lastclaire4:


Some called me just from Ireland just after I finished typing and she said yes I could trade on stock options. She asked me if I needed help. I told her i will go through and get back to her if necessary.

I decided to find out somethings on YouTube and decided to see how it works. But what I found was not encouraging. A woman actually talked about how they operate, going by what she said, in my opinion people should stay away from it. You can watch the video using this link.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ7dRo3HlNQ

Damn that's a scathing review. I guess buyer beware.

OakPearl:
Wow, just gotback from a very busy schedule guys!
Very pleased to see the house buzzing with great knowledge sharing and valuable incite from our wonderful resource persons.
Big ups to YerYer, 4play, lafuria1, thesilentone and everyone for the excellent job here.

One thing I know is with the right knowledge shared comes the value created from informed investment decisions which will ultimately translate to healthy bank accounts for forum members.
Happy investing guys.

Cool bro. Welcome back

thesilentone:


Yes, I use Tradestation for options but I don't live in Nigeria that is why I couldn't respond to their questions. I've just had a look and realised Tradestation only allow 6 African countries - Togo, South Africa, Malawi, Mauritius, Cape Verde & Senegal. If I come across any brokerage firm that allows Nigerians, I'll be sure to put it up.

@YerYer I have picked up ideas from your posts on here, like I pick up points from everyone who posts on here. Keep up your good work, it is much appreciated.

Thanks bro. I saw one broker called Avatrade, looks like they allow Nigerians to trade options but I'm not sure.

thesilentone:

Just to add to the body of knowledge on this thread regarding how to pick/spot stocks. I have a different approach to picking stocks - there is no right or wrong way - this is just my way. I don't reside in the US but grateful for access to their market.
Given the HUGE number of companies on their market, finding the right companies could be tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack. So, my process is to look at companies I can easily understand using 3 criteria that is applicable to everyone: Passions, Money & Talent.
I find my companies by analysing how I interact with these three and the sweet spot is always where these 3 intersect (Venn Diagram)
Passion - What do I enjoy doing? What's my profession? What sectors have I worked in before? Which industry/industries? Who are the market leaders?
Money - Where do I spend my money? Where do I make my money from?
Talent - What am I great at?
Create a watchlist of 2 companies per question (Market leader 1 & 2), total 6 companies. Get familiar with their 10K
For me, stock business is very personal apart from making money which is ALWAYS very nice. My mentor would say find companies that have meaning to you, have a great moat, buy at a margin of safety and have great management (esp the CEO).
I check their debt levels - superb management of good companies often have low levels of debt. I avoid the talking heads on TV (sorry YerYer) because they feed optimism & pessimism in equal doses. Finally, I have a lot of patience before plunging for a stock after due diligence. This is my long term strategy.

These are solid points. Very thorough and it should help screen for quality companies to invest in. I also don't base my decisions solely on TV recommendations but I still listen to them because they might bring up an interesting perspective to invest or avoid a company. Based on their commentaries, I might look up the company's fundamentals, chart, and recent news to decide what to do next.

Lastly, I remember you said you use Tradestation to buy options. Many people here have asked about buying stock options from Nigeria, maybe you can enlighten them.

Target (TGT) is a major retailer just like Walmart. They reported an explosive increase in online traffic in their recent earnings a few days ago. We've seen many online retailers benefiting from the national lockdown such as Amazon (AMZN), Etsy (ETSY) and Pinterest (PINS). I just bought some shares and call option of this company Stitch Fix (SFIX); they are an online personalized styling service company. Basically they will obtain your measurements and quiz you on your style of clothes; you pay a subscription fee and they pick out and ship clothes that fit your profile. I believe they should also benefit from the pandemic because even if the government reopens the economy, so many people will be scared to immediately step into stores. This is a volatile stock, it can move up or down quick. It's current stock price is $16.45, I may hold till $17 or $18 but there's also a possibility it might drop to $14 where I will sell off completely.

Just bought some Kimberly-Clark (KMB) shares. This company manufactures a range of personal care products such as baby wipes, diapers, tissue papers, napkins and related products. This stock was recommended by Jim Cramer on his CNBC show Mad Money. It is currently above its 200-day moving average with a MACD above 0. I'm not expecting this stock to move up quickly; infact a better entry point will be around $149.43 and will most likely sell at $159

I just bought back some more shares of Inovio pharmaceuticals (INO). This is one of OakPearl's favourite stock. Made some money on the option but il now buying the shares, I believe it has more legs to run. One analyst has a price target of $35! I set a sell order at $8 to take me out. Trade carefully.

