I fell...

Well first I have to apologize, I fell off the blogging boat and it took me sometime to get back up. So with that said, lets get back to business.

Firstly, tomorrow is the third Friday of the month, meaning the new stock advisor pick is coming out. I have been saving my nickels and dimes, and though I don't have as much as I would like I have a little bit to put down on it.

And while this is exciting... I have another issue to talk about. So as we all know I own a few shares of ATVI/Blizzard. You may or may not know that they are the owners of the game World of Warcraft. Perhaps you've heard of it? So what could possibly be new with an old game like that?

Money Sink.

Right now blizzard is selling for $25 an in game mount. While that may mean nothing to you, let me tell you what it means for the games revenue.

Currently there is a waiting list for this item, which is sitting at 8 hours. And there are 88% left available. When you get online it shows you your place in line. When I attempted this there were 120,000 people in front of me, I waited until there was a percentage drop which came at around 67,000 people in front. That means that there are about 5 million of these available assuming 1% is 50,000...

OK... so what? At $25 a pop, with about 5 million available that rounds out to about $125 million. Let's consider an extremely expensive design cost of about $500,000 and another $500,000 for implementation. That is a profit of just about $124 million, for little to no work at all.

And this is not the only in-game item you can purchase with real money, only the most popular thus far.

Today ATVI got a bit of a hit with people getting down on the gaming industry... well how many other industries can generate approximatively $15,000,000 in half a day, with the possibility of generating $110,000,000 with the push of a button?

... enough said.

-tCT

Who needs diversity...

Alright, I have finally accomplished my task. Currently as you may or may not know, my portfolio has stocks from 4 different sectors. ATVI is videogame/technology, BAC is a bank, NUE is industrial metal, and BRK-B is... well who knows but its safe to say it doesn't fall in any of the previous categories.

So as you can see, BRK-B is not doing well, it is down from my original buying price...

But my overall portfolio is seeing the highest gains I have ever seen, being about 6.7%.

And that is why you diversify...

I have read arguments on both sides of the diversify table. What I have gathered from them is...

DO NOT DIVERSIFY FOR DIVERSIFYING SAKE.

It is not wrong to diversify your portfolio if you are investing in companies that you know and trust, but it is wrong if you are diversifying in random sectors you know nothing about, simply for the sake of diversification. So know who your investing in and why (or have a stock advisor tell you how to think, like I do... haha).

And that brings up another good point. Now maybe I am just an investing nut, and want to see everyone well invested, but...

Why is it that most people are only invested in the companies they work for? I know, stock options are great and of course you want to use those, but especially in times like this, do you really want all your investments being in a single basket?

Now please don't go telling people to sell the shares in the company they work for, I am not saying that. But maybe mention that it might be wise to make future investments outside of the company where they work.

Case in point, Lehman Brothers, Enron, and any number of banks and car companies in the past 2 years. Do you think the people working for these companies had outside investments?

Enough said.

-tCT

Nike

So I was going to write you today showing off why it is good to have a well rounded portfolio. I had my own portfolios ups and downs as the perfect example. The only problem... I forgot to take a picture of it and now my portfolio is all ups and happy.

I am just too good at this investing stuff to teach you any lessons it seems.

Right.

Anyway, it seems like today everything is good in investing town. My overall holdings are up 6.75%, with a good portion of the being due to my most recent acquisition, NUE. It seems my "blind pick" (wink wink) at NUE was well founded and if things go well could pay for the stock advisor program I bought. Now I am not telling you to go out and buy this program, I am just telling you what I did and the results...

As those drugs say, results may vary.

If you ask me though something simple like.... "Are you pleased with your purchase of the Fool.com Stock Advisor?" I would have to say so far, Yes.

It has only been a little over a month, but of the 4 picks I have been given only one of them has gone down in price, while the rest are up and Rosetta Stone in particular has seen a 53% gain since being picked.

Are they all going to be Rosetta Stone? No, of course not, but that's OK with me.

In short, if I have ever given you the slightest interest at trying your hand at investing, do yourself a favor and head over to fool.com and start a CAPS page. No money involved you just pick stocks, whether you think they will go up or down and a time frame. They will score you on how well your picks go. Then from there, decided if investing is right for you.

We can all use some motivation at times, and well there isn't much better motivation than...

Just Do It.

-tCT

OUCH...

Well today is the day the Stock Advisor came out. One thing I really like about it, is it doesn't just say "this one might work, try that and call me in the morning", they really go in depth about their picks. Not only that, but they give you two. Since I am using limited funding, it gives me a chance to pick the one I like better.

The first option (which I can't name directly) is an "up and comer" in the TV networking business. This company owns networks related to travel, food, and doing things yourself. In the well written article, to further prove its point, the article says "do you watch {insert popular food show title} or {insert popular travel show title}?"

No... No, I do not watch any of those shows. In fact, I can't recall ever (willingly) going to any of the channels those shows are on.

OK so we all know I invest on "feelings" and to be honest I just didn't like the way the article made me feel. The company has reasonable content, but I don't think those channels alone are anything great. Then again I have been wrong in the past.

And while I can't name the second option (so I don't get in trouble for giving away paid for content), I can tell you I just purchased shares in a company called Nucor Corp (NUE) with no apparent outside influence...

Nucor is the number one minimill steel manufacturer in the United States. The reason for this purchase is the steel market is hurting at the moment, but things are likely to pick up again down the line. As I am an economic optimist, I agree with this evaluation, and saw this as a better buy than the first option. Not to mention, everyone knows steel is a comfort commodity.

Its like a really cold, hard security blanket (what?!).

So of course, I wasn't paying attention to the overall market or else I would have noticed the nose dive it has taken today. People are apparently all worried about the Greeks... I am not going to get into that, cause frankly I don't care. All I know is that my shares are not as strong as they were yesterday...

I can't believe I have already put in $700, who knew it would last this long?

Not me...

-tCT

No short term potential my a...

Well yesterday I decided to buy shares in both Berkshire Hathaway and Bank of America. As I mentioned yesterday I had intended on also purchasing Intel, but I felt that it was the safest to hold off on in the short term...

And right on cue, Intel shares jumped 3.97%.

