Portfolio/stock picker's leaderboard

[SAMMYDAVID]

I think it would be beneficial for everyone, including IG, if there was a facility that showed members what stocks were included in the best performing portfolios, members of IG had. Obviously the member A/c details would need to remain confidential, though.

[SAMMYDAVID]

Yes, true. That's because there are fluctuations in all markets for a variety of known (e.g. seasonality) and unknown reasons

[SAMMYDAVID]

E.g. my A/c's been going gang busters lately because I've had the following stocks: Microsoft, CSL, Mesoblast, Nasdaq 100 ETF, Afterpay, Alkane Resources, Nissan Motors (short), Royal Dutch Shell B (short)

Others could benefit and I could benefit from other's good runs, too

[SAMMYDAVID]

BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, that is

[Caseynotes]

22 minutes ago, SAMMYDAVID said:

BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, that is

Hi, do you use any screeners for your etf selections at all?

[SAMMYDAVID]

not at the mo. not got that far advanced in my trading, yet. My current strategy is working so well, though, I don't think I'm missing much.

But I'm always learning, as it's necessary for constant improvement. And don't we need to be constantly improving in the tight world of trading?

So, tell me, how/what screeners do you use?

[Caseynotes]

1 minute ago, SAMMYDAVID said:

not at the mo. not got that far advanced in my trading, yet. My current strategy is working so well, though, I don't think I'm missing much.

But I'm always learning, as it's necessary for constant improvement. And don't we need to be constantly improving in the tight world of trading?

So, tell me, how/what screeners do you use?

you've hit a great patch in the market cycle for longing big stocks, after the up and down of the last 2 years the market finally took off around Oct last year and has been pretty much one way since.

I don't usually trade individual stocks myself preferring instead the indices so I don't use screeners but there are many on  the forum who do and are interested in which ones are best and what parameters to set.

[SAMMYDAVID]

Sure. Note that I also short stocks and am making money on two: Nissan Motor and Royal Dutch Shell B.

Whilst the market may be going through a good patch, my stock selection process may be the key. For most trades - stocks, indices, FX, ETFs and so on, there are only a few I trade, that pass my selection process. By following the stategy, I'm winning. The strategy would probably still be the same in a bear market.

I'm talking about what may be the Holy Grail - picking trades that are moving in to profit, and knowing where to place the stop. Having such a strategy that follows the money, but cuts out quick when the trade becomes indecisive, is probably the dream most traders pursue.

If you look at the other trades I mentioned, you'll see they've been on a good profit run: Microsoft, Betashare Nasdaq 100 ETF, Afterpay, Mesoblast ASX (although I've recently exited), Alkane Resources, CSL, and more.

[Caseynotes]

4 minutes ago, SAMMYDAVID said:

Sure. Note that I also short stocks and am making money on two: Nissan Motor and Royal Dutch Shell B.

Whilst the market may be going through a good patch, my stock selection process may be the key. For most trades - stocks, indices, FX, ETFs and so on, there are only a few I trade, that pass my selection process. By following the stategy, I'm winning. The strategy would probably still be the same in a bear market.

I'm talking about what may be the Holy Grail - picking trades that are moving in to profit, and knowing where to place the stop. Having such a strategy that follows the money, but cuts out quick when the trade becomes indecisive, is probably the dream most traders pursue.

If you look at the other trades I mentioned, you'll see they've been on a good profit run: Microsoft, Betashare Nasdaq 100 ETF, Afterpay, Mesoblast ASX (although I've recently exited), Alkane Resources, CSL, and more.

That sounds like good commonsense basic trading, looking for stocks that are on the move, entering with a good stop and looking to run as far as possible but getting out early if things become indecisive. Most trading books will recommend the same. Hope it keeps going well for you.

[SAMMYDAVID]

Yes, thanks, Caseynotes. You're correct that I look for trending trades and ride them as long as possible. It's necessary to overcome the losses.

I'm not sure that screeners can narrow down completely, what I look for, but screeners may be a good starting point. What's also key  is having a stop strategy that's neither too close, nor too wide.

[dmedin]

Most 'screeners' have a fee attached.  Why give away the good stuff for free, eh Neil Woodford/Hargreaves Lansdown ...

[dmedin]

5 hours ago, SAMMYDAVID said:

I'm talking about what may be the Holy Grail - picking trades that are moving in to profit, and knowing where to place the stop. Having such a strategy that follows the money, but cuts out quick when the trade becomes indecisive, is probably the dream most traders pursue.

 

And what you'll find is that is an infuriating way to trade stocks because you will inevitably get stopped out by price spikes, situations where the price drops to a ridiculous low (or gaps low) before immediately turning again. 

As a bare minimum you should only trade individual stocks using a futures contract and have an extremely loose and distant stop.  Don't bother shorting any big-cap stocks.  Buy call options if you can.  But best of all buy real shares so you can get dividends too.  Buy and hold is the only method that has any realistic chance of success with stocks.

Edited February 11, 2020 by dmedin

[SAMMYDAVID]

It would be infuriating, but not for me, because I have a system that trades stocks unlikely to chop through their underlying MA. So, I ride the moment but have a close stop. Sorry, but it works! As mentioned, if you look at the recent charts of the stocks I highlighted, you'll see this to be true. Yesterday I was stopped out of Microsoft and collected about 140% profit after about 4 days (using CFDs). That's not infuriating. I'm also currently sitting on 500% profit on CSL after about 3 weeks.

Don't short stocks, you say? I'm currently sitting on 60% profit shorting Nissan Motor over two weeks, and 20% profit shorting Royal Dutch Shell B over one week!

What your saying about being stopped out would be correct if any old stock pick was used, but not for the stock picking strategy I use. And not when using CFDs, which supercharge short-term profit taking.

I wouldn't get anywhere near these same % returns on vanilla shares.