YerYer:
Our beloved stock Zoom Video (ZM) is getting trashed. NY attorney general is investigating the company for some privacy issues. With the recent surge in new customers, the company is struggling to keep up with providing support and people are waiting on long queues before getting help. They went from 10 million daily active users in January to 200 million DAU. Moreover, this used to be a professional video conferencing platform used by schools and businesses but now teens are using the 60day free trial to have virtual cocktail parties and what not. I was lucky to get out at $146 for a profit. But right now the stock is trading at $115. If it drops to $110 I will be a buyer. I don't think much will come out of the investigation by the NY AG and having too much customers is a good problem to have. They are currently hiring more support staff, they should still come out ahead.

Zoom (ZM) said they have rolled out an update that fixed all the privacy issues that users complained about. And today it was announced that Zoom (ZM) will be added to the NASDAQ, the stock is higher today as a result. I remember when the stock fell to $115 and I had a buy order at $110 which never filled, the stock has rallied 50% since then.

xhuksy:


Well done Yeryer. Please I'd like to know how you spot stocks before their price goes up. Thanks

I work at night and sleep during the day. When I get home in the morning I tune into CNBC, listen to their commentaries and news about the market. But I pay particular attention to the scrolling thing at the bottom of the screen which lists stock symbols and the daily change in stock price. If I see a stock with a significant move up, I look it up to see if there's any recent news moving the stock higher. I now look at the chart to see if it's a new 52wk high or if the stock just shattered a recent price ceiling which could be a bullish sign that the stock will move higher and that former ceiling could be a new bottom. I glance at analyst recommendations as well as news articles related to the company from my broker. Sometimes the news articles mention other related companies in that sector that hasn't moved up as much and I might see that as a potential opportunity.

Believe me even with all that, I still buy stocks that will still disappoint. No one can accurately predict the market.

naijaman0817:



Please tell me more about call options. It appears the return is attractive with low cash outlay and short term horizon.

In a nutshell when you buy 1 contact of a call option, its like you are paying a small premium to "borrow" 100 shares for a given period of time. If the stock goes up within that period of time, you can sell the contract and keep the gains. So yes the return can be really huge for a small percentage increase in the stock price but a small percentage decrease will cause a huge loss even as much as 100%. I realize that I trade more options for short term and currently I don't think any broker in Nigeria offer options trading. I try not to spam the thread with option trades so sometimes I buy a few shares if others want to follow in on the trade.

I just bought a few shares of Genprex (GNPX). This is a small biotech company and they currently have drugs in the pipeline to treat lung cancer and diabetes. This is a small cap stock that used to trade at $18 just two years ago. The chart looks good here and a move to $3 will value this company at over $100M. This is a very risky trade and it may not materialize.

Tabuse20:


Spot on, YerYer. I have improved on reading financials of companies via the methods you mentioned. Yahoo Finance is also a great resource too. I predict that this thread will also be a huge resource too moving forward as we all grow and read different, views opinion and picks from all. Well done too.

Keep grinding bro, you will be financially independent sooner than you know it.

Pesbest:
As a newbie in stock and option trading

What are the basic things to know/learn first or rather how is the learning curve/path exactly for more informed trading decisions?

Thank you sir.

@yeryer
@okapearl

My brother everyone learns differently. When I started I watched a few videos on Udemy about stock investing for beginners. I started watching CNBC regularly and I browsed through Yahoo Finance. I tried reading a book about investing in stocks and I didn't get past the 20th page.

Most people will suggest you start by reading books, there are several books about stock investment such as "The intelligent Investor"; "A Beginner's Guide To the Stock Market" or "The Little Book of Common Sense Investing." Any of these books should teach you the fundamentals to get started and they cost less than $20 on Amazon. You can pay for a course on Udemy.com, they cost like $10.

