REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

bossxx · 08-03-2006, 10:31 PM

I just put a little buy order in for MLXO. Hopefully it goes thru tomorrow morning. I'll be up bright and early to check on it

This is my first trade since 2001!

It's really exciting to be back. I love this stuff.

WTB: BLACKBERRY 8700R.

ws6ta - where did you find a 2 yr chart?

edit: nvm found one.

ws6ta · 08-03-2006, 11:27 PM

www.bigcharts.com

skinneh · 08-09-2006, 02:48 AM

I have a quick question ( tries not to derail the thread )

Im most likely gonna open a forex live account within the next month. How do taxes come into play? I should probably just head to my bank and ask them, but i figured someone might have some good links for me to read.. that way i have a little bit of information.

bossxx · 08-09-2006, 03:32 PM

GO MLXO..

They are hoping to get back on the OTCBB by mid september.. hope to see it go up around then.

freakshow · 08-11-2006, 08:03 PM

i'm a total n00b at this, but i wanna start getting into it, and i've been trying to do a bit of reading..
a couple of things...

1) I think I know the difference between a margin account and a cash account, but which one should I go for? i read on fool.com that cash is best (or most recommended at least), but i hear other people saying margin is better.

2) There are tons of brokers to go through. I have a bank account and credit card with TD. Should i use TD waterhouse as well? their prices seem to be more than other sites. i think they're about 29 per trade. ws6ta, you get them at $10?
or should i go through another site like ameritrade or etrade? would it be worth the convenience to go with td? or will it make a difference on who i go with?

ws6ta · 08-11-2006, 10:00 PM

ameritrade got bought out by td waterhouse so now your options are lowered...theres a few other brokerages out there but I think to get the lower amounts they may require that you need to have a large $$ amount in your account. and yes I get $9.99 trades.

For someone new defenetly go with a cash account...if you go with a margin and lets say you have 20 thousand margin and 20 thousand cash...if you lose 50% on somethin your basically at 0 dollars..while if you were using cash only you could have at least had 10 grand left to try to make it back...

then again margin is better if you plan on buying puts/calls etc.

freakshow · 08-11-2006, 10:12 PM

ok, sounds good.. i guess a cash account is better for n00bs like me.
what about a good place to start trading with?
i like td because i'm familiar with them.
etrade has better rates.
credential has no inactivity fee.

any suggestions or advice for me?

bossxx · 08-11-2006, 11:47 PM

Im using credential and its going good. Trades are $25 and they have a cap so you never get into crazy figures for a trade. Just check thier rates on their websites, they have comparison. My dad uses TD tho and he likes it. Just do some research.

ws6ta · 08-12-2006, 12:40 AM

i'd go with td...orders will get filled faster with td too...lot of people have nightmares selling with etrade when a stock really starts to fly down....spend a few dollars now to save thousands in the future...its a hassle switching accounts afterwards

McDick · 08-12-2006, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by freakshow
i'm a total n00b at this, but i wanna start getting into it, and i've been trying to do a bit of reading..
a couple of things...

1) I think I know the difference between a margin account and a cash account, but which one should I go for? i read on fool.com that cash is best (or most recommended at least), but i hear other people saying margin is better.

2) There are tons of brokers to go through. I have a bank account and credit card with TD. Should i use TD waterhouse as well? their prices seem to be more than other sites. i think they're about 29 per trade. ws6ta, you get them at $10?
or should i go through another site like ameritrade or etrade? would it be worth the convenience to go with td? or will it make a difference on who i go with?

If you have all your accounts with TD, go with TD Waterhouse! It's a lot easier if you want to transfer funds within accounts.
I use TD because all my accounts are tied up with them, and I can get the funding within 3 days if I need cash badly.

starglazer · 08-13-2006, 12:04 AM

Being with TD doesn't mean TD is more convenient. Although TD is the only bank that I see where in downtown Vancouver they have a TD Waterhouse firm with free newspapers and tickers on the site specifically for investors.

ALL brokerage firms use Electronic Funds Transfer. It is free unlike wiring. I use credentialdirect. I login to my credentialdirect acccount and select transfer from chequing account. The brokerage firm automatically links your banking account to your account when you sign up. It takes 1 business day and i can trade the next day using that $$$.

ALWAYS SIGN UP FOR MARGIN ACCOUNT AND SAY YOU ARE NOT A NEWBIE INVESTOR.
There is a settlement date with all investing account. Every buy/sell order takes 3 days for the money to be available in your account. With a cash account you cannot daytrade and/or active trade conveniently.