I guess that's a good thing. I mean I did want it to continue to grow... I was just kind of hoping it would wait for me to be on the train before it left the station.

Luckily the purchases I made yesterday aren't complete disappointments. While they have not seen the same gains as Intel has, they have seen gains of their own.

I am still looking forward to this Friday. I am hopeful that they put the article out early in the day, so that I still have time to make a purchase or two.

-tCT

TBD

So today I was feeling a bit, Buy-ie. I was coming off a bad weekend and well I just needed to buy something. I was thinking food...

But instead of buying food, I bought some shares in Bank of America (BAC) and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B). Last Friday I was thinking I wanted to make a purchase, and I just couldn't wait till this upcoming Friday. So I didn't.

So why did I buy what I bought?

So when I think of investing, I think of one company. Intel. I love Intel, I just do. They are a very strong company with their foot, body, and a couple Million of their closest friends, in the door of the technology market. They have constantly paid out good dividends and are one of the top companies in the world.

So wait what does that have to do with BAC and BRK-B? Absolutely nothing...

Last week I was trying to think what companies I could see doing very well. There is Berkshire, BofA, and Intel. I decided on BAC and BRK-B because as much as I love Intel, I know that there is a limited amount of short term growth potential at Intel.

Look at it this way, BAC, as well as the rest of the financial sector, is still on pins and needles from last year. People are hesitant to invest too heavily, because they are not sure if the banks are clear of the governments storm. While I can't say one way or another on that, I firmly believe that in the long run, banks will do what they do best, and thats being Banks. There will always be banks, and it just seems logical to invest in one of the worlds largest (and at the moment one of the cheapest). Bank of America is well run, and has a name you can trust... Ok well maybe not trust, but at least we all know Bank of America.

As for BRK-B, well you and I both know I wanted to invest in this from the get go. Since the stocks split, it has consistently gained. This is the mule of my portfolio wagon train, its not pretty, it doesn't run fast, but it will get you where your going every time.

So... wait, what about intel? I am still very interested in owning Intel shares. It seemed though that holding off on buying Intel would be less costly than holding off on buying the other two (at least thats my hope). One day I will buy Intel stocks I promise, but until then we will just have to be happy with what I did buy.

Yahoo has a pretty cool portfolio viewer, it doesn't look exactly how I'd want, but its not terrible.

I am looking forward to this Friday, for the advised stock purchase. I really want to see how effective this method of advised trading can be. Until then...

Another day, another dollar (spent).

-tCT

Friends with benefits

So as you all know, I have a love (though little talent) for investing. When I was young, I used to try to hide money, so that I would later find it and it would be like finding buried treasure. In a sense that is how I see investing.

As you may or may not know, I am awful with my money. I love buying things, anything, just for the pure sake of spending money almost. And while I have reined in a lot of my frivolous spending, I still occasionally relapse and spend money on something I absolutely do not need. And that is where investing comes in.

With investing I can get my spending fix, while technically having the possiblity of getting something back for it down the line. It is like a savings account that gives you the added joy of buying something.

Oh it's almost too good to be true!

If you are like me, you buy things and then honestly never think of them again, and if you use that strategy in investing, you can see some real returns (assuming you invested wisely). In fact I just read an excellent article about how the wealthiest people in the world (ie People like Buffett and Gates) generally do very little actual selling of the shares they own. These are people that ride the ups and downs and hold on to their companies.

Of course I plan to do a bit of trading, which includes selling, down the line. Though for my actual investments, I plan to buy a company and hold onto it. Who knows maybe I will make an account on the off chance I have kids who want to go to college. Not that I will have kids any time soon...

So I have prepared some good money for next week and it is already sitting pretty in my trading account just waiting to by used. Oh the excitement is building...

-tCT

Yeah, about that...

I wish I could tell you that I have spent the week researching or trading... or even paying attention to the financial markets. Things have been busy here at SMT Inc. I have just had a chance to look back at what has been happening and I am pleasantly surprised.

My move to buy ATVI seems to be finally paying off. Though not as fast as it would have if I invested in Rosetta Stone, but we all know that story. The video game market is doing very well as a whole and there is a lot going on at ATVI for investors to be excited about.

I have been saving my pennies and dimes for next Friday, in the hopes of diving in on this Stock Advisor that will publish by then. Ideally I would like to invest larger quantities of money, because it is hard to see gains when almost 30% of the purchase is commission costs. I know I have sang this song to you before, so I will save you the rant... sigh.

Who knew investing would take so much money...

But then again, a 10% gain is nothing to sneeze at.

-tCT

Dr. Dollar

Every once in a while I will stay up late, and watch infomercials... I know its dumb, they are just so, so enticing.

Anyway... One that I see all the time (no not the CD to teach me to use Ebay) is for selling how-to videos on option trading. They always claim that "people like you" are making money hand over fist trading options. I had no idea what options were, and I like making money. So I went over to my friends at fool.com and read up on it.

Options Trading is appropriately named, due to the fact that you are generally buying or selling the option to buy or sell... Is that right? Yes. Here is what may happen in an option trade.

Lets say you like Intel and you think they are going to go up, you would enter an agreement with a seller to determine a strike price (this is the price you agree to buy at, at a later date). That means that anytime with in the option time, you can buy (but don't necessarily have too) at that strike price and the seller must sell at the strike price. Making these option agreements isn't free, you have to buy the option to buy.

So if the stocks go up, then the value of the option you have goes up. Now that you have this option, lets say Intel is doing very well and the contract is worth more to others then what you paid for it, you can sell that option to someone else. Now that person holds the option to buy at the price you initially determined.

So in option trading, you are literally trading the option to buy and sell shares, which you can either trade on again, or use or never use.

Weird, huh?

So lets sum up.

Option trading is trading the option to buy or sell at a certain price.

When buying, you can make money on share price gains, and lose money on share price losses (max loss is the amount you pay for the option).

Here is an example of a table you'd see when trading options.

The "Last Price" is the price you pay, per share, for the option. Options are sold in 100 increments. So that means if you wanted to buy the option to buy at $90 in July, you would pay the seller $870.00 for that option ($8.70 per share).

