Forum Archive Index - April 2001

["Mike Grice" <miktel@voyager.co.nz>]

Thanks for all your postings people, I'm actually doing a paper and your comments will go into the melting pot. I apologise for not disclosing this initially, but I usually find that when people offer their comments for study purposes they tend to lose the emotional content and stick to being analytical. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but responses tend to lose the 'human' touch. So thanks.

I concur that the comments I posted are probably geared towards traders rather than investors, but I am not (yet) entirely convinced that this is the case.

On re-reading my posting I note that I did NOT do a great job of getting the point across which in itself is a paradox:

"To win the game you need to beat your competitors, but to win the game you also need your competitors to win."

 

Anyway the topic of my paper is "Can an individual investor legally influence the outcome of their investment" and is based solely on the NZ Sharemarket.

 

Personally I have seen swings in the market due to:

1. News/information releases. (obviously)

2. Broker recommendations. (check out the past 3 DF Mainland plays of the week Tower, Richina, Strathmore.....were they on the way up anyway? maybe)

3. Investor plays. (I know a trader who will enter into a quietly trading stock with 90% of her investment, then up the price, buying in 3 stages with her remaining 10%. She then sells out as high as she can drag the market) She swears that her method works for her 80% of the time. She knows full well that most buyers are too savvy to fall for this, but the minority usually make her payday.

 

The fourth area I wish to cover is word of mouth, under which would come share groups such as this forum. My own feeling is that postings must contribute to market swing, but I would welcome your own comments on any of these categories.

I guess I should add that my paper does not deal with insider trading or any other illegal issues.

 

disc. I am usually a trader and  I will not sell at a loss, so when my trades go badly I become an investor.

I never hold more than 4 stocks.I like most of what I read on your forum, and I'm not REALLY stingy. Honest!

 

Thanks again for any contributions.

Mick G