Covestor - gigawatt Blog

I'm a sucker for wireless

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:07:33

Wireless is Tech, but not the tech I really know, y'know? But I love the sector. It's sexy, volatile and on sale now. When clearwire dips to it's 52-week low around 10, I'm falling off the silicon bandwagon, and hopping on the spectrum one. With any luck the former will have crested and I'll have taken some profits I can use to catch the latter on its way up :-)

Related Stocks: CLWRD

Waiting to take the LEAP

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:07:17

I've had a trade trigger at 37 on Leap for months (specifically since March when I shoulda, but didn't buy the dip), waiting for it to get this cheap again, and last week it reminded me to take another look. Of course I'm up to my eyeballs in other bad-news plays at the moment, so I'm adjusting this down another two bucks.

Virgin mobile's on sale now, too. Value plays, value plays everywhere and not a dime to spend...

Anyway if it gets there, I'm taking the leap (sorry).

Related Stocks: LEAP, VM

Being greedy with Nvidia while others a afraid

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:07:39

I just love it when bad news comes out about good companies. I've been wanting to buy NVDA for months but it was just so darned expensive -- well, after last week's overnight 30% plunge, it's at bargain basement prices now!

The best part is listening to all the hand-wringing about how hot their chips get, like that's a bug. Guess what? For their products, heat is a feature! High performance chips get hot, and Nvidia's are the top of the line. When laptop makers want to build in the latest graphics gaming performance, they should know to over-engineer the cooling systems, too.

Nvidia is certainly taking some charges for this flurry of HP laptop failures, but in the end, their strong brand won't be hurt by the incident, their business won't suffer, and the stock price will be back up to snuff as soon as sales figures make it apparent that Nvidia's customers come to them for performance, and they know that high power comes with high heat.

My sell-trigger will pull itself when I've collected my usual 30% hysteria tax :-)

Related Stocks: NVDA

Trina Solar on sale near its 52 week low

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:07:24

I just love it when china runs a solar sale. Solarfun is the recent darling, along with the not-as-chinese-but-just-as-hot Canadian Solar, and both of those are incredibly cheap today too, apparently on some recent negative U.S. legislative news. But Trina and I go way back now, I am quite fond of her and she's due for some press :-)

Of course us naturally jumpy U.S. investors mostly assume that any time the U.S. government fails to pass (or in this case renew) legislation that's favorable to an industry, it's stock should suffer. What America fails to notice is that the *international* market for solar products is barely aware of what the U.S. does or doesn't do. With the weakness of the U.S. dollar and Germany being the biggest solar market, and the growth in demand for solar global as dwindling fossil fuels become ever more costly...

I'm wading in, up to my waist, with a 50% allocation.

Related Stocks: CSIQ, SOLF, TSL

Vonage Earnings May 8th

Thu, 01 May 2008 17:05:25

Bought at 1.80 last week and am sitting on a sell order at 2.44. I'm not sure if it will hit that price before or after they announce, but we'll see.

Related Stocks: VG

Giga Good

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 01:12:14

You should neither judge a book by its cover, nor a stock by its name. ...no matter *how* cool or sci-fi-ey it might sound. First I bought SPAB (Spacehab) -- cool name, cool business too, being NASA contractors and all. Forgot space isn't profitable, though. Now this. Well at least line-of-sight broadband wireless networking at fiber speeds is a business I can understand, admire and see the profit in! I need a gigabeam. Can't even get DSL in this neck of the (deep) woods.

Related Stocks: GGBM

Ear-rationale

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:12:46

Rationale? You want rationale? I keep reading how this company was unfairly beat up by the hasty retreat from financial companies, how they have no subprime exposure, how they were a bargain that would rebound at the speed of light like a superball in a superconducting supercollider ring. Or something like that. Packaging Student loans... bah. I ~worked~ my way through college, thank you very much. And dropped out 100% debt free, too. So tell me again why I am long 80% on this dog that shed 20% of its -- I mean my -- value before formal trading began the morning I buy it? Methinks me thought my Trina Solar profit wouldst burneth a hole in mine trousers if I didn't investeth them elsewhere and with the greatest of haste. Paint me the poster boy for trying to create an opportunity exactly where one isn't. That and some particularly motley fool somewhere thought it was a good company that will weather the storm and pay me. Well, this will remind me to trust my gut from now on, not my inbox. Small price to pay to learn to stick to my tried-and-true strategy of buying companies I've, er -- youknow *heard* of before, on days that everyone else is dumping them at alarming rates. Then waiting for the ball to come back across the court. (No that wasn't a tennis, or even a racquetball, reference. Pool. My most athletic sport.)

