Peter Nachtwey
Member
Yes, you can lose if trader are slow but more likely because the market closed and the stock fell overnight and opened lower.geniusintraining said:If they work and only if they work...I have had stop orders in and lost my a$$, they are not full proof and don't think for one min. that they are, if there is no one to by them you can loose...if you man on the floor is slow you can loose, etc..
Still, except for some extreme cases they work. My example is back in the 80s when TI announced they would stop making their personal computers. The stock dropped from about $160 a share to about $110. I got out a just over $160. Since the stock dropped straight to about $110 I would have been SOL if the stop loss was at $158.
Yes, there is logic. The problem is the average Joe does not have the information on which to make logical decisions. You can bet your a$$ that those that have the info make the big bucks and since it is a zero sum game you are like the newbie and professional ***** player table. Things are happening too fast on the floor to the guys in the pits to do any calculations. He just gets his cut.TimothyMoulder said:Where there is no logic to guide decisions, there must be regulation.
The key is that a good economy can make everyone a winner at that is what keeps people playing. If the economy never grew things would be quite different.
I have seen some of the math that traders use to evaluate options, future and stocks. Much of it is brilliant and I take my hat off to those economic majors that can do this math. I understand the math or at least could use it if I had the information to plug into the formulas. The problem is, as an average Joe, I don't have the info to plug into the formulas. Even then there is the emotional factor that makes stocks swing on the short term that the formulas can't handle.
Yes, but the stock market makes 10% 'corrections' all the time. At least it used to. I think that the economists and traders are using computers to predict the future and keep prices more stable. The computers can take advantage of emotional swings.TimothyMoulder said:Peter - say you could only set a stop-loss order for a loss of 10% value from pervious day's closing. If you're in for a $1000, you stand to lose a $100. Painful, but would it prompt you to choose your investments more carefully?
Tark, I agree.
Terry, so what am I to do when I want to invest money? Is there something wrong with buying energy stocks or mutual funds?
I agree you that one should be willing to leave their money in a stock for a year or more but I reserve the right to sell at any time. Stuff happens. There should be no minimum holding time.
I see programs offered on TV that computerize day trading with green buy and red sell signals. I wonder how well they work.