Question:
I signed up your service last Thursday so my exposure to the tools is limited. I have been a user of [edited] and switched to your service because of the market analysis, model portfolio and the breakout sections on the web site. I also didn’t feel the buy candidates were all that great on [edited]. I did some back testing of [edited] recommendations (although it was not overly scientific) and was not satisfied with the results. The back testing of your model portfolio proved much better results.
I am a person who is dedicated to becoming a better trader. However I have a full-time job and a family so time is very precious. I am looking for the following from your service:
- An easy way to monitor the direction of the market. A red/green light or number system to tell me quickly the market direction. Should on be long, short, on the sidelines, etc. I think this can be found on selfinvestors.com in the “market strategy” section of the “market outlook” tab.
- Bullish CANSLIM investment opportunities. I don’t want to do all the research to find CANSLIM trading candidates with the proper charts/technicals. I use to believe that entry was the most important aspect of trading. However, I have come to believe more and more that the entry of a trade is of far less significance. I want to focus my attention on exits, position size, and the psychology of trading and use selfinvestors.com to give me buy candidates of stocks that are moving in the right direction and have a decent probability of continuing that move. I think the model portfolio with email alerts and breakout sections provide these candidates.
- Bearish CANSLIM investment opportunities. I do not see this as part of you service today but would definitely like to. When the market direction turns bearish would like to profit rather than be on the sidelines.
- Monitoring and commentary of recommended positions.
- An online journaling method. Not provided today by your service but I am looking at traderbrain.com for this functionality.
Probably much more than you asked for. But so far I do find your service fairly intuitive with the services I am looking for and at a fair price. I will keep you posted on whether or not I find profitable opportunities.
My Response:
I have seen so many sites touting their big winners, while sweeping their many losers under the rug. Quite frankly, i’m tired of it. It’s one thing to buy a stock … that’s the easy part – I wanted members to get a feel for how selling should be implemented, both to lock in profits and avoid big losses. I feel that the model portfolio provides a good window into how to implement a ‘real world’ strategy NOT based on hypotheticals.
You are exactly the kind of member I am catering to – I appreciate members who are willing to learn and eventually use the tools here to make sound investing decisions on their own. The site is designed to make the process of finding good buy candidates (both breakouts and stocks finding support) quickly.
I don’t currently provide any numbering system or red light/green light to indicate the health of the market but do provide an ongoing look through annotated charts as well as provide a current market strategy and whether not I’m using margin. This is provided on the Market Outlook page.
The service offers several ways to alert you to great buy opportunities… the Buy Watch screen spits out stocks that have yet to break out or are within a buyable range (default sort by Total Rank). The Stock Watch reports alert you to opportunities that I think are especially appealing (these stocks are often purchased for the Model Portfolio – another way you’re alerted to opportunities.
On the short side of things (for when the market turns bearish), I will notify premium member of stocks I’m shorting in the Model Portfolio as well as highlight short candidates in the Stock Watch reports. You can also use the existing screens in the Breakout Center to find short opportunities. Probably the best way would be too Click Show All Stocks at the bottom then sort by % From 50DMA – look at stocks that have plunged below support on heavy volume. Also take a look at stocks that are far extended above the 50DMA (for example if I sort by % from 50DMA I see NGPS at the top and notice that the stock is 84% above the 50DMA which would indicate the stock is overextended. I also see that 50 may be a source of resistance (muliples of 5 and 10 often act as resistance levels). Update – perhaps an easier way to find short candidates in the Breakout Center database would be to use the custom screener and screen for stocks just below support of the 50 or 200 day moving averages with very low Demand scores. Then check the charts of these candidates to determine the best short opportunities.
Monitoring and ongoing commentary is provided for all positions in the Model Portfolio – these notes are provided through email alerts as well by hovering your mouse over the notepad image next to the ticker symbol for each position in the Model Portfolio Tracker.
Traderbrain.com looks like a nice tool, but just getting yourself a notebook and a good pencil can work great too! I think tracking your thoughts on each trade is an excellent way to spot bad habits and improve your trading. You will see my trading notes for each stock in the Model Portfolio by clicking the Notepad image next to each company name. At some point in the future I will look to implement a system that allows members to create their own portfolios and trading notes as well as set up email alerts. I’m hoping to implement these features at some point this year, but can’t guarantee anything at this point.
[update – email alerts are now available, allowing members to create their own tracking portfolios and notes may be a future project]