My Non-Day Trading Experiment - The 1st Buy

Today my mockfolio (mock-portfolio) received its first entry. My buy order (aka alert that my stock hit its target buy price) for Sprint was triggered. The mock-buy was for 1408 shares at $3.55. With a trade fee of $12.00 this means my first investment totals $5010.40.

Next step: sell at $4.0825 (I'll round up to $4.09.)

As for my watchlist:

• Las Vegas Sands (LVS) - is overbought. I am waiting for it to cross into oversold territory before placing a buy.


• Freddie Mac (FRE) - is headed toward oversold but I am still waiting for it to cross into actual oversold territory before placing my mock buy.


• Dryships (DRYS) - is still lingering in overbought territory near 80%. I have no idea what this means for my trading experiment so I'm playing dead for the moment.

Note: I am evaluating: AMD, SLM, LSI, AKS, Q and ELN for possible additions to my watchlist.

My Non-Day Trading Experiment - Day 2

Going into Day 2 of My Non-Day Trading Experiment, I have 4 stocks that I am watching, Sprint (S), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Freddie Mac (FRE) and Dryships (DRYS). My plan is to mock-invest $5000 in each trade toward a gain of at least 15% within 2 weeks. I am assuming a high fee of $12 per trade (for each buy and each sell). It's on the high side, but my goal is to portray the most reliable returns by being conservative on the gains and generous on the costs.

Utilizing the stochastic charts and their current trading patterns, this is where I stand on each:

• Sprint (S) - is approaching a buy, meaning it is headed toward oversold on the stochastic charts. I have placed a mock-buy in the form of an alert at $3.55. If I receive an alert that Sprint has hit that mark, I will revise my experimental portfolio to read that I have purchased 1408 shares of Sprint at $3.55 with a trade fee of $12.00.


• Las Vegas Sands (LVS) - is currently overbought on the stochastic charts. I am waiting for it to cross into oversold territory before placing my mock buy.


• Freddie Mac (FRE) - is approaching oversold on the stochastic charts. I am waiting for it to cross into actual oversold territory before placing my mock buy.


• Dryships (DRYS) - is lingering in overbought territory near 80%. I have no idea what this means for my trading experiment so I'm playing dead for the moment.

My Non-Day Trading Experiment

With the market appearing to turn around, I have decided to embark upon an experiment and take anyone who is interested along for the ride.

Day trading is intriguing to me. I do not, however, believe I have the stomach for it. The risk is substantial and, having tested it to some mild degree with absolutely no success, I am convinced it is not something I am supposed to do.

That said, frequent, non-day trading might very well be my speed. In fact, I have been watching a few stocks that appear to be forming patterns. They have a broad enough range that it may be possible to profit from their existing cycles (the good old, buy low/sell high strategy).

I am specifically looking for stocks with strong patterns, a 15% or more spread and significant volume. At the moment they include Sprint, Dryships, Freddie Mac and and Las Vegas Sands Corporation. I have set them up in a test portfolio and will add and subtract stocks as I further evaluate them. I will also use alerts to place mock trades while I test my theory.

I would love input and feedback as I go. Please comment freely.

My first mock trade -- Buy Sprint at $3.55. (If the buy happens I will place a mock sell at $4.08.)