experienced traders I know online were adamant that they never played penny stocks at all — chief among them to take profits when they're on the table and cut losses quickly.

That sounds blindingly obvious and they're the number one rules for day and swing traders -- absolutely crucial for penny stocks — but, as so many find, they're much harder to put into practice than you ever expect.  After thousands left on the table and some frustrating paper losses, I'm a much smarter and more seasoned trader. Technicals and charts are unreliable for OTC/BB stocks because there are so many other factors working against you. Blind faith that stocks on those markets will come back because they've popped big before will not work in so many cases. It's quite something to watch a $1,000 investment dwindle by 80% in a few weeks. 

Armed with that experience, I set myself a target of erasing the paper losses I'd accumulated in early 2010 by the end of the year: the plan, basically, is to start 2011 with the same amount of trading cash with which I began 2010. That means using the charting knowledge and technical analysis I've built to date, trading to a plan and either selling or mentally writing off each crappy stock, one by one.

So far, I'm 2 for 6, with paper gains potentially accounting for 2 more and if I'm successful in erasing all of those, I'll move on to four other positions from 2009 that are also horrible red blights on my portfolio!

Currently working...

Post from 9/8/10, moved from Tumblr
Though the market is at the upper end of its current trading range between 1040 and 1100 and change on the S&P, I'm hoping that three swing trades that I have on the go will reap benefits in the next couple of weeks.
All three of $CPE, $HAUP and $NLST (correction, $CPE does not, though it looks ripe for an imminent rebound) look like they're under accumulation right now and primed to break out if the broader market cooperates. All three have threatened to do so over the last two or three sessions and failed at points of resistance. Fingers crossed at least one of them rips before any downturn in the broader market.