I base most of my trading decisions on trends and sectors. For example during bitcoin's meteoric rise 3 years ago, every company who announced that they will be investing in crypto currency were rewarded by investors. So I rode the crypto wave that year until bitcoin dropped like a rock. Same with what I'm doing now with healthcare stocks particularly the ones that manufacture vaccines, ventilators or N95 masks, they are on an uptrend mainly due to the high demand during this pandemic. Another trendy sector is the stay-at-home stocks like Zoom (ZM), Teladoc (TDOC) , Livongo Health (LVGO), Chewy (CHWY), Docusign (DOCU), Papa John's (PZZA) ETC. For short term trades I follow the current trend, but for long term investment I keep a diversified portfolio of big cap stocks in different sectors.

In summary, start reading or searching videos, then browse cnbc.com and yahoo finance for commentary. As always if you have any questions, you can always ask here on the thread, we are all learning as we go.

thetelz:


Yeahh but I had to be held till the next opening by Trove so I was wondering

Oh I'm not sure about Trove, but I will like to think the fill real time orders. Maybe others can chime in on this.

Snapchat (SNAP) reported a blockbuster earning yesterday and the stock rallied 36% today! I had bought a few Pintrest (PINS) call options monday and they are up 88% as of right now. Other social media stocks are rallying as a result of Snapchat's earnings. Facebook (FB) is up over 7% today while Twitter (TWTR) is up over 10%. I guess it was to be expected that daily active usage and new subscriber numbers will be high since more people are stuck at home. My only skepticism is based on the fact that most of these social media companies make money based on ads revenue, so if businesses are shutting down, who's paying for ads right now? Maybe my reasoning is flawed but I will be watching this space, I might get into Twitter at this level.

thetelz:
Can one buy stock while market is open or it has to be after trading hours?

You buy when the market is open. Market opens 2:30pm - 9PM naija time.

OakPearl:
Bought INO at $7.36 on March 11th 2020.
Sold today April 22nd 2020 at $11.57 with a tidy $1,500 net profit.

Congrats bro. You were bold to buy that many shares and you held them for this long. You saw it rise to $9 then drop to $7. I bought a few call contracts on monday and I'm up 231%. I was planning to hold it till tomorrow but as I see you've sold your shares, make me sef no get greedy.

I'm eyeballing another biotech stock GNPX, I will like to buy at $2.30/share.

OakPearl:


Maybe, maybe not just yet.
We all know these measures to bail out the economies are temporary and their immediate impact will also be artificial to help ferry the economies into full blown permanent stability.

So while this temporary measures last, we ride the tide while still positioning for the future until normalcy returns.

Thank you sir. I wanted to pick your brains. I sure hope the bottom is in but it may be short lived.

OakPearl:


STOCK FOCUS: GILD ($76.54)
The ETF that tracks the S&P 500 rallied in after-hours trading today after a report said a Gilead Sciences drug was showing effectiveness in treating the coronavirus.

Gilead Sciences shares surged by more than 15% in after-hours trading Thursday after an industry publication said Covid-19 patients being treated with the company’s antiviral drug Remdesivir appear to have “rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms.” 

Gilead holders get set for a good ride tomorrow.
I hold some position here too; so I guess am gonna be a part of the jolly ride.

Nice gains bro. I wonder If this means the stock market has bottomed and should start moving higher.

Moderna (MRNA) is up 14% today after it was announced that the US Govt awarded the company up to $483M to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccine. I bought an April 17th $30 call contract 2 months ago; basically I was predicting that before today 04/17, the stock price will rise past $30, the higher it goes, the more profit I make. I bought the call option since february 26th and the stock traded below $30 throughout March but then on 04/15 it finally shot up to $38 and I was relieved to see the call option go from loss to a gain of 52% or $264 and I quickly sold. I woke up this morning to see the stock had risen 14% overnight after the good news. Needless to say that call option I sold two days ago is now worth $1,690 (see screenshot), so my gain would've been $955 or 230%. I don't regret selling earlier because for over 6 weeks the trade was in the red, plus I had two days remaining before the trade expires. Sometimes you just have to be comfortable with your decision to take profit even if the stock keeps climbing. I would've been angry though If I sold at a loss and it shoots up afterwards.

I don't know if anyone is in this name Chewy (CHWY) the online pet and grooming supplies store. This company, like Zoom, Teledoc and a few others have benefited from the pandemic. Traders rejected it at the high $40s. I closed the call options on monday for a nice gain but I still own a few shares. I'm setting my sell stop order at $39.