So if you bought that option and bought the shares at the agreed price your total purchase price would be $9,870 ($90 x 100 + $8.70 x 100), meaning the shares would have to increase past $98.70 a share for you to make money.

Or you could try to sell the option for more then $8.70 a share to someone else, or do nothing and take the $870 loss.

Options are very confusing and even after reading all there is to know... I still hardly get it.

So to sum up, don't mess with options.

-tCT

If spam equals revenue...

So as you may or may not remember I have been frequenting Fool.com. I have already discussed how they recommended Rosetta Stone (RST),which is up 27% from just yesterday.

While that pick was a more formal recommendation, they also offer informal ones to anyone who wanders their way over to fool.com and reads the free articles. I thought it was interesting to note that one of the picks was for Pfizer, the company who manufactures the product our spam boxes know and love.

Now don't get me wrong, they talk about a whole lot of factors in their promotion of Pfizer, which are probably justifiable. But that leads me to a question.

Should I invest in a company like Pfizer?

I know they do more then just make Viagra, but that is hard to overlook when my email boxes are loaded with thousands of Viagra related spam. Should traders be concerned with moral issues, or should they focus on making money?

As for myself I am torn.

Luckily I do not have to invest in Pfizer because the plan was to purchase only the official recommended companies, and this is unofficial. But what if Pfizer becomes the official pick?

We will just have to wait and see where my conscience takes me.

"Wait, you like girls and money! Your freaking me out..."

Hopefully soon their will be some real action to write about.

-tCT

So far, so bueno

Well as you can see I am working up on my Spanish. Why, you wonder? Well because the first recommended stock pick I was given was for Rosetta Stone (RST) and was dated February 19th (the new recommendations come every 3rd Friday of the month at fool.com).

On the 19th RST was trading at about $16.85. From the time they recommended it to the time I saw it (Feb 24th) it had already jumped to about $17.45. Today (Feb 25th) RST has just published their 4th quarter results, and are now trading at about $18.55 after hours. That is a 10.2% increase in 1 week.

...

1 week.

...

While that settles in...

I will let you know that, NO, I did not buy Rosetta after it was recommended to me. I know, I know I should have gone with the recommendation instead of buying more ATVI. How was I supposed to know they would be so right, it was my first time using it...

So it looks like I have missed the Rosetta boat this time, but next time I will actually put my money where my mouth is, and see if I can make money doing exactly what the Fool's tell me. That is the whole point of this project, seeing what works and what doesn't. Not going off and actually investing...

So to you readers, or perhaps reader, I am sorry. The next one will be for real, no take backs.

Tune in next time, same slotmachinetrader time, same slotmachinetrader channel! (probably not as catchy as the original)

-tCT

PS: Literally in the time it took me to write this post RST is now trading at $19.60 after hours...

...

WOW

He shoots...He scorecards!

So I have been messing around with the Motley Fool website and it is pretty cool. Most of the features available are like anything you would see on Yahoo or Google Finance. The one difference is the community and the Caps Scores. This site is all about community and helping people invest in good companies.

You can also put your portfolio information on and it will track your portfolio against S&P*. As you can see my gains are about 2.5% versus the S&P gains of about 1.98%.

Also you will notice that I have two different prices for ATVI. I know its not the trade you thought I would make, but... well I think its just too good to pass up. I consider ATVI a part of my core, and having fun with trading has to take the back burner to my serious investing (not to mention it has a 5 star caps rating... hint hint).

With that aside I promise that with the next trade I will purchase something off the recommended buy page they gave me. So far the site seems really good. It follows two founders of the website portfolios and shows their gains vs S&P. For instance one of them has seen a 67% gain on his portfolio! That is huge.

Don't get too excited, those guys are pros. We will have to just wait and see if their site will be beneficial to a novice trader like me.

"Not all that glitters is gold."

-tCT

*S&P 500 (Standard and Poor's) is an index on 500 large-cap, common stocks, that are actively traded. It, like other indices (such as the Dow Jones), are used to gauge the overall market.

A Fool

So as time goes on, I find I study so much that by the time I make a move the short gains to be had are gone. So I have called in the assistance of a Fool. The Motley Fool to be exact.

Motley Fool is a website that has its users rank companies. You can go on there and rate the companies you have shares in, and ones you don't. As time goes on, the website tracks your picks to how the shares prices fluctuate. So if you are accurate with your picks, then you will have a higher rating.

The site also shows ratings for companies. For instance after looking up ATVI it has a 5 star Cap rating. 5 stars is the most, meaning almost all members think the company will be strong (bullish), where as 1 star would mean most members think the company will be weak (bearish).

This is very cool because you can find out when people rated them, and at what price, and for how long. It will show you who rated the company, and also that persons rating. So if someone with a rating of 100 (highest you can get, I think means you are correct more than 85% of the time) says buy, then that is more credible then someone with a low rating.

Of course you have to take this with a grain of salt... No one really knows how well a company will do, but this is a good starting point. Since the whole point of this project is to see if money can be made by someone who doesn't know anything about trading, I am going to do exactly what this site tells me, and see how that goes. I have purchased a 1 year subscription, and while I have just started looking into it, it seems pretty good.

Legally I can not disclose anything that is only for paid members (though I doubt anyone would ever notice or care). I will try to give information that will teach how this service works. I have just started looking into it, but its fairly extensive. It gives you recommendations on stocks you should buy, hold or sell. It even tells you which companies should be in your core (timeless stocks to hold).

Though I can not tell you which companies they suggest, I will be able to tell you which companies I purchase. I will keep you posted, and together we will see if this service is worth it.

Keep your eyes peeled, and we will see what I purchase next.

-tCT

US beats Canada Appreciation Day!

Preface: I know this is supposed to be about trading, but you will have to forgive me, because sometimes something special comes along that just needs to be talked about.

Where were you when the US beat Canada? OK, so your probably saying "what else is new... its Canada...?" Your right, in most things the US beating Canada is no big deal, but this is about hockey. I don't know if you knew, but Canada, well they love hockey... Who knew...?

Its been said about the 2010 Winter Olympics that if Canada only wins one Gold, well it better be in Hockey. So they put together one of the best most star ridden teams in history to take them there.