EX) I buy 10,000 shares of MLXO at $0.07 on August 14. If I had a cash account I cannot put a sell order until August 17 the settlement date. What if on August 15 MLXO went to $0.08, August 16 it dropped to $0.03 and on August 17 it dropped to $0.04 cents. Now it's August 17 and you put a sell order for $0.08 cents to make profit. Highly unlikely that it will go back up there from $0.04.

With a MARGIN ACCOUNT you can place order to sell MLXO on the same DAY you bought it.

So unless you are into medium/long term trading. I recommend not going into those unless you are rich and invest in banks, big companies that have stock over >$10/share to begin with.
Otherwise go back to your 4% GIC, ING DIRECT savings account.

bossxx · 08-13-2006, 02:40 AM

starglazer thanks for the tip. When signing up with Credential I did not use the Margin account. Can I change anytime I want? I need to trade on the minute so this is very important to me. Penny stocks are wild and you cannot wait 3 days to make a trade like you said in your example..

freakshow · 08-13-2006, 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by starglazer
ALWAYS SIGN UP FOR MARGIN ACCOUNT AND SAY YOU ARE NOT A NEWBIE INVESTOR.

Thanks for the tip starglazer.
So if a margin account is that much better, what are the drawbacks of using a margin account vs a cash account? (if any?)
ie. why would anyone NOT use a margin account? even if they were medium/long term trading?
are there extra fees or something?

McDick · 08-13-2006, 08:32 AM

But margin account charges you a lot of interests if you don't have the money to pay off! It's all up to the investor how much risk he wants to take.

If you want to daytrade on penny stocks, good luck! Some are successful, but penny stocks can take a bad turn and kill you. Don't forget, you have to pay off the difference with a margin account! Cash account, you can lose the amount you invested. But for margin account, who knows the limit if you are not watching the stock market daily.

Another 9-11 terrorist attack can wipe out your savings in one day!

Invest what you can afford to lose. Owning the bank money isn't the best thing to do.

Djiban · 08-13-2006, 09:25 AM

what's a good way to invest a $3000 money?

starglazer · 08-13-2006, 09:55 AM

To redliine: I believe you have to resignup.

To:freakshow
1) Temptation: You can use 50% more buying power from the money you have if you overuse your own money.
2) Credit Check: They did a hard credit check on me like if I was applying for a line of credit, credit card, mortage etc. It will hurt your score a bit but who cares really unless you want to mortage a new house within the next year.
3) Margin Calls: If you use their money and the stock falls below a certain price. For credential direct you can only use your margin on stocks over >$1.50 if the stock you buy falls under $1.50 you have 3 days to sell your stocks so that you give them back the money they lent you.
4) Option trading: I have no experience in this department but you basically buy a contract at a set price and you have to sell it at a certain time limit
5) Shorting/Selling shares you don't have: Sometimes this strategy works great. NORTEL (NT) has been shorted for years once the .com market crashed. SHorting means you believe the stock will go down in price. Then you rebuy it later to cover the shares you sold.

To:McDick
1) Interest Rate: For CredentialDirect, interest rate is compounded monthly so just sell enough shares so that you gave them back their money. That way $0 INTEREST. If not interest rate is prime+1 (7%) just like a line of credit. Way cheaper than using a cash advance from VISA/MASTERCARD to borrow money where it is compounded daily mostly at 18.5%

2) Having a margin account does not mean you have to use their money. Just use the amount you deposit if you feel insecure with your money.

3) Most penny stocks are violatile. Sometimes the 3 day settling period can really screw you over. So if you think keeping a penny stock long term is a good idea, cool, but I'm not going to risk it.

starglazer · 08-13-2006, 10:01 AM

Quote:

what's a good way to invest a $3000 money?

High Risk: Go buy a penny stock. Put $1500 each into 2 penny stock.
Medium Risk: Mutual Funds
Low Risk: GIC or ING DIRECT savings account. (4%/$120/yr with your $3000)

All 3 I believe is taxable income so if you make over the >$8200 limit you pay tax.

McDick · 08-13-2006, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by starglazer
To redliine: I believe you have to resignup.

To:McDick
1) Interest Rate: For CredentialDirect, interest rate is compounded monthly so just sell enough shares so that you gave them back their money. That way $0 INTEREST. If not interest rate is prime+1 (7%) just like a line of credit. Way cheaper than using a cash advance from VISA/MASTERCARD to borrow money where it is compounded daily mostly at 18.5%

2) Having a margin account does not mean you have to use their money. Just use the amount you deposit if you feel insecure with your money.

