Thursday, August 03, 2006

I-Buys

Just a heads-up here, for the first time in a long time, Insider-Buys are coming fast and furious, and more importantly, seem to be working more consistenly then they have in many moons. HTCH a huge winner today, along with a few others. Could bode well for general market a few steps down the road.

A

14 comments:

ilene said...

Another large one today, wbsn.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Harris:

You said:

"...seem to be working more consistenly then they have in many moons."

Can I take this to mean that this is an ASTROLOGY- based system? Does the efficacy of this system correlate to lunar cycles? Is Norman Winski involved?

Professor John Kercheval
Washington

A said...

Re: "Dear Mr. Harris"

I hold a Juris Doctor degree and an LLM in Taxation. Thus, you should refer to me Doctor Master......or is it Master Doctor?

A

Anonymous said...

Master Doctor:

My apologies.

I say again: Do you admit to using lunar cycles in your trading? And is "Stormin'" Norman Winski a trusted aide & colleague?

John Kercheval
Washington

A said...

I say again: Do you admit to using lunar cycles in your trading?

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

A

Anonymous said...

From the For What It's Worth Department:

I've been tracking all of Sally's hits for today (those that came out after close yesterday and through the day today.) As of 3 pm today, here's where thing stand:

1. There have been 17 stock hits, some from multiple i-buys, most notably IOM with three buys from three different insiders.

2. All but two of the 17 hits are profitable.

3. Six out of the 17 are 5 percent gains or better. All but one of those had a 40 percent pop score or better.

4. The best gainer so far, NEU currently 11.16%, was the worst rated of those best five with only a 27% pop score.

A said...

Joe,

Thanks for your kind words. As for the "Professor," don't worry, he's cool. Played football for Stanford. How much cooler can one be? Regarding Sally, as I said at the very beginning of this experiment, it takes a little time to get the feel for these i-buys, which ones are more likely to work, how they work, how they don't work. By now, those who have stuck with her should be in a great position to take advanage of what Sally has to offer.

A

Anonymous said...

Any I-Buyers out there who aren't fast trigger finger gun slingers but still finding a way to play these?

I am not able to plays these the second Sally sends out the email and have found that by the time I place my order, the day traders are already taking their profits - FROM ME! I feel like I am just feeding the beast.

If anyone has a winning I-Buy strategy for slow pokes like me, please share your wisdom.

Greg Reiman

Anonymous said...

Greg,

Here's what's been working for me. I look at Sally's top hits that come out after the market closes, but before the opening the next day, and play one or two of those first thing.

Then you can just put a limit order into sell at whatever your particular theshold is - I'm trying to discipline myself to sell at 5 percent -- and just let it ride. No quick trigger fingers neccessary.

For example, IOM was a no-brainer this morning with three Sally hits from three insiders each rated between 82-92 percent. I had market order in before the market opened, bought at $2.40 and sold an hour later at $2.53.

I've had less success in my mid terms. I bought GTN and CAMP after they popped awhile back. GTN is down overall and camp is only just today recovering.

Hope any of that is helpful.

Jon

A said...

Greg, You raise a good point. One of my mentors on I-Buying, one who only trades I-buys for a living, uses a different strategy for entries. He waits for all the gun-slingers (as you describe us) to finish their buying and looks for a lull, or dip, in momentum, sometimes all the way back to close to the original price before the Alerts went out. Then he enters the trade, looking to hold for at least 4 days. I haven't tried this approach, but have noticed that it seems to work more often then not. It may be worth a try.

A

Anonymous said...

Allan & Jon:

Thanks for your replies.

Jon, if you put your order for IOM in before the open, how is it you didn't get filled at the higher price in the first few minutes? It appears to me that it would have been hard to make a profit today if you had got filled a minute or two sooner.

Allan, I do vaugely remember a previous discussion about waiting until the last hour of trading to look for an entry as the day traders are going flat for the day, then holding for two or three more days. I will try a little testing on that strategy.

Thanks guys.

Greg

Anonymous said...

Greg,

I'm not sure I understand your question.

IOM closed yesterday at $2.36. I bought about 1500 shares at the opening price today of $2.40. It shot up to 2.53 within a few minutes and then bounced around a bit. I didn't get my sell limit order in for the first spike (I was being greedy, thinking it was going to really take off) but made it in time for the second spike (listening, thankfully, to my wife's good counsel to, you know, actually stick to our plan to just get in early and get out at 5 percent.)

The lull that Allan mentions came with this, as well. You could have gotten in just as low midday and sold just as high during the third spike at 3 pm. But, of course, this is just one example.

Jon

Anonymous said...

A few of my notes before trading begins today:

1. ZHNE has the highest pop score of the 15 stocks that Sally raised an eyebrow to between close of market yesterday and this morning. This is now the fourth purchase by the company director since june 15 for a total of 2.3m.

2. Yet another DOW insider is buying, marking the seventh i-buy since July 31 from a wide variety of insiders within the company. In that time, shares have gone up steadily by about $1.50.

3. The director of OXGN buys his fourth crop of stocks since July 31 in this round.

A note about me: I am a total newbie to all this. Whatever comments I offer are as much with the hope that some guru like Allan will correct my misguided perceptions as be of use to someone else.

Jon

Jon

Anonymous said...

Hi, Greg,

"Any I-Buyers out there who aren't fast trigger finger gun slingers but still finding a way to play these?"


If the insider buy information comes out during the trading day, and the stock is already significantly up, I typically pass. These do not usually work out well for me, and I haven't figured out a way to know in advance, except the size of the buy in relation to the amount the stock is already up is one thing to consider. Another important factor is liquidity, which could work either way.


"I am not able to plays these the second Sally sends out the email and have found that by the time I place my order, the day traders are already taking their profits - FROM ME! I feel like I am just feeding the beast."


I've done that, bought and watched the stock drop from there. Then, there's an impulse to sell when you see the trade isn't working out. This impulse is strongest right before it turns around and goes back up. If you decide to hold on and wait for the stock to go back up, for some reason that decreases the odds. But that could also be the best time to buy. Our friend who's been doing this for a long time suggested waiting 15 minutes to get in when the fastest traders are taking profits. I don't know if there's someone(s) much faster than all of us, or if it's a mechanical system, but there does seem to be large quicker buyers and they dump the stock very quickly, imo from watching the charts. Watch the prices the stock's trading at, that gives you a clue.


Hope all is well with you.

Ilene