Investools Questions

[bovverd]

Hi Im about to look into purchasing some tools to assist me with my investments - If any of you guys can provide advice on the following questions it would be greatly appreciated:

1) I am based in the UK and due to time differences the US markets close at 9pm here. Does investools have a facility where you can receive sms or text message alerts to a cell phone if there is any change to any of my arrows?

2) Would you say investools is good value for money and doesnt require any futher ongoing bolt ons or subscription services to make it all work.

3) How often are you likely to get changes to the arrows which require action on any one particular stock? Daily? Weekly etc? Do you have to sit there watching the tools all day every day or are the arrow changes less frequent. Can you give me an example of a particular stock you have held and how often you have had to buy and sell it due to changes with the arrows?

Many thanks for your help - Investing in US stocks from the UK with the time difference requires a slightly different approach and will mean I need to have a process that works late into the evening here. I also work in an investment bank who may not allow me to add any software to my work PC so my plan is to set investools up at home and hopefully use sms alerts which are sent to my cell phone highlighting any changes to my investment, so I can then call my broker with new instructions.

[npg]

TDWaterhouse have a very good service with access to UK and European markets. Fees are quite reasonable and their support is generally quite good (as opposed to E*Trade which are just plain arrogant). Also, you can chose to settle in US Dollars instead of Pound Sterling --which will keep the conversion fees low.

Investools? Have you seen the ads that run all over the US? I went for a job interview in Texas a few weeks back and was surprised to see the Investools ads all over TV (in case you wonder, yes, they are quite corny). It's not worth the money. These seminars all follow the same patterns and ludicrous claims. See previous posts about Investools.

If you want a good education in that field, then you should consider this course. That's money well spent and of an indisputable pedigree.

[bovverd]

Originally Posted by npg

TDWaterhouse have a very good service with access to UK and European markets. Fees are quite reasonable and their support is generally quite good (as opposed to E*Trade which are just plain arrogant). Also, you can chose to settle in US Dollars instead of Pound Sterling --which will keep the conversion fees low.

Investools? Have you seen the ads that run all over the US? I went for a job interview in Texas a few weeks back and was surprised to see the Investools ads all over TV (in case you wonder, yes, they are quite corny). It's not worth the money. These seminars all follow the same patterns and ludicrous claims. See previous posts about Investools.

If you want a good education in that field, then you should consider this course. That's money well spent and of an indisputable pedigree.

Im not entirely decided on investools I was just looking for a good set of tools which will give me access to the three charts as mentioned in the book. I thought I would look at investools first as this was the gang Phil mentioned but if there are any others which also run the three charts i would like a look at them too.

I saw the investools adverts during a recent trip to NY and yes they are corny. What other programmes give you the three tools Phil suggest we use ?

[npg]

I've stopped even contemplating to use tools for trading. As long as a company is not severely overpriced I hold on to it.

If you want to try out what the book suggests, then you can use that free service to configure your charts. I've set one example up for you. Modify at will ;) It is really not very hard to see where lines cross over.

Good luck!

[bovverd]

Originally Posted by npg

I've stopped even contemplating to use tools for trading. As long as a company is not severely overpriced I hold on to it.

If you want to try out what the book suggests, then you can use that free service to configure your charts. I've set one example up for you. Modify at will ;) It is really not very hard to see where lines cross over.

Good luck!

Thanks for your help.

[Gunnski]

To use or not to use???

We are all students here so here is one of my recent projects. Netgear. NTGR.

Pull up a 1 year chart on Yahoo. Got in Mar. 9, 2007 with tools at $26.18. Sold (tools saved my butt) on Jul. 23, 2007 $40.67. Very happy! Got back in Sept. 12, 2007 @ $27.76. Sold yesterday on two hard sell signals 10MA & Stochastics, MACD, slight crossdown. Today up over 2%.

Did I make a mistake? I really believe in Discipline, Diversification & Desire. That is my "Game Plan" the tools said sell, I sold. Back to class.

[NewMoney]

Here is an annotated (I added the arrows) chart for CTSH:

CTSH - SharpCharts from StockCharts.com

You can see that you you can look at a chart like this and tell immediately what the red and green arrow signals are without needing the arrows. Just look for when the lines cross.

You don't need investools.

[npg]

Although I don't need charts, I am amazed how many people felt they would not be able to use them unless it showed some arrows.

Not that Mr Town did not explain how to use them when these arrows are not painted. All it is is eye-candy. It's very expensive eye-candy if it means that you need to attend the course or get a (very expensive) subscription to that site.

The enemies of reason are simply everywhere...

[NewMoney]

NPG,

You forget how overwhelming investing is for someone just starting out. :)

I actually find the charts very useful. You say that you don't use the charts, but you should use them. Even if your plan is to buy a stock and sit on it for 10 years. The price point at which you buy a stock makes a difference. Without the chart, you might watch for a price you think is a good entry point. No problem with that. But if you could look at a chart and determine that the price might drop another buck or two, would it not make sense to wait and buy when the price has dipped even more? I think charts are useful. There are no guarantees that a stock will move the direction the chat predicts. But I think you can develop a bit of a sense about the market and if it agrees with the charts then you have a good chance the stock movement will happen as you think it will.

[npg]

Charts fooled me too often to be considered a reliable means for the future. Arguably, they can provide for a guideline but more often than not made me do very stupid things. It certainly didn't work well enough for me as basis for future decisions.

All a chart says is how people voted for the company in the past. However, if you think about it, it doesn't say anything about the business. I am happy getting into a business with a rate of return of 15% and a margin of safety between 20%-60% on my estimate of intrinsic value. If later on that business is available at an even larger discount, then I am happy. I am not worried about getting in at rock bottom price levels. That is too hard to get right. Once the discount is already there that's enough.

It is worth holding on to sound shares in a business for as long as the business is sound. Making good decisions is something quite difficult. Selling and buying are all decisions. The more decisions I need to make the more likely I am to make mistakes (empirical evidence supports this). Hyperactivity can lead to a lot of bad calls, so I adopted a more sleuth like approach. Besides, businesses don't develop over a few quarters, it often takes several years for them to develop their presence and product line.

Additionally, why should I sell something I had the luck and opportunity at getting at a good discount to intrinsic value? It makes no sense selling it unless somebody quotes a ridiculously high figure. I always find it harder to buy in at increasingly more expensive prices. I find that too difficult. Besides, I don't want to be a slave to the market. As long as the business is great and the people running the show know what they are doing, I know I will get a better return than from a savings account. And that's what matters to my savings and my financial future. As long as the business is generating superior returns then I don't care much what the market thinks.

Warren Buffett once mentioned that one should buy stocks one would be happy to hold if the stock exchanges shut and reopened in 3 years time. I believe I have such a portfolio. I may re-examine some of these holdings in that time but no earlier unless there has been a dramatic change in the business prospects. It will have to be something more specific to the business, not a market crash or a general recession.

In the meantime, I rather look at pictures of naked ladies than zig-zags on a stock chart.