Watchlist...or, Anything That Moves ? Whats your pleasure ?

StockFetcher Forums · General Discussion · Watchlist...or, Anything That Moves ? Whats your pleasure ?

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alf44 2,025 posts msg #41502 - Ignore alf44 modified	2/22/2006 6:11:35 PM This thread is for discussing the advantages and disadvantages (if you think they exist) of having a "Watchlist" that you focus your attention almost entirely on versus a "Shotgun" approach where you attempt to trade "anything that moves" ! I'm in the "Watchlist Camp" myself...and I would love to hear from others that have criteria they like (Technical OR Fundamental)...that they feel is helpful in building a Watchlist of "Trading Stocks." Daily Ranges ? Average True Range ? Volume ? Volatility ? Float ? Shares Outstanding ? ------------------ Any of these ? All of these ? None of these ? Let me hear from you...and be specific ! What MAKES a great "Trading Stock"...and how can I use SF (or other tools) to assemble a "Watchlist of Great Trading Stocks ?" tia Regards, alf44
alf44 2,025 posts msg #41534 - Ignore alf44	2/23/2006 10:20:21 PM ...don't everyone speak at once :8^) I'll try to get the ball rolling in hopes others will offer additional insights ! I guess before you start to create a Core Watchlist of stocks to "TRADE" you need to know what kind of a "TRADER" you are (or hope to be). What your objectives are as a "TRADER". What your risk tolerances are. Long or Short...or BOTH ? What your timeframe for entries and exits is...Day Trade, Swing Trade, Position Trade, Buy and Hold...or...In and Out. Once those questions are all answered you MUST ALSO have a firm grasp of Money Management and Position Sizing. These concepts are MUCH more important than the specific stocks you finally choose to TRADE. As has been "mentioned" here countless times...ad nauseam... "It's not what you trade...It's how you trade it !" lol But...all that said and assuming one has gone through the self-evaluation of "what kind of TRADER am I"...and has a firm grasp of Money Management and Position Sizing etc...etc... The question(s) still remains...what stocks will I trade and will I take the "Watchlist" approach...or...will I take the "Anything That Moves" shotgun approach ? First, I feel the biggest advantage of a "Watchlist Approach" versus an "Anything That Moves" approach is FOCUS and FAMILIARITY ! If you have a CORE list of stocks to watch (and run SF scans on)...you will be better able to see and learn how those stocks trade...day to day....because you FOCUS on them day to day. You will most likely be able to see trade set-ups more easily...because you study the charts of this Core Watchlist of stocks every day...you are FAMILIAR with them. You will be better able to follow any NEWS that might effect their price movement...be it Earnings or whatever. ---------------------- But, how do you best find stocks that will be good "Trading Stocks" ? What do you look for...that you feel will make a good "Trading Stock" ? And, what characteristics are most important to build a Core Watchlist of these "Trading Stocks" ? Some thoughts : -> Price...Price Range can be a starting point for narrowing down a Watchlist. -> Liquidity...Volume, Shares Outstanding etc...allows you to get in and out of a position easily and serves to keep the Bid/Ask spread small(er). -> Volume...related to "liquidity"...should probably trade at least 500,000 shares/day (1M even better). -> Volatility...for short-term trading you want stocks that have the potential to move...and move BIG. A daily range of at least $1 to $2 is probably a good thing to have. -> Float...low float stocks CAN move BIG...but, this kinda goes against the "liquidity" thing mentioned earlier. -> Relative Strength...stocks that typically outperform/underperform an Index could be a consideration. -> Correlation...stocks that are highly correlated to an Index or the Sector they are in. -> Sector...a Watchlist should probably include stocks from at least 3 to 5 different Sectors. ---------------------- After ALL these considerations...you need to decide how LARGE of a Watchlist you can reasonably stay on top of and monitor efficiently. I have to say this is a problem for me. I am constantly trying to find a "happy medium" that will give me a small but robust universe of stocks to trade and focus on. This is why I started this thread...so that I might get some ideas of how to better address this. Finally, when considering both the "CORE Watchlist" approach versus the "Anything That Moves" approach...I always liked this analogy... ..."it's kind of like inviting people to play in your own poker game, with friends you know well...as opposed to finding a new poker game in a new city every day, with total strangers..." For me...I'll take "friends" over "strangers" everytime ! Look forward to other's thoughts and opinions and methods !!! Regards, alf44
TheRumpledOne 6,411 posts msg #41547 - Ignore TheRumpledOne	2/24/2006 2:23:24 PM I am in the WatchList camp. Using the filter more for reporting than selecting.
alf44 2,025 posts msg #41563 - Ignore alf44	2/24/2006 5:58:27 PM RumpledOne... "Using the filter more for reporting than selecting." ----------------------- Exactly !!! Regards, alf44 PS. Would love to hear more specifics on how you go about building that Watchlist and the number of stocks that makeup the list. tia
6horse 3 posts msg #41564 - Ignore 6horse	2/24/2006 7:11:56 PM I use the IBD 100 for my watchlist. I buy the pare 1x per month and enter the list then screen for pullbacks and break outs
TheRumpledOne 6,411 posts msg #41570 - Ignore TheRumpledOne modified	2/25/2006 1:47:30 PM I have a few different list: 1) AutoAvery stocks or what I call my "Herd of Cows" that I milk everyday using my AutoAvery Milk The Cow strategy on TradeStation. The dependable cows are AAPL, GOOG, RIMM and SHLD. They give "milk" daily. The list contains anywhere from 20 - 60 stocks. The AutoAvery filter runs daily and stocks get added/deleted daily but the main stocks are almost always there. Always looking for another good cow...LOL! 2) My old favorites... stocks like SONS and SBAC... good traders. ABLE, FORD and BOOM are on the list... be careful! About 10 - 20 stocks on that list. 3) The Next NTRI stocks... filter posted. I am liking XSNX, I have 1,500 free shares... I planned the trade, traded the plan. Had I been greedier, I would have about 4,000 free shares! That list contains about 10 - 12 stocks. HTH. MAY ALL YOUR FILLS BE COMPLETE.
alf44 2,025 posts msg #41588 - Ignore alf44	2/26/2006 11:56:37 AM Thanks, 6horse and TheRumpledOne for the comments ! Feel free to elaborate further. Regards, alf44
markcrisp 187 posts msg #41598 - Ignore markcrisp	2/27/2006 1:45:16 AM Avery, What is do great about XSNX? Thank you
yepher 359 posts msg #41603 - Ignore yepher	2/27/2006 10:56:33 AM Alf, I will continue to trade from the same list for about a 1-2 months or so. It is really more like a moving list. Some come on and some fall off the list over time. It seems rotation happens in clusters though. This is an example of my watch list http://yepher.com/stocks2.jsp -- Yepher
alf44 2,025 posts msg #41608 - Ignore alf44	2/27/2006 3:23:03 PM yepher, Thanks for the comment ! However, you didn't elaborate on HOW and WHY stocks make the list ! If you'd care to share...that would be helpful ! tia Regards, alf44

StockFetcher Forums · General Discussion · Watchlist...or, Anything That Moves ? Whats your pleasure ?

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