And this team hits a WALL known as the United STATES. The US played with relatively young and inexperienced players, and were written off before the game by all of the announcers... even Jeremy Roenick (One of USA best former hockey players).

If you were unaware, like my sister was, the stars of the NHL are made up of mostly foreign players, and during the Olympics the US isn't a hockey power house. They have only won gold twice and the last one was in 1980. The US has only medaled once since 1980 and it was for Silver (after losing to Canada) in 2002.

I have never watch a game with so much excitement and trepidation as the game I watched last night. It was not about the gold, it was not about stars, it was a prequalifier that, win or lose, both team would move on to the next round.

No it wasn't about that, it was about Pride. It was about both teams proving themselves.

And well, after last night, I am proud to have watch one of the best most hardest fought games I have ever witnessed. I can not explain to you how amazing that game was. The last few moments were so exciting that you can hear "DOC", a professional announcer, actually loses his voice from calling the game.

NBC Olympics Highlights of the US vs Canada

What sums this game up for me is after the final goal, the US is in a dog pile behind the goal going crazy and the announcer says the lamest, stupidest, and yet most meaningful line I have ever heard...

"And those are a bunch of happy humans, right there!"

I was happy too. And that, Charlie Brown, is what the Olympics is all about.

-tCT

Never, ever look back...

So as you well know I sold my Citi shares yesterday for $3.30. I am finally free and I a happier person for it. I am sure they have tanked, and are doing poorly again- What? $3.43 as of this post? A fool, you say?

I have heard that one of the most important things to do when buying and selling stocks, is never look back. Hindsight is always 20/20 and sometimes that perfect vision isn't a blessing.

Yes, I sold Citi too early. Yes I figured at some point it would go up. Do I regret what I have done? Absolutely Not.

I sold Citi because I do not believe they have a good business model or a good company. Markets are naturally fickle. Any company, good or bad, can be bullish (ie strong **). Traders, opposed to investors, have vague reasons for trading and are only looking for a quick buck. With that said, I am an awful Trader. Terrible in fact. Don't get me wrong, I am not going to stop trading, but I am going to just have to think less like an investor and more like a trader.

So lets look forward and think of the bright side. ATVI is doing very well, and if things continue in this direction, not only will I cover my costs.... I might... just maybe... make a profit! Don't tell anyone though... I don't want my profit to see its shadow and declare 6 more weeks of losing money.

In a couple more days my sale will clear, and I will be able to turn that money I got for Citi into shares of some new exciting company.

"Wait... your in the black? You?" Thanks...

Symbol	Cost	Mkt Value	+/-
ATVI	142.68	145.47	+2.79
Total	142.68	145.47	+2.79

-tCT

**For those who need clarification, like I did, Bullish means strong or positive and Bearish means weak or negative. Honestly I think its dumb. Bears are stronger than bulls. The song wasn't Lions, Tigers and Bulls oh my... But everyone uses it, so join the club, impress your friends with random trading facts!

What do you mean, it sold?!

So when I set up that limit trade last week, I honestly didn't expect Citi to get to $3.30 anytime soon... I did it more just to see if it worked, and guess what? It does...

Citi got all the way up to $3.31 a share! I can't believe it... So that being the case, my limit order sold all my shares (all 35 of them) for $3.30 a share. I won't lie to you, I kind of wanted to hold on to the shares. In fact after writing the blog about limit orders, I intended to cancel the order and just hang on to them. Oh well... I feel so, so liquidated...

Now its on to the future. Soon I will move all the money I have in the ShareBuilder over to Schwab and close the SB account.

The markets have been up and down the past few weeks, we are riding a bit of a wave, but who knows where it will take us. Needless to say, we live in Interesting Times.

Symbol	Cost	Mkt Value	+/-
C (SOLD)	133.50	115.50 (Sold Price)	-18.00
ATVI	142.68	143.13	+0.45
Total	276.18	258.63	-17.55

-tCT

Take it to the Limit!

So today, as I was thinking about all the opportunities lost from holding on to Citi, I decide I would try a new type of trading. Some of you may be aware of Limit Orders, but for me, this was my first one.

Brief Lesson: Limit orders are orders that you place for a certain amount to guarantee a price to buy or sell.


For instance I wanted to sell Citi but I didn't want to do it at the current market price of $3.18(also the markets are into after hours, since the markets close at 1 PM PST). So I decided a share value I would be willing to sell my shares which is $3.30 a share. The brokerage will then sell my shares for exactly $3.30 automatically when they reach that price. This saves me from having to pay attention and sell them manually.


As you can see from the summary, I am going to end up with $105.55 after commissions. While this is indeed a loss, I am still up on my account! When I made a Sharebuilder account I was offered $50 free if I made a deposit. My account was credited the $50 earlier this week. So with a initial $150 deposit, and after losses and commissions, I will be on top by about $12! WOO!

Of course I would have liked to have made more money then just what was given to me, but considering all the learning and mistakes I made I am pretty pleased; I am sure I could have lost a whole lot more.

Keep in mind though, Citi is still in my account until the price gets up to 3.30. I can't be sure if that will happen anytime soon, but one can only hope.

So with my Limit Order in place, ATVI doing well, and a free 50 bones, I'm feeling pretty good!

Heres to the weekend!

-tCT

Prophecy

Well as you may know (looking at my account balance) I have not been doing well on my actual purchases. Citi as we all know, has been doing poorly and has hovered around 3.20 mark for a couple weeks. ATVI has seen a slight increase, but I wouldn't mind more.

That takes me to some advice I gave myself last month. Mid January I mentioned how Warren Buffet's BRK-B was going to be split. Since the split the stock has gone up by 11% in just 3 weeks. Well how do you like that, the one I don't get money into does well...

Thats how it goes, I should have moved money around, I should have taken the loss on Citi and sold, but I didn't. Oh well, ATVI has gone up by roughly 8% since I got in on it, and thats not too bad. First time I have ever went to my account and saw green instead of red... Weird...

Well hopefully seeing green becomes a new trend for me...

Symbol	Cost	Mkt Value	+/-
C	133.50	111.30	-22.20
ATVI	142.68	144.43	+1.75
Total	276.18	255.73	-20.45

-tCT

In banks we don't trust.

