PIMPING STOCKS

[Bretsky]

Partial.....I think you need to get back into the research game SOON
I'm a bit disappointed....with you being a techie...that you dont have your list of the BEST CLOUD STOCKS

I'm also surprised you are still pimping Apple; it's just not the stock it used to be. Their price is about where it should be.

New innovative technogies are coming out where you can hit multibaggers IMO; I'd much rather Chase those than throw my money at Apple right now; the evidence out there is things are just slowing there. It's a few great quarters away from being a 900 stock IMO

[MJZiggy]

I should invest in FB considering how much I use it. There was an article recently that predicted that FB would lose 80% of its users based on an epidemiological study. I LOL'd.

[Kiwon]

I should invest in FB considering how much I use it. There was an article recently that predicted that FB would lose 80% of its users based on an epidemiological study. I LOL'd.

MJZ - Social Media Change Denier. You troglodyte.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/hot-s...MzhXNyoA;_ylu=

[Bretsky]

MJZ - Social Media Change Denier. You troglodyte.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/hot-s...MzhXNyoA;_ylu=

I don't buy into this; Facebook is growing on so many levels even if it loses some of it's users....the ad revenew and mobile are growng so fast.
For what it's worth I'm not an investor in Facebook yet....still trying to figure this one out..........but they just reported, to my surprise, a dynamic report and growth outlook.
Each time they've did this they follow through with a better quarter than projected.

Got any stock ideas ? I'm always game to research

[Kiwon]

I don't buy into this; Facebook is growing on so many levels even if it loses some of it's users....the ad revenew and mobile are growng so fast.
For what it's worth I'm not an investor in Facebook yet....still trying to figure this one out..........but they just reported, to my surprise, a dynamic report and growth outlook.
Each time they've did this they follow through with a better quarter than projected.

Got any stock ideas ? I'm always game to research

I was looking hard at FB at $29 but did nothing. I DO believe the research and I think they will need to adjust their business model and find other streams of revenue in the future. Americans are very privacy conscious and Zuckerburg is way too cozy with D.C. for me. I think he's capable of selling out his members if it benefits his own personal ambitions.

Personally, I think Twitter could have more permanence than Facebook in the long run. But, again, it's business model is also unproven.

But I can't complain about missing out of FB because my two single remaining stocks did outstanding. I'm getting gun-shy with individual stocks so I have been in the 'buy and hold' camp for a while. Watching Amazon cross the $400 barrier after I sold it at $13 in 2002 will do that to you.

Short-term, I do have a little cash that I will probably invest after there is a bigger correction. Long-term, I hate the Fed's interference in the Market and changing the rules as they go along. I think the Market is artifically high and several underlying systemic problems have still not been addressed. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a major pull-back after November 2014 for domestic reasons or possibly sooner for international reasons.

Approval and construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline could change everything, however. Wow, imagine real jobs again and a country heading toward energy independence!

[Patler]

Long-term, I hate the Fed's interference in the Market and changing the rules as they go along. I think the Market is artifically high and several underlying systemic problems have still not been addressed. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a major pull-back after November 2014 for domestic reasons or possibly sooner for international reasons.

Agreed, and weening from it will cause a lot of turbulence in the market on its own, even apart from the real economic factors. Even the announcements months ago of the Fed pulling back sometime in the future made the market gasp.

I had several really nice winners that I almost sold two weeks ago. It is a relatively small account that I actively trade just for the fun of it. I wish I had now. I should anyway, because my gut tells me there are better things to go to right now than the ones I almost sold then. I should have spent some time over the weekend planning.

[Bretsky]

I should invest in FB considering how much I use it. There was an article recently that predicted that FB would lose 80% of its users based on an epidemiological study. I LOL'd.

Read and listed to facebook's conference call from last week; their earnngs, growth, and that call were scary good

[Patler]

Late 2013 was a pretty easy time to make money, so I don't claim any great investing acumen for having done so. More winners than loser, and some up big. I made a few blunders too. Some of the stocks I own right now:

I bought FB in late October under $50, so I am up about 30%.
UBNT bought twice, sold half when I was up 20%. it rose more, then fell. Up 4% on what I have left.
MPAA in November, up 18%.
Z in September, down 6%

Biggest mistake in 2013 - CRUS - stubbornly held on as it fell, lost nearly 35% before I came to my senses. The only thing that makes me feel "better" is that it fell even more and is still lower today than when I sold.

Been playing with Biotechs a lot the last year. Very mixed results so far. Currently own MDVN (prostate cancer drug) that just released some very good clinical study reports. Jumped about 13% early last week. I'm up 32%. I own PCYC, which hasn't made any $ for me.

Owned a couple that had some interesting drugs in clinical trials, which ended up inconclusive, or worse. Lost $ on THLD.

