Trading Baskets Part I
Q. What is a basket?A basket is a group of up to 50 stocks that you can trade, manage and track as one entity.In another article, I wrote about a rather conservative method of being in the stock market. See: "A Triple Dipper: How to Make 3 Profits on 1 Stock" at http://www.traderaide.com/Selected_Articles/Tripple_Dipper.html.This time let's talk a little about trading "baskets". The definition above maybe needs to be expanded just a bit. You can trade baskets using longer term buy and hold strategies, a shorter-term swing trading approach or as a day trader.
A basket of stocks is nothing more then any group of stocks that someone has grouped together for any of a number of reasons. They may be of the same sector, or they may be made up of a number of stocks in different sectors. An example of a few baskets could look like what is sited below. To save time and space I'll use the stock symbols only. You can look them up later if you are interested.
Let's say you see stem cell research as the thing of the future and wanted to be invested in it. If you don't know which stock is going to fair the best, you may want buy a basket of stocks that is made up of ASTM GERN and STEM. This would be a basket of stem cell stocks. Now let's say you think the Internet stocks look good and, again, you are not sure which ones will do the best. In your Internet basket you may want to pick up some shares of EBAY, YHOO and AMZN.
Obviously your basket can contain any number of stocks you want. Many online brokers will actually allow you to set up baskets in your account, and you can put in a sell order all at once on the entire basket or pick and chose which ones you want to sell. I'm not recommending these stocks in any way, shape or form, but merely using them as examples. Okay, that's pretty basic, but I'm sure you get the picture. The examples above would more or less be the type of baskets you would probably be thinking of holding for some time and not day trading.Most day traders have an entirely different kind of basket of stocks.
A day trader may have any number of stocks in his trading basket that he or she has been become very familiar with. They have studied them and even charted them for intraday movement (I hope) for some time and have learned the trading habits of the individual stocks. They have a fairly good idea of how the stock moves on a daily basis with or without news. They have knowledge of how it reacts to earnings, analyst upgrades, analyst downgrades and other events that may be reoccurring. They have also probably learned how they trade when hit by surprise events as well.
They know which market makers to watch the closest. They also know who the main market maker in the stock is, often referred to as the axe.A day trader's basket may be any number of stocks. A good average could be somewhere between 25-50 stocks. But it may also be larger or smaller. I have known traders that traded one stock all day long and nothing else.
I have known others that were able to watch 300 stocks. Personally, I think that is way too many.When I was trading I had a basket of about 75 stocks. Some I knew were only going to be in play on news or when reporting earnings. Others were fairly reliable moves on a daily basis. And still others were extremely sensitive to any sort of news or event.
Today, if I was going to put together a basket of stocks, I would be looking at the following symbols: GOOG, TASR, TZOO, AIRT, QLGC, SYMC, PLMO, KMRT, EBAY, SINA, RIMM, RMBS, PCLN, and DCLK as well as other NASDAQ stocks. I would not over look New York Stock Exchange stocks, although many do. I would be looking at: MO, PFE, CAT, GE, GM, TYC, MRK, MOT, and others as well. Keep in mind, I am not recommending any of these stocks specifically for you to buy or trade. I am merely trying to give you an example of what a basket may look like.
You have to decide yourself what stocks you would add to you your basket based on your own knowledge gained through experience and research on each stock.I think every trader should have a basket of stocks he or she follows and trades. Day trading without your own basket raises the risk level and puts you in a position where you are always looking for something to trade. On slow days where the market is just not offering up much in the way of trading opportunities, you may have a tendency to jump on stocks, that under different circumstances, you would have passed on. Having your own basket of stocks will lower your exposure to risk. They may not move any better under slow market conditions, but at least you will have some knowledge of how they move.
In Part II I will tell you about a special trading basket technique I used during the early boom days of day trading. It may still be a valid concept today..