So I just read this fine article "The Least-Trusted Banks in America" and well there is some good news. Apparently Citi is not the worst... they are second worst, thank you very much!

In other news, ATVI has been staying relatively low (around $10 even) for the past few days. I am surprised as it has been getting a lot of news in its favor, but then again EA's lowered outlook has people thinking the game industry is dying. Though I do not trust Activision, I do trust Blizzard and I firmly believe that with their upcoming releases, these things will be as good as gold.

I am still waiting on my refund to arrive, hopefully it will be here by the end of the week... which means more real trading next week! I have lost focus lately on the stock market, so I plan to do some research later this week. Maybe something interesting will pop out of the woodworks.

So sit back and relax...

Symbol	Cost	Mkt Value	+/-
C	133.50	111.30	-22.20
ATVI	142.68	130.65	-12.03
Total	276.18	241.95	-34.23

-tCT

Taxes...

So I did my taxes early this year, because TurboTax just keeps getting easier and easier. It took me 26 minutes to do everything. Honestly I was almost disappointed it didn't take longer, but then again I don't have much that needs to be taxed so no big deal. So with my refund on its way, I am excited to say that I will be adding more money for investing!

WOO!

With that said, things are looking bleak market wise. In the past 5 days Citi alone has had a high of $3.45 and a low $3.16 (where it is currently holding). While Citi has always been awful, it is a pretty good indicator to the overall market. ATVI has also had its ups and down, with 5 day high of $10.54 and a bottom of $10.04. People are in sell mode, and that could be good or bad.

I think that when I do get an infusion of cash, I am going to put some of it into ATVI and then find a penny stock or something to put the rest into.

"You know your getting up in the world, when your mail is to important to be folded."

Initial Balance: $500.00
Current Balance: $466.24
Cash: $224.82
Stock: $241.42
35 shares Citigroup $110.25
13 shares Activision/Blizzard $131.17
Total (+/-): $-33.76

-tCT

Singing some praises

I think there are some thanks in order. As you may or may not know my trading life has been up and down, and well I got to admit though I haven't yet been able to trade as frequently as I'd like, I am glad I went with Schwab. They are extremely helpful, and just below the limits of being overwhelming. I think they are great. Had I been around for the old days of brokerage firms, I am sure this is what it would have been like.

Don't get me wrong, their online platforms are extremely extensive with the amount of technology and usefulness, and the people who work there and the way they send you information is excellent. It is like they have taken the best of both worlds, and put it into one company. Do you need to talk to your broker, get help with trading? Sure 24/7 internet and phone service. Do you want to do trading for yourself, but are unsure how to start? Ok, they have an online learning center, and offer seminars on trading. Are you a hardcore trader who needs some "power trading tools"? Look up their Street Smart Service, it's is top of the line.

In short Schwab offers it all, I am almost ashamed that I am only using there service for messing around. If and when I start honestly investing, I will be staying with Schwab for sure.

In short, I recommend to anyone looking to start investing to take a look a Schwab, you won't regret it.

Sorry for the schwab commercial there, but if you know me, you know I like people to like what I like... So Like It Already!

Initial Balance: $500.00
Current Balance: $469.95
Cash: $224.82
Stock: (as of post)
35 shares Citigroup $113.05
13 shares Activision/Blizzard $132.08
Total (+/-): $-30.05

-tCT

Semper Fi

So this morning everyone is waiting on politics... I hate politics. Always ruins everything. Anyway things have been up and down, there have been some good reviews of written by like minded people about ATVI. Shares are up to a little above my purchase price (wish I could say the same for Citi) and I am feeling pretty good.

In other news (if you can call it that) Apple is currently announcing the new iPad. Honestly.... I am not in the least impressed. Sure its a cool idea, but really this was what all the hype was for... a tablet? I am sure it will be bought in droves because where Apple goes ALL must follow. Maybe its just me, but an over sized clunky iPhone is not high on my buy list. And as for apps? Honestly how many apps do you just buy, use once and then end up just taking up space (and money).

Don't get me wrong, Apple is going to kill, financially, with this product. From an investers point of view this is gold. The Apple Army will hear Steve's summons and buy this and any and all apps (which cost nothing for Apple to make, but get their fair share of the profits). This will be a must have for anyone who sits in a cafe dying for attention.

Cynical? Me? No... Ok maybe. Don't get me wrong, I own a Macbook Pro, its pretty nice. I have always loved Apple cause they have always done their own thing and made things useful (and cool). But that is what I don't like about the tablet... usually they blow your mind with the products because they come out of nowhere. But the iPad was there, its not new, its not even that innovative. Maybe this is the turning point for old Apple, perhaps Jobs has lost his magic touch. I doubt anyone will notice with only a $499 pricetag...

Semper Fidelis

Initial Balance: $500.00
Current Balance: $469.06
Cash: $224.82
Stock: (as of post)
35 shares Citigroup $110.60
13 shares Activision/Blizzard $133.64
Total (+/-): $-30.94

Sorry about the rant...
-tCT

Feelings... nothing more than feelings

It appears that I have much in common with the man with the golden
touch. Like him, everything I touch changes... just not for the
better. Though I am still extremely confident in Activision/Blizzard,
the share price has dropped almost 50 points ($.50) since I bought.
Perhaps this is a good thing...? I am trying to figure out why
Activision was hit so hard, but all I can figure is that people are
fickle. The shares have a 5 star CAPS rating (which is good) and
honestly I do not see how they could not go up in the long run. We
will just have to wait and see.

The more I trade the more I realize that share prices have more to do
with the overall "feel" of the economy, them the actual numbers a
company puts up. This can be frustrating, as "feelings" are hard to
gauge and are quick to change. Seeing as how my "investment project"
turned from short-term trading, to long term (due to my throwing money
at anything that moves...) it seems that I am going to hold threw the
ups and downs.

Not much is going on today, today has been more about politics then
business... Work has taken my attention so I do not have any cool
stories to discuss.

"Here's looking at you kid ATVI..."