Bought QCOR in 2012. Held for a long time waiting for FDA approvals and final clinical reports. FDA came back with questions and the stock fell. There seemed to be more than normal publicized back & forths between the company and the FDA. I held through a lot of ups and downs, some analyst turned sour on them, which confused me because I thought things seemed to be in a hold rather than negative with the FDA. But, as more experts turned negative I figured I wasn't knowwledgeable about the procedures, so I waited for a good point, got out losing just a little. It dropped a bit again. then turned around and has climbed ever since. I bought and ultimately sold at around $32. It's gotten into the $70's since I sold, so I missed a 100%+ gain. Oh well.........

I wanted to buy AAPL last spring/summer when it was hanging around $400, because that was...ridiculous. But, I was fully invested and didn't have anything I wanted to sell. Right now, investors really have no patience with AAPL

[Bretsky]

Palter and Kiwon...what stocks are you guys floating with ? Right now I'm in
Applied Materials
Under Armour
Yahoo
Channel Advisor (ECOM)
ZU-Zulilly
LOCK (Life Lock)

Had great returns with the first two, ok returns on the next two...and the last two are pretty recent and both pretty speculative IMO


I TOO almost jumped at Facebook at 24.....pissed now that I didn't.


Partial.....still shocked at you. Apple is fine....but there are so many with huge growth right now I'm surprised you are not embracing some of the futuristic ideas. I'm close friends with the investing guy at our company. He's looking for an exit point with AAPL as he's taken a loss and thinks it's not that well positioned.

[call_me_ishmael]

Palter and Kiwon...what stocks are you guys floating with ? Right now I'm in
Applied Materials
Under Armour
Yahoo
Channel Advisor (ECOM)
ZU-Zulilly
LOCK (Life Lock)

Had great returns with the first two, ok returns on the next two...and the last two are pretty recent and both pretty speculative IMO


I TOO almost jumped at Facebook at 24.....pissed now that I didn't.


Partial.....still shocked at you. Apple is fine....but there are so many with huge growth right now I'm surprised you are not embracing some of the futuristic ideas. I'm close friends with the investing guy at our company. He's looking for an exit point with AAPL as he's taken a loss and thinks it's not that well positioned.

I only invest in things I follow closely. I have over 100K growing in the 401K, so I let that just do it's thing and don't worry about it. There is a lot of opportunity in 3D printing but again - I don't follow it closely enough to invest in it.

I do have a few bitcoin and litecoin but that is really just a moonshot thing to see what happens. I intend to hold these for a very long time.

My uncle swing trades triple leverage EFTs and I guess he has an algorithm where he hasn't lost a trade yet. He says it takes some serious balls and he has come close to losing his ass a few times, but he has always ended up coming out a head or even. I may start doing this and following his algorithm.

Right now... my focus is on the really big win. I'm building companies now. That is the best way to make big bucks.

[Bretsky]

I only invest in things I follow closely. I have over 100K growing in the 401K, so I let that just do it's thing and don't worry about it. There is a lot of opportunity in 3D printing but again - I don't follow it closely enough to invest in it.

I do have a few bitcoin and litecoin but that is really just a moonshot thing to see what happens. I intend to hold these for a very long time.

My uncle swing trades triple leverage EFTs and I guess he has an algorithm where he hasn't lost a trade yet. He says it takes some serious balls and he has come close to losing his ass a few times, but he has always ended up coming out a head or even. I may start doing this and following his algorithm.

Right now... my focus is on the really big win. I'm building companies now. That is the best way to make big bucks.

You are in the tech industry, right ?
Do you embrace the idea that the cloud is going to be HUGE ?
There are a ton of start ups still in their very early stages as well as some due to IPO this year as well.

[call_me_ishmael]

You are in the tech industry, right ?
Do you embrace the idea that the cloud is going to be HUGE ?
There are a ton of start ups still in their very early stages as well as some due to IPO this year as well.

Cloud will be huge, yes, but cloud is vague. What is cloud? I think TWTR will be huge eventually because it provides a value proposition. Are you talking abut virtual machine providers, or what do you mean by cloud? Cloud hosts, or software makers? I think Salesforce will be big, Jive seems like a decent buy at 10 bucks, etc.

I think Google and self driving cars will be insanely, unfathomably large.

I'm a gambler to a degree, but I don't really mess with stocks that I don't feel confident in. I'm extremely bullish on Apple. They are the strongest company in the world and valued like a chump. This soon, will change.

[Patler]

Partials's estimates of AAPL getting to 1000, or whatever by the end of the year missed badly in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Is the fourth time a charm?

[Bretsky]

Partials's estimates of AAPL getting to 1000, or whatever by the end of the year missed badly in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Is the fourth time a charm?