Related Stocks: FMD

AMD Sawks

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:12:13

I hate AMD. I will never buy an AMD processor again. I curse them every time their bloody stock drifts lazily each day, a bit lower than the day before. These < $9 shares I bought for $10 better be 14 bucks again Real Soon Now {sigh}. Back away from the keyboard... Just kidding. I still love AMD. It's still headed north (he carefully repeats to himself, over and over). I patiently await my meager 30% of their inevitable upcoming meteoric rise from the ashes.

Related Stocks: AMD

Whew

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:12:50

Was pleased to sell this after exactly 30% increase, which was what it looked like it would do to me. I placed the sell order (a $49.24 limit) the same day I bought them (5 at 37.62 then 17 more at 37.50). The stock had nose dived from 50 that morning and I just felt it would recover completely. I waited. I'm glad I resisted the urge several times over the next two weeks to second guess the plan. Tuesday it peaked, just for a nanosecond, over $49 and my 30% was in the bank. I read recently that some don't like to set price targets. I'd go insane without them. Maybe it's just my inexperience, but back when I made my first trade (September seems like EONS ago, now!) I must have changed my Vonage limit orders around, back and forth, ten times before they actually got filled. I kept changing my "strategy" (I thought, if you could call it that) every time the price changed direction and, after having initially doubled my money, managed to squander half of the gains doing smaller trades for even smaller gains, quick panicky sales and transaction fees. So now I trust my gut, take a deep breath and just back slowly away from the keyboard :-) I need them, if just to keep telling myself, "Your gut was it would rebound to x. Trust your gut. Step slowly away from the keyboard."

Related Stocks: TSL

Google

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:11:05

Never buy just because all the cool kids are doing it. I single-handedly killed GOOG's multimonth rally by buying one stinking share. You can all get back in now since, now that I'm out, google's meteoric rise can continue.

Related Stocks: GOOG

Rocket Science

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:11:11

Sold my spaceman stock today. Don't remember why i bought it -- looked cheap I guess... but moves very slow. Too slow. Made me fall asleep waiting for a bump. In space no one can hear you yawn.

Related Stocks: SPAB

AMD Rawks

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:11:46

I love AMD. I buy AMD processors, I cheer them on every time they bloody Intel's nose again. So when I heard the sold their soul (er 20% or it) to a middle eastern sheik and the stock was in the toilet... I BOUGHT! These < $10 shares will be 14 bucks again Real Soon Now (crosses fingers)

Related Stocks: AMD

Chinese Solar

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:11:31

Bought this because it was a big loser today and the green/renewable/solar and chinese stocks are so hot lately it just *has* to shoot back up nicely (and soon!) It dropped on news of low earnings (or negative earnings, I forget) but their technology seems strong -- but whaddo Iknowabout solar panels? Nada damn thing thats what :-)

Related Stocks: TSL

Charter

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:11:05

I just bought this because it was nice an cheap after becoming the biggest loser in the tech sector that day, on some stupid news or other. Sure enough it bounced back up over the next couple of days. Normally I don't buy companies I personally detest :-)

Related Stocks: CHTR

Why Vonage?

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:11:51

I decided I had to start trading when I saw Vonage slide down to $1 based on Verizon's patent lawsuit. I like the service and they're growing strong and steadily, so I finally decided to pony up the $500 Ameritrade minimum and: On Sept 26, I bought 370 shares at 1.25, then (perhaps stupidly) On Oct 10, bought 80 more at $2.00 (brining my investment to ~ $650) I then sold all 450 shares at 2.57 on Oct 26, and On Oct 30, bought 550 shares at 2.05, of which I sold 50 back at 2.07 (just to have some cash in the account). That's where I'm at now. I figure as long as it keeps going up and down like this I'm a happy "week trader". I funded the account with six weeks ago with $650 and today (Nov 9) its worth $1,240.02 (was about $200 higher yesterday!)

Related Stocks: VG