Initial Balance: $500.00
Current Balance: $465.20
Cash: $224.82
Stock: (as of post)
35 shares Citigroup $110.25
13 shares Activision/Blizzard $130.13
Total (+/-): $-34.80

-tCT

A snow storm is coming...

So I have come to realize that while I do not know much about investing, there are things I do know. I know video games... So I am now the proud (and I really mean it this time) owner of 13 shares of Activision/Blizzard (ATVI). I have been playing Blizzard games for years, they are the company responsible for titles such as Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo, and recently World of Warcraft (perhaps you have heard of the most lucrative MMORPG ever made with millions of players).

The most important thing to remember about Blizzard, and why now is a good time to buy, is they will be releasing 3 best selling titles within the next 2 years.

First, on the list is World of Warcrafts latest expansion Cataclysm. Cataclysm adds additional content to an already amazing game. Cataclysm will drastically change the way the game looks and is played with the addition of two new races to choose from, as well as drastically changing the landscape of the original world. Depending on how WoW advertises the new expansion it may or may not bring in new subscribers, but what it most definitely will do is bring back tons of old subscribers. As with any expansion, their is always a lull before people start playing again, and we are at that point. With the addition of new technology to drive the game, it promises to offer a whole new experience for gamers.

And then their is Diablo III. The Diablo franchise has produced some of the best RPG games of all time, and they are still played by droves of people online and off. Unlike WoW which is a constantly changing continuous game, Diablo is a storyline driven RPG. That means that their is a story, and it will end. Some may say that this limits the amount of replayability of the game, but not so for Diablo. Diablo offers the player the chance to play alone, or group online with friends or random people. Diablo III is all about the story, but it is also all about the way you play, but really its all about the story, and the way you play... What I am saying is that Diablo has and will continue to have an amazing storyline (incredibly well written for a novel, let alone a game) and it also has and will have an amazing playability, with the ability to keep people coming back to it. The prerelease graphics are thus far outstanding, and we aren't even to testing yet! Diablo III will be a best seller for namesake alone, and then will earn countless of others with its amazing game play mechanics, graphics and story telling.

Lastly (and in my opinion most important), the long awaited (11 years have passed since the original) arrival of Starcraft 2. Starcraft is like the dollar, anyone making a RTS game compares to Starcraft (and generally falls short). Starcraft 2 plans to build off this, and so far it looks incredible! Don't think that this game is a one trick pony either, they are making development kits readily available for anyone to create and sell their own games using the Starcraft 2 platform. That means they will be getting revenue from their own game sales, as well as revenue from games made by other people. The few demo games made using this as a platform that I have seen, are incredible. Starcraft 2 could be a best seller on its own, and will be, but with the addition of extremely versatile developer tools, SC2 is going to be unstoppable. Let me put it this way, how many video games can boast to being a Country (S.Korea) National Sport. Starcraft can...

If a company were to produce just one of these games, they would do well for themselves. Blizzard plans to release 2 of the 3 games this year, and the third to follow next year. Though keep in mind, Blizzard does not, and will not produce crap products. They will release these games when the games are ready, not when the market is ready. Though this may cause issues with timing the market, they do not care. They are all about making great video games. And that is why I love Blizzard...

"This game has found a home in South Korea, where many play it professionally as a spectator sport. It is the most popular professionally played game due to its immense popularity in South Korea, where the best pro-gamers are seen as celebrities." -Wikipedia

Initial Balance: $500.00

Current Balance: $470.38

Cash: $224.82

Stock: (as of post)

35 shares Citigroup $112.70

13 shares Activision/Blizzard $132.86

Total (+/-): $-29.62

-tCT

OH NO!!

I wasn't paying attention to my BRK-B and it already split. Luckily the price has staid relevantly constant, but I should have been paying more attention. Well this changes everything... I thought it would take them longer to split the stock after approval, WRONG! So now they are on the market, and I am not positioned to buy them.

Well, hopefully things will stay stead till Monday, when I will be able to buy them (though I am still undecided as to whether I will). So many things to watch, and so little time to pay attention.

In other news Citi has still reported net gains on the day, though they are coming back down. I have been reading everywhere and no one says whats going on, almost like they are trying not to say whats happening. If I believed in conspiracies I would be worried, but luckily I believe in the irrationality of traders. So there is still an hour left in the trading day, which means an hour left for Citi to further disappoint.

In other other news, everything is dropping like hotcakes, I think I am experiencing my first "sell off".

Initial Balance: $500.00

Current Balance: $480.95

Cash: $366.50

Stock: 35 shares Citigroup $114.45(as of post)

Total (+/-): $-19.05

-tCT

Charles Sch... what?

Sorry things have been a little slow. Accounts take forever to set up... I finally have my Schwab account ready to go, but I still need to transfer money into it, which of course takes times. You would think that with technology these days they could do same day transfers.

I don't know if you have been paying attention, but the fallout from Obama's bank restriction plan continues to spread. I am not sure why, but Citi has not dropped as far as the rest of the financials. I have been looking everywhere as to the reason for this, but I can not find one. After bottoming out at about 3.25, today it is up 3% to 3.37... What the heck? All the news is doom and gloom and how Citi was hit the worst, and yet it is still moving up. Weird.

AMD, a company I have always though could be a great company if only they tried is down 9.12%. This is either a sign of bad times to come, or an excellent time to buy, but with my luck, probably the former. Seeing as how I won't be able to make any trades till Monday, I suppose I will just have to watch and wait.

I feel like I have missed out on a lot of opportunities spending time opening accounts, but then again perhaps I have saved myself from a lot of losses as well... One can never be sure.

Initial Balance: $500.00

Current Balance: $483.75

Cash: $366.50

Stock: 35 shares Citigroup $117.25(as of post)

Total (+/-): $-16.25

-tCT

Sick...

Like me, the stock markets this week have been not feeling well. First banks reported for last quarter, and even though it was better then expected in most cases, stocks have been up and down. Second, the President has decided to regulate banks further by reducing the size of larger banks. Obviously this has people going mad, pulling their money away from large banks (thats what I get for holding Citi...).

Also while I was ill, I started the process of opening a Charles Schwab account. I just couldn't pass up the better features and lower commission. I have my investing money all ready to deposit I just have to wait to link my account. As I am still feeling a bit under the weather, I do not feel like looking at any stocks at the moment. Though I am still planning on buying in the days to come.