I don't doubt it's a good investment around these levels. But I think there are many many better bets to double that APPL....just IMO

[call_me_ishmael]

Partials's estimates of AAPL getting to 1000, or whatever by the end of the year missed badly in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Is the fourth time a charm?

Check out Peter Ghostine. He is the best technical analyst I've seen. He has AAPL hitting 900 in 2014. If Peter is actively calling for it, you can take it to the bank.

Again... Peter called for FB to double when it was at 25. Sure enough... it did.

[Bretsky]

Check out Peter Ghostine. He is the best technical analyst I've seen. He has AAPL hitting 900 in 2014. If Peter is actively calling for it, you can take it to the bank.

Again... Peter called for FB to double when it was at 25. Sure enough... it did.

CURIOUS.........What was he saying about Apple two years ago ?? Was he calling it a dog ?

[call_me_ishmael]

CURIOUS.........What was he saying about Apple two years ago ?? Was he calling it a dog ?

Yep, he called it. That was easy to see if you followed tech analysis (which I didn't). Trading completely dried up. Gotta look at volume and option prices. It made NO sense for it to happen - the company was so strong - but the indicators surely supported it happening and if you were into technical analysis you would have saw it coming a mile away.

[Kiwon]

The two individual stocks I'm in are SIRI and ALU.

I have held positions for several years and many times wished I hadn't. Bankruptcy was a possibility with both. However, SIRI is finally profitable and ALU came back to life in 2013. Both are risky and you shouldn't invest money you can't afford to lose.

But, both companies have good leadership now and are innovative. And when Tech recovers and D.C. gets out of the way, these two should purchase me a house one day. That's the plan, at least.

Otherwise, these days I'm all about maxing out my 401K contributions and lowering my taxes and investment expenses.

One thing missing from my portfolio are ETFs. I would be interested in knowing which ETF fund families appeal to the Packer Rat financial brain trust and their expense ratios.

[Bretsky]

The two individual stocks I'm in are SIRI and ALU.

I have held positions for several years and many times wished I hadn't. Bankruptcy was a possibility with both. However, SIRI is finally profitable and ALU came back to life in 2013. Both are risky and you shouldn't invest money you can't afford to lose.

But, both companies have good leadership now and are innovative. And when Tech recovers and D.C. gets out of the way, these two should purchase me a house one day. That's the plan, at least.

Otherwise, these days I'm all about maxing out my 401K contributions and lowering my taxes and investment expenses.

One thing missing from my portfolio are ETFs. I would be interested in knowing which ETF fund families appeal to the Packer Rat financial brain trust and their expense ratios.

Of the two, which do you think one should be buying now ? I have been pondering ALU myself.

[Kiwon]

Of the two, which do you think one should be buying now ? I have been pondering ALU myself.

SIRI's majority stakeholder, John Malone at Liberty Media, is trying to take 100% ownership right now so it's possible that small guys like me will get bought out and not get to enjoy the benefits as SIRI brings video and other services to cars, along with other developments in the future.

ALU still isn't profitable but they have finally found a leader with a plan and have been downsizing for years to address their debt problem. They have new loans and near-term bankruptcy is off the table. They are being innovative, creating new products and are globally positioned. When the global business environment finally improves, there will be a ton of spending in telecom hardware upgrades. The more tablets and smart phones sold, the greater the need for the ISPs to improve their systems. Their LTE products are strong and have several contracts to build 4G networks in developing countries.

Overall, they have only a small market share compared to CSCO and ERIC but they have gotten off the mat and are making some noise. In addition, the financial firms are starting to believe in ALU's CEO and investing, hence the rise in their stock price from $1.27-$4.68 (52-week low and high). I added to my positions in 2012 at $0.99 and $1.61 so you know that I'm happy right now.

I live in South Korea where everything is broadband and 4G networks are available almost nationwide. We love our speed here. But wouldn't it be cool to have 1 gigabit-per-second residential service in the good 'ole USA? It's possible. - http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...102768309.html

ALU is doing some good things and they are worth investigating. The whole sector, though, when it recovers will make a lot of people wealthy. I think we will visit some of the valuations of the Internet-bubble age again. Everything will be about data, speed, and storage, driven relentlessly by business and consumer demand.

Again, don't invest money that you can't afford to lose but I think ALU is relatively safe at this point. But I would definitely look to get in before they turn profitable though because once they cross that barrier I think the momentum will take them much higher. Overall, they will go as the sector goes. It's not a question of 'if' but a matter of 'when'. Buy and hold.

(P.S. - Somebody believes in the stock. It was off 3.5% yesterday and then up 8% today before their earnings report on Thursday. Yes, I'm smiling.)