3) Most penny stocks are violatile. Sometimes the 3 day settling period can really screw you over. So if you think keeping a penny stock long term is a good idea, cool, but I'm not going to risk it.

I am not into penny stocks at all! I don't have the whole day sitting in front of the computer while doing my day job.
Penny stocks are too risky for me! I rather go to casino betting on Player or Banker! (50/50 chance)

Most of my investments are into Oil stocks. They have pretty good return on me over the past 2 years! It's a safe bet right now in the market.

I would say I won't jump into market with less than $5000.

I am just wondering how many successful stories from buying Penny Stocks?

Maybe starglazer is a good timing investor, but too much risk and effort are needed for penny stocks!
I rather do my investing based on my research and reading the chart. I looked closly on stocks that are near 52-wk high and at the 50 MA line.

bossxx · 08-13-2006, 12:09 PM

My penny stock story.

Bought @ .04

- 6 weeks later -

Sold @ .65

EDIT: Also my dad paid off his mortgage thanks to penny stocks.

McDick · 08-13-2006, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redliine
My penny stock story.

Bought @ .04

- 6 weeks later -

Sold @ .65

EDIT: Also my dad paid off his mortgage thanks to penny stocks.

You must be making close to hundred of thousand right now then.
But please don't tell me you and your dad never lost from penny stocks!

Yes, big risk = big return!!

starglazer · 08-13-2006, 12:31 PM

You don't have to sit on the computer all day. I go to school full time so I setup stock alerts on my cellphone so once a certain price or volume reaches it alerts me.

I won some I lose some. With penny stocks I find that looking at charts or technical analysis is useless. More like volume and news is the key.

I'd rather play stocks than go into a casino with pocket Ace and still lose. I think $3000-$4000 is the maximum you should put into 1 penny stock that way $0.01 can mean $100-$200 dollar.

bossxx · 08-13-2006, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by McDick
You must be making close to hundred of thousand right now then.
But please don't tell me you and your dad never lost from penny stocks!

Yes, big risk = big return!!

I've only invested once and that was my story. I just recently started investing again.

I am not making hundreds of thousands of dollars. My dad made like around 60k to pay off the remainder of his mortgage. My dad has more investment experience than myself, and yea of course he has lost on penny stocks.

McDick · 08-13-2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by starglazer
You don't have to sit on the computer all day. I go to school full time so I setup stock alerts on my cellphone so once a certain price or volume reaches it alerts me.

I won some I lose some. With penny stocks I find that looking at charts or technical analysis is useless. More like volume and news is the key.

I'd rather play stocks than go into a casino with pocket Ace and still lose. I think $3000-$4000 is the maximum you should put into 1 penny stock that way $0.01 can mean $100-$200 dollar.

Different people have different views. With penny stocks, you either win big or lose big. It's like 50/50 chance either way.
Anyways, good luck to you!

To Redliine:
If your story is true, you made 65K already based on $4000 invested! That's pretty good. Like I said, penny stocks are not for everyone, especially for newbies.
You guys should conside playing OPTIONS too! It's just predicting how the stock will be like in coming months.

freakshow · 08-13-2006, 05:28 PM

ok, thanks guys.
So far, correct my if i'm wrong, but i have this:

investing with TD will be only slightly more convenient, in that i am able to see all of my accounts (bank, visa, investments) in one area.
other than that, it doesnt matter who i use as a broker, its all the same, so i should probably just find the broker with the cheapest rates? (maybe lowest inactivity fee for me?)

and
i should always sign up for a margin account, because the only draw back is that i could kill myself if i'm not careful with my (or their) money.
If i sign up for a margin account, and only use money i know i have, it differs in no way from a cash account, except transactions fall through faster.
I won't have to pay interest on anything, unless i explicitly choose to use their money, instead of mine; but i could never be in that position, if i didnt want to, and use my own money the whole time.

did i get most of that right?

bossxx · 08-13-2006, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by McDick
Different people have different views. With penny stocks, you either win big or lose big. It's like 50/50 chance either way.
Anyways, good luck to you!

To Redliine:
If your story is true, you made 65K already based on $4000 invested! That's pretty good.

My first investment was only $1,000 USD.

I wish it was more lol..

Currently im trading with $7,500 USD.