"This is not good..."

Initial Balance: $500.00

Current Balance: $482.00

Cash: $366.50

Stock: 35 shares Citigroup $115.50 (as of post)

Total (+/-): $-18.00

The Plague

So after learning too much about the company (Citi) I am invested in, I have decided if I am to get rich it will not be with them. I am going to wait and see what happens this week, and if I can break even I will sell. If I can not break even, I will hold until the lose isn't too bad, and then sell.

This company is awful, if you read about how they are run, and what they are doing... WOW! Honestly, the way they are handling the bailout money, and paying it back (or rather getting tax breaks to pay for paying it back) you would think the bank industry is dying. Oh wait, what's that you say? A majority of the banks who were lent money by the government have paid it back already? Citi is sitting on their thumbs you say? No one you know has even seen a Citi Bank let alone banked at one?

Honestly, I am glad I found such an awful company to do my initial investment with. How else would I learn that your supposed to do your research before you invest instead of after. I don't even care if prices do go up in the future and I miss out on some nice gains, I won't be putting any money into Citi.

"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks" Warren Buffett

We will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

-tCT

MLK Day

In honor of Martin Luther King day, the markets are closed. I am glad because this gives me the opportunity to put the remaining cash I had planned for this project, into my account.

So that brings me to another hurdle. As you know (or don't) I started this project with the intent to trade actively. And while I had to overcome a few hurdles to make this work, it is still my intent to trade. The problem is I have come across an long term investment opportunity that I think would be foolish to pass up, but I don't have any actual investment measures set up, and any investments I make until I do, will be with my active trading account... using my active accounts trading money. Though I am sure I could always invest seriously for now, and then put more money in to continue this project later, that just doesn't seem right...

So what is the investment that I am talking about? Well I can't (and legally do not) make any promises about this but I feel the upcoming months will be an excellent time to invest in Berkshire Hathaway. If you were unsure, Berkshire Hathaway is a little company run by a man named Warren Buffett (currently one of the richest people in the world, if not richest). They have two holdings BRK-A and BRK-B, on the exchange. Because Buffett has a very serious take on investments, and does not want his companies holdings to be activily traded, he never split his shares to decrease the value per share. BRK-A trades at $97,500.00 per share, and BRK-B trades at $3,247.00. These stocks have both had steady gains and in my opinion (which please recall is no opinion at all) are very good investments.

Obviously I could not afford even 1 share of either holding, but thats where this piece of news comes in... BRK-B will soon be splitting 50 for 1. Which means that people who own 1 share currently will soon own 50 shares at roughly $65 a piece. With the price coming down to more modest sums I am thinking it is a good time to invest.

So I will have to decide whether to invest for fun, or for my future... dumb.

Since the markets are closed, no change has been made to my +/-, though with Citi announcing their earnings tomorrow... I am less then excited.

-tCT

....

Today was a very trying day, and it has made me truly reconsider this investing project.

First, I realized the importance of knowing the commission rates on trades, and how those will effect your margins.

Second, I found out that millions of other people use the name clueless trader, which I probably could of and should have figured out before I made this blog, and now I feel compelled to change the name.

And last but not definitely not least, I read this article... Out of the 6 biggest mistakes listed on this article, I was clearly at fault for 4, and partially at fault for another. That means I was making 5 blatant mistakes, and I had only bought 35 shares in one company... That is not good...

I bought Citi cause I heard about it on the news (#2 Following the Heard), I had intended to sell it in the short term (#3 Timing the Market), I had justified my purchase of Citi on past results (#4 Assume More Control Than You Have), I paid a 9.95 to buy $123 worth of shares roughly 8% just to buy (#5 Paying Too Much In Fees), and I "knew" it would pay off... (#1 Overconfidence). The only thing I can not be blamed for is #6 Trusting Brokers, and that is only because I do not have one...

But a man is tested by how he handles adversity, and I am determined to take this at a learning experience and continue. It is better to learn this now, than to have learned it with my life savings. If I want to succeed, I must learn from my mistakes and try to emulate my betters. So with that said, I am somewhat glad that I can not buy any further shares until next week. It will give me all weekend to do more research, and actually know what it is that I am investing in (what a concept!).

So tomorrow I will make a few changes to the blog, and then with the weekend will come a mass amount of research, and further learning on what it is I am actually doing...

Until then...

-

Whats in a name...

Well dang... Did you know there is a 'the clueless g trader' already? Maybe I should have looked haha. Well I don't want to take a name from someone doing the same thing... Even if I do a better job. Well I'll have to think about a name change...

Another Day, Another Lesson

So I realized a major draw back to my small scale trading is that the commission rates ($9.95 per trade Sharebuilder) drastically cut any gains I make on a stock. Just to get out of Citi with no losses I need to sell the shares at $4.10. That is a 16% increase on my purchase price… Sure that doesn’t sound like much, but 16% increase on a stock is huge and I can’t even be sure that it will ever happen (unless I am very lucky). So from here on out, I must consider this $19.90 flat cost in my trades…

Don’t get me wrong; while this is a significant blow to my future trading, I have not lost hope. Its better that I learned this now, then to have sold my Citi at what I thought would be a gain, just to realize a loss.

So my greed has been further refined, though not completely defined. I will have to wait and see with Citi, no point in rushing into a rash decision.

In other news, a little company known as Intel (perhaps you’ve heard of them) just posted decent results. I mean, sure they blasted beyond expected results, but it’s Intel… what else is new.

Sadly there will be no new purchases till next week. Please don’t cry... I promise I will buy more stocks early next week!

“In the world of economics there are gains and there are loses. Gains wanted.”

Initial Balance: $500.00

Current Balance: $489.35

Cash: $366.50

Stock: 35 shares Citigroup $122.85 (as of post)

Total (+/-): $-10.65

-tCT

Well, sir...

I just read an excellent article “How to Fail at Investing in 5 Easy Steps” written by The Motley Fool. I was hoping that I, on my own, was not doing any of those 5 steps… And while I may be at fault for jumping on the Citigroup bandwagon well after its prime, I have not yet fallen into any of the other 5 mistakes… I hope.

