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Posted By: Donn from Omaha <des949@jlink.net>
Friday, 17 May 2002, at 3:58 p.m.
I'm looking for a
part-time opportunity to develop and supplement my income when I retire. What I
need is an all-hours source of business...a "doormat client" whose
needs can be attended to at whatever hour of day (or night) my schedule permits.
The biggest obstacle is
that I have virtually no control over my schedule; I'm a railroad brakeman who
can be called to work at any hour of the day or night. I'm often away from home
for several days at a stretch, and the only time I'm not on call is within the
10-hour rest-period after I finish a trip.
Furthermore, the hours
when I am rested and free often come at a time not convenient to meeting and
dealing with the public.
On the positive side, I
do have a college degree (in Business Administration, some years ago), have read
extensively, and am well-familiarized with both the Internet and various
archival- and information-related enterprises.
I have, in the past,
pursued a number of part-time opportunities, such as tax preparation, with
moderate success, but I know my best opportunity would in a specialty without
the constraints of an appointment book.
BUYANDHOLD.COM
Posted By: Mel. White <cyberwizard@spamcop.net>
Friday, 17 May 2002, at 8:45 p.m.
In
Response To: Can't
Control my Schedule (Donn from Omaha)
We're sort of in the same
boat. One of the things I do (successfully) is what Patricia does: I buy stocks
through BUYANDHOLD.COM
As long as you can check
your account once a day to sell things that are dropping too fast or make good
purchases and as long as you put (regularly) $20-$200 each month into the
account, you can do well.
Particularly since you
did accounting.
For stock picks, I use
the stock pickers on Yahoo.com or on Quicken.com. I joined Motley Fool and track
the stocks they recommend (I found Marketwatch wasn't that good since the
reviewers tended to be VERY biased to one industry.)
Your chances of making
money in the market (2-20%) are good. I've had months where I've done as well as
30% (for one month, of course.)
Stocks have these
advantages:
* you can do them even when you're sick (unlike a business, when if you're not
selling, you're not making income.)
* you can trade on your own schedule.
* you don't have to go sell something to someone.
* you've got an "insider knowledge" of one of the big industries
(transportation) and would know what's hot and what's doing well. (I have this
advantage with tech stuff.)
* it's interesting.
* no appointments or clients to please (THEY have to please YOU!)
* the failure rate is lower than the failure rate for MLM or regular business.
* do NOT get into trading futures or doing day trading.
It's not for everyone. I
like the idea that I can come home, even if I'm dog-dead tired, and not have to
try and sell something to someone. I just wave my orders at Sharebuilder.com
(another good one) or Buyandhold.com and go off and watch tv or do something
that brings me in some more money.
If you go into it, decide
how much to spend, and do research (and a practice portfolio) while you set up
your account (takes a week or so.) But, frankly, I think it'll be a much better
option for you than trying to sell something with your schedule being so spotty.
Posted By: Joe Cooper <JosephCooper22@hotmail.com>
Friday, 17 May 2002, at 9:07 p.m.
In
Response To: I
do have a suggestion (Mel. White)
Mel.,
Sounds like you're "dollar cost averaging", in that you consistently
deposit around the same amount into stocks on a regular basis, except for the
fact that you sell when the market starts to dip. You said that it's possible to
invest $20-$200 monthly and make some good side money. Can you tell me a little
bit more about how you do it and how much I could conservatively expect to make
by doing the type of research you do and investing the aforementioned amounts?
Joe
PS It sounds like you've got a pretty good system for investing. Have you
considered taking what you've learned about investing and putting it into a
little how-to booklet?
Posted By: Mel. White <cyberwizard@spamcop.net>
Monday, 20 May 2002, at 4:19 p.m.
In
Response To: You've
piqued my interest Mel. (Joe Cooper)
Actually, even Motley
Fool admitted it wasn't that good when you had as nasty a market as we've had.
You could have been "dollar cost averaging" Enron, as many were.
Here's what I do (it's so
simple it's dumb):
1) look at the chart. If
it's whippy (bounces up and down lots), don't consider it. If it's sliding down,
don't buy it. Yeah, you might be picking up a bargain, but as they say
"it's not a good idea to try and catch a falling knife."
2) look at the
financials. Are all the numbers (ROE ROI, etc) positive? If not, don't bother
with it.
3) is the stock price
sliding upward and has been going upward for 9 months or more? That's a
'consider buying it' stock.
4) Has the company
reported a good last quarter? That means it might be a keeper.
5) Check it out on
Quicken. Is it a relatively strong company for its sector and has it been
outperforming its sector? Another mark of a keeper.
6) Does it pay a
dividend? Woo hoo -- all that and the above and it's a keeper.
I put the
"keepers" in a practice portfolio and when one of my stocks starts to
have a bad month, I sell it and replace it with a keeper (after rechecking to
see that nothing's changed.)
PORTFOLIO RULES:
Once the profit hits 25%, sell the darling to lock in the profits. If you still
like it, wait till it has a downish day and rebuy it.
Set a "sell"
limit... no matter HOW much you like it. If it drops more than 20%, get your
money out and put it elsewhere. Then when it goes back up you can buy again.
You're permitted to have
one "pity buy" as long as you don't spend too much on it. My favorite
"pity buy" is Palm (I own several and love them). Now... I've made
money on Palm, buying when it hits about $2.50 (it wibbles lotss) and selling
when it reaches $3.00. $60 worth of stock at $2.50/share can make a nice little
piece of change at $3 or $3.50.
(g) There are so many
gurus out there who do this, that I don't see what I'm doing as real magic. Some
of them have more successful portfolios. I'm just a small time investor making
money that the big guys would scoff at... but it's a pretty painless way of
investing. Currently my best performing stocks are OHB, RTN, YUM, and VAL. YUM's
performed consistantly well for about a year. A former "star" was AWK,
which has done poorly in recent times, and which I did sell for a VERY tiny
profit.
Posted By: Bill
Tuesday, 21 May 2002, at 7:38 a.m.
In
Response To: No,
I'm not dollar cost averaging. That'd KILL you in this market!! (Mel. White)
Thank you for the
detailed response, Mel. You betcha that dollar cost averaging would've killed ya
in the past 12 months! Your approach makes a lot more sense and it's much safer.
Even though you refer to yourself as a small time investor, I can tell you, as a
licensed Series 7 & 63 stockbroker myself, you've got a heck of a lot more
knowledge than some of the folks you've got a heck of a lot more knowledge than
some of the folks I've worked with, who have all the fancy titles on their
business card. Nice job and thanks for sharing!
Posted By: Bob Henry <bob_henry38@hotmail.com>
Tuesday, 21 May 2002, at 2:35 p.m.
In
Response To: No,
I'm not dollar cost averaging. That'd KILL you in this market!! (Mel. White)