Keep it simple, stupid

My account now has over 50% growth from when the contest began almost a month ago. I am very pleased with my results over such a short period of time, and I credit my success to KISS; Keep it simple stupid!! I have seen quite a few investors try to tie in tons of different factors, lines, graphs, charts, formulas, etc. into finding a successful trade to make. After over three years of successful trading, I have come to find that as time goes on, my strategy is growing simpler and simpler, not more complex. Though this may be confusing to some people, the main factors I take into consideration when making a trade (in order of importance) are:

1. The overall Market (NASDAQ and S & P 500 only) – Based on Accumulation and Distribution, I can get a good read on its overall standing.


2. Where the stock is relative to the 50-day Moving Average – A horribly undervalued indicator in my mind, this line is the key to a lot of my great successes not only in my simulators but also in real life.


3. Accumulation/Distribution of the stock – If the market is bullish, find a stock under accumulation, if the market is bearish, look for a lot of distribution; simple as that.


4. News – What is going on within the stock? When will earnings be posted next? Is there anything big that may cause the stock to jump one way or another?

Now, though there are other factors I take into consideration when making a decision on a stock, these are the greatest in my mind. At the age of 15 when I started learning how to trade, I looked through literally tens of thousands of charts. I strived to get an overall feel for how the market works and why stocks would move in the patterns they did. One day I hope to write a book on all of this, but for now this is what I can share.

Putting a cap on this blabbing, strive to keep it simple!! Try new things, experiment with new strategies, but don’t overwhelm yourself with too much. The basic decision making skills you apply in every day living can be applied to the stock market to make huge gains. And, like anything you confront in every day living, there is no failure in trying.

I covered half my short position in BOT, and I will most likely cover the rest by the end of the day. This will put me at most likely just over $150,000 in account worth, and I will go looking for the next play. The market has had two accumulation days the past two days, and it is very much in a strong rally. I wonder if I will be buying or selling short next time around…

To the future,