Due to my persistent lack of depositing the remaining cash in my account, I have had a lot of time to analyze the stocks I was considering. I am starting to worry about my good friend E*trade. I had hoped that I would get my shares, and then they would go head to head with Schwab on pricing. But up to this point it seems they have no bark, let alone bite. Do I have time, or a dud?

That leads me to Nvidia which is down (as of post), probably because Intel is putting numbers out later today. I am still fairly confident in Nvidia and I am hoping to use it as my anchor in questionable times.

So until someone writes “How to Fail at Investing by Reading theCluelessTrader” I will still feel good and I am having fun trading. Who knew economics could be fun…?

Initial Balance: $500.00
Current Balance: $489.35
Cash: $366.50
Stock: 35 shares Citigroup $122.85 (as of post)
Total (+/-): $-10.65


-tCT

Jumping Ship

So I have been hearing rumors that Charles Schwab has started a price war in the trading market. As price wars are always a good thing for the consumer, I took a look at what they have to offer... Let's just say the simplicity of sharebuild.com is not an industry standard. On sharebuilder you had pretty much two options, buy or sell. You put in the name of the stock, indicated buy or sell, and quantity, it shows you price and DONE.

Well if I want to play with the big boys, it's time I upgrade... Both Schwab and Etrade offer amazing analytical tools and make trading easy. You can set them up to watch stocks for you, so you don't have to sit around to buy or sell (where is the fun in that...). I was leaning towards Schwab because they dropped the commission rate down to a cool $8.95 a trade, which would save me $1 a trade, and I get all the cool features.

Assuming Etrade does not undercut them (I truely hope they do!) by January 19th, when the new pricing is in effect, I will most likely jump ship and join the ranks of other schwabinistas, or is it schwabians?

In the mean time Citigroup is down to 3.50 as of closing. People are nervous about the feds decision on the "bank tax" tomorrow I'll wager, so I am debating to buy anything further until that subsides. Perhaps it will drop the industry across the board, making for a lower/riskier buy of Etrade all the more interesting.

I am looking at Nvidia (NVDA) as a possible start to my tech. Strong company, and you know sooner or later they are going to put out their new GPU's which will blow ATI out of the water.

"Business it's the AMERICAN way!"

(Sam Eagle, Muppet's Christmas Carole)

Initial Balance: $500.00

Current Balance: $489.00

Cash: $366.50

Stock: 35 shares Citigroup $122.50 (as of post)

Total (+/-): $-11.00

-tCT

Banking Tax...

So with the new day comes news of a “bank tax” to be defined later this month. So because people are easily frightened, my poor Citigroup (C) stocks were down but are coming back (as of post). I am expecting a quick dip now followed by a timid increase, just prior to tax announcement, and then hold my breathe and wait for the fallout of the announcement.

Due to a user error with my Sharebuilder account (ie I haven’t deposited the rest of the cash I promised to this project), I have to hold off on buying my good friend E*Trade (ETFC). I am excited to see though that it has staid relatively constant. E*Trade as you may or may not recall, was not granted money by TARP. This point, I hope, will see to it they aren’t hit too hard by the White House demand for blood (and their money back) from the industry.

So I must wait, wait until I get paid… The next stock on my docket is going to be in a non banking sector, most likely technology. As the good people at Wu Tang Clan Financial always say “you need to diversify your bonds…” I'll just assume they mean stock too.

Initial Balance: $500.00
Current Balance: $490.40
Cash: $366.50
Stock: 35 shares Citigroup $123.90 (as of post)
Total (+/-): $-9.60

-tCT

Learning Time...

So apparently there are a few things I needed to know about trading. First, the trading day starts at 6 AM (PST) and ends 1 PM. I would wager that this is a hold over from the old days, because you can still trade during "after hours". Why they need the distinction is beyond me... maybe keeping data on 24 hours of trading was just too much.

Personally I think it skews information, because after hour trading does not seem to be recorded (Please correct me if I am wrong). So as of this post my after hour Citigroup shares are at 3.54 a share (up $0.01 from my buy price), oh life is good!'

Another note, apparently when you buy/sell shares, there is a 3 day delay. So if you buy stock on Monday, you don't technically have it until Thursday. You still buy it for the price you agreed upon, but don't have immediate possession of it. Same for sales, if you sell a stock, the sale is actually made 3 days later (ie you don't get money for 3 days).



Now some of you might wonder, as I did, what if you buy something and then decide to sell it that day? Well no problem, you buy it for an agreed price, and then sell it for another agreed price. You come into possession 3 days after purchase, and then it leaves you 3 days after sales. This too I am told is a hold over from when stocks were pieces of paper needing to be physically moved. This also facilitates "selling short", but this is over my head, so I won't discuss it yet.

So anyway as I previously mentioned, I have been doing research into E*Trade. It seems to have a good history and after reading up about their recent troubles, I am glad to see they are getting away from the mortgage industry that brought them down. We will see if I still feel that way come buying day.

I apologize for the wordiness, but no one said learning was easy... I hope to integrate graphs and other things into my posts soon.

My First Trade

Last week I decided I wanted to try my hand at trading. Since I am poor, and not too much of a fool, I set aside $500 to trade as I saw fit. I consider this money a loss, so if I make some stupid mistakes, thats alright.

As of today, I am the proud owner of 35 shares of Citigroup Bank (C). I bought these shares at $3.53 pre share, with a 9.95 commission to Sharebuilder.com. Sharebuilder is pretty easy to use, and once the money was transfered to my account, I made the trade in about 5 minutes. The process is almost too easy...

When all was said and done, I was given this receipt and am now the proud owner of 35 shares of C. I chose citigroup because I have a firm belief that sooner or later the market will turn around, and citigroup will still be there when it does. I have not yet found the limit of my greed, so who knows at what point I will sell.

As of this post, I have already lost $.01 a share...

Initial Balance: $500.00

Current Balance: $489.70

Cash: $366.50

Stock: 35 shares Citigroup $123.20 (as of post)

Total (+/-): $-10.30

With the next post, will come more transactions, I'm looking at you Etrade (another long run possibility).