Today is a strange day in the market. The markets started down today, but are recovering. But, if you look at the rankings of the stockmarket simulation, you'll notice that those participants who haven't bought any stocks are doing better than those who did!
I thought I'd let you know what's happening with my portfolio. Yesterday, Altair Nanotechnologies in Reno, NV, released their quarterly earnings report. They had significantly higher earnings than they had predicted. Before yesterday the stock was hovering around $3.08 a share. I had bought it originally at $3.13. The report caused the stock to shoot up to $3.70. For some reason I sensed that this must be an anomaly and after a few hours of mulling it over, I put a stop-loss sell order for ALTI at $3.20 - meaning if the stock dropped down to $3.20, the "broker" would automatically sell it. Well, this morning, it opened at $3.24 and kept sinking. Fortunately, I'm out at $3.20 (a small gain). Right now, the stock is trading at $3.08 again. This article from the Motley Fool shed some light on these fluctuations.
I'm taking the money I made on ALTI and putting it into Amgen. Their stock has been the only one in my portfolio that has maintained a positive upward trend. I've put a buy-limit of $61.90 on the stock - meaning the "broker" will buy it when it reaches that price. It's currently trading at $62.02.
Not everything is coming up roses. Ford is destroying most of my portfolio. I bought it at $9.95 and it is currently trading at $9.33. That's over a 6% loss! I've put a stop-loss sell order on ford of $9.17. When it reaches that level, I'll take the loss of 8% and buy something else. I'm hoping it doesn't get to that.
I'd love to hear other people's ideas on this simulation. Make a quick post and let us all know how you are doing. Or post a comment here and let me know what the next great stock is!
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