Floyd Snyder has been trading and investing in the stock market for three decades. He was on the forefront of the day trading craze that swept the nation back in the late1990's both as a trader and as the moderator of one of the Internet's largest real time trading rooms. He is the owner of http://www.TraderAide.com , Strictly Business Magazine at http://www.sbmag.org www.FrameHouseGallery.com and www.EducationResourcesNetwork.comMake the Most of Your Mudroom Storage
Since most of us spend our busy lives entering and exiting the house through the garage, it is beneficial to keep the mudroom storage area organized and functional. This high-traffic zone is usually the space between the garage door and the kitchen, consisting of a hall closet and laundry room. But, just because the mudroom storage area is the Grand Central Station of your house, doesn't mean that it has to look that way by lacking in the aesthetic department. This is a great area to be creative with your organizing skills and decorating skills.Because there may be muddy shoes, snow-covered boots, and wet dogs trotting through, you will want to invest in all-weather flooring. You also want to place convenient storage options within reach so your family does not need to travel far to undress from their outerwear.
Observe how this mudroom storage area is currently used by your family. Then, try to accommodate their habits, in an organized matter. Keep the 3 Mudroom Storage Areas...
Make the Most of Your Mudroom Storage
Fruit baskets > Make the Most of Your Mudroom Storage
Online Retailer Adds Latin Flair to "Baby Chic"
Los Angeles, CA (ContentDesk) July 26, 2004 ? Arte Beb?, a new concept in children's retailing, opens its virtual doors for business today, bringing us a Latin America pulsating with more than just a salsa beat. Through its collection of colorful and richly textured products, Arte Beb? ("baby art") pays tribute to a part of the world also brimming with artistic vision, beautifully represented in a variety of hand-crafted textiles.
The web-based store can be found at www.artebebe.com.Part Store, Part Travelogue"Our mission at Arte Beb? is to ?surprise and delight' and make shopping for exotic wares convenient and enjoyable. No need to travel days by plane, bus and foot when all is available at the click of a mouse." Arte Beb?'s website includes a flash slide show introduction that takes visitors on a mini tour of Mexican markets, the Andean countryside, Argentinean cafes, and back home to local tots modeling Arte...
Fruit baskets > Online Retailer Adds Latin Flair to "Baby Chic"
A Look at Portable Dishwashers
Portable dishwashers are just the ticket for those with less than enough space for a more permanent and heavier dishwasher. They range in widths from a slim 18 inches to a maximum of about 24 inches for the "larger" portables. In general, they are also less expensive. They usually run anywhere from $200 to $500, rather than to $600 or more as with permanent units.
Portable dishwashers have wheels on them. You can roll your portable dishwasher to the storeroom if you don't plan on using it for a while (and would rather opt for hand-washing).
It's also much easier to maneuver, for those who plan on moving to a new home in the near future.
They usually contain two rolling baskets for placing dishes into. They don't usually boast the usual whistles and bells of large units, but they do have enough settings to choose from. For example, many units have a super-powerful cycle for pots and pans. Some also offer an option for boosting the water temperature...
Fruit baskets > A Look at Portable Dishwashers
Dog Health Can Be Improved With a Natural Diet
It goes without saying that your dog needs suitable nutrition to remain healthy. Vets and pet food manufacturers often have differing views on appropriate nutrition for your dog. Although commercial pet food manufacturers are motivated in large part by profits, commercially prepared foods are routinely recommended as part of an adequate, or good, diet for your dog. Sometimes your vet or dog breeder may approve of commercially prepared foods as your dog's sole diet. Many experts, however, tend to prefer a largely natural diet which for dogs is invariably comprised of meat and bones.
Raw is preferable to cooked, as some of the minerals are definitely lost in the cooking process.The reason why the commercially prepared pet food is so often fed to our dogs, is because, apart from the convenience, it can (depending upon the quality) actually contain many of the nutrients which are essential to your dog's wellbeing. The key word here is quality. There are in fact very, very few commercial...
Dog Health Can Be Improved With a Natural Diet
Fruit baskets > Dog Health Can Be Improved With a Natural Diet