Stock Pick Service Q&A   View Select Entries from Our Mailbag. Also See Our Q&A Page.

Q: HI,

I SUBSCRIBED TO YOUR SERVICE LAST YEAR AND DID NOT RENEW THIS SPRING. I WAS THE GUY THAT SUGGESTED YOU HAVE THE ARCHIVE REPORT--I SEE THAT YOU DID THAT.

I DID NOT RENEW WHEN THE LAST SUBSCRIPTION EXPIRED BECAUSE OF PERSONNEL SITUATION AT THAT TIME CAME UP---HOWEVER I JUST PUT IN A NEW TRIAL TO SEE YOUR NEW AND IMPROVED PRODUCT--IT IS REALLY NICE. I WILL RENEW IN A FEW WEEKS.

MY PROBLEM IS HAVING A REAL TIME SYSTEM TO TRACK THE MARKET AND THE STOCKS I WOULD LIKE TO PLAY SOME OF THE STOCKS YOUR FILTERS COME UP WITH BUT NEED A SOPHISTICATED SYSTEM TO DO IT---I UNDERSTAND THAT CAN BE SETUP WITH E-SIGNAL AND INTERACTIVE BROKERS- I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE TRAILING STOP -LOSS THAT FOLLOWS THE SETUP YOU DEMONSTRATE ON THE SITE AND CONDITIONAL ENTRY ORDERS AND BE ABLE TO AUTOMATE THIS, THIS HAS BEEN MY BIG HANG-UP--I AM SURE IT CAN BE DONE BUT I DO NOT HAVE THE PROGRAMMING SKILLS TO DO THIS. COULD YOU MAKE SOME SUGGESTIONS OR HELP ME OUT WITH THIS FOR A FEE.

A: Hi John,

Thanks for your email. We will be glad to help you out, if we had a better idea of what you are looking for. Here are some of my comments:

1. I looked at http://www.esignal.com and came away very confused and overwhelmed. There is too much information there.

2. Trading stocks is more of an art than a science. I am not sure if I would blindly rely on a trading system to execute my trades.

3. Although we may seem to have a complex system for stock selection, once that stock is purchased, our sell rules are fairly simple: Cut losses at 10%, try to hold the stock for 8 weeks if possible, decide then at a profit point or long term play.

4. For most stocks, we want to get out at 25%-30% profit, unless we've seen these gains in a few weeks. It is always better to sell too soon, and on the way up. For the few 50% to 100% movers, you can use the stop-loss signal or other price-volume signals

5. It is better to look for volume clues to sell - exhaustion gaps, new highs on low volume, extremely high volume days, etc. Our alerts are designed to capture some of these.

6. I guess there is possibly some way of automating some of these rules. We will be glad to help out if that's what you desire. It may need some more investigation. I also checked out http://www.stockwiz.com. You could look into it. We can provide custom programming for you as needed.

7. I think what you are trying to achieve is to put some discipline into your trading. This is important and is essential.

These are just my thoughts in no particular order. Let us know what you think.

Keep in touch,

GSA.