I just bought Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) at the closing. Someone recommended this stock on this thread a while back for its dividend yield. The stock has been moving sideways to lower trend in the past 12 months. The chart looks like it is bottoming and with the increase in eat-at-home due to the coronavirus I think it may be worth taking a shot at it. The 5.7% dividend yield is also juicy although I don't know how safe it is.

I also bought a few shares in CrowdStrike (CRWD) the cyber security firm. I have been in and out of this name in the past but this is a speculative trade. I'm going the stock rallies past its february high of $66.68, if it does it may go as high as $75. I will set a sell stop order at $50 to take me out if it fails.

abuhusna1:

What do you bosses see to halibuton at 6 dollars

I will be cautious with Halibuton (HAL). OPEC just cut global oil demand forecast and the stock has rallied some 20% since march 18th. It is amongst the worst performing stocks of 2020. If I were to buy the stock, I will do so at this level with a price target of $8 or 10% increase from today's close.

OakPearl:
STOCK FOCUS:
ROKU (Yesterday's price $113)

Based purely on technical analysis, this will give a quick returns.
For those who understand technical charts, ROKU is now sitting on a beautiful "Double-Bottom" as shown in the attached chart which is sure to give a good short term return.
I am in.

Nice analysis. I started buying the stock in january for $134 but it kept falling so I added to my position in small trenches, last purchase was in march for $100 but it kept dropping. I didn't add more after that although I wish I did, it fell to $60. My cost average is $120.93 so it's nice to finally see it make a turn around. I will place a tight sell order just as protection since it has rallied hard in 1 month.

abuhusna1:

Finally joined you @ 2350. Going forward any doom on market this is the only stock I will spend my life savings on

Seriously, it is such a well run company, it's amazing how such a behemoth can be so innovative and never resting on its laurels.

OakPearl:


The world may change in some ways but markets will continue to exist as long as humans continue to occupy the earth.
The stock market is one type of such various markets which we are involved in here.
This forum is for US stock market picks please.
Kindly move your scheme to the relevant tread or risk being banned by the moderators.

LOL

abuhusna1:
@ yeryer I salute you for pick up amazon @2150 I checked their five years growth rate and it has consistently been bringing profit each year and each month. I'm entering today @ whatever price painful I have just 800 dollars

All aboard the Bezos train! Sir, $800 is not a small amount.

YerYer:


I think it closed at $26. I bought the April 17th $30 call 3 days ago. Basically I'm predicting the stock price will end up above $30 before April 17th to turn a profit. So far I'm down 29%, but there's still time for things to turn around in my favor.
They are reporting the first death in the U.S, market may drop like a rock monday.

Moderna finally made all time high after announcing positive phase 1 trials for the Zika vaccine. Stock is up to $37.30, i'm up 52% and I'm closing this position.

thesilentone:
For those of us thinking about options, I'd suggest you read up on it first. If you have questions, we might be able to provide some answers. Nothing is difficult to learn once you put your mind to it.

These are my current positions in the market. The tickers are:
SU - Suncor Energy
XOM - Exxon Mobil
DD - DuPont de Nemour
SBUX - Starbucks (Latest entrant) July

I'm long most of the time but i'm a net seller. Be aware that nothing is stable in this market. Between the time of my screenshot and typing this message, the some of the greens have gone to red.

Again, please learn about options before getting into it.

Nice. Which broker do you use?

seyisanya:
Sir, what was your entry price here? cc: YerYer. Thanks.

I just go back into Nio at $3.13. As you already know, Nio is a chinese electric car maker. But please I will like to urge anyone investing in chinese based companies to do so skeptically because Chinese based companies have a history of fraud and faking earnings. Just the other day, Luckin Coffee (LK) lost over 80% of its stock price when it was discovered that they were faking earnings to make the company look more profitable that it actually was. LK was often touted to be the Chinese version of Starbucks another coffee chain. So going forward, I will set a Stop Limit order to prevent such massive drops, if the stock drops to my set limit sell order, it will execute and take me out completely.

smokey12345:
i hae 2 mentors on here YerYer and OakPearl i beliee you people will put me through when i am about to start and i meant very soon

We are all here to help. Can't wait until you start.

OakPearl:


Thanks for this.
May have to learn more about calls.
Never shown interest due to the lack of opportunity to invest live at the moment.

It's interesting. I really hope they introduce it to the Nigerian market.