"Trader T" left the following comment about SPRT the other day:
i recently bought [SNIP] shares of SPRT... i got in at $6.18 a share today (the 14th)... this was my first trade and i am planning on holding this for at least a year... however, if it breaks $11.00 i will sell... what do you think of this move and can you suggest anything to a stock trading newbee such as myself (good books to read, etc.)
As for books I always tell people to read 'How to Make Money in Stocks' by William O'Neil and "Trader Vic: Methods of a Wall Street Master" by Victor Sperandeo. I'd read them in that order. For further education see the list of books over in the middle column of this page or my books category.
Back to Trader T's question about SNDA. I'm a big fan of using moving averages to identify trends. The chart of SNDA tells me that the long-term trend is down and the intermediate-term trend is up. So if I were looking for a long-term trade (I consider a year long-term) I'd have to go with what the 200 DMA is telling me -- stay away or be short. For a shorter term trade I'd probably key off of the 50-day moving average.
Mind you, this is just my opinion. No doubt there are plenty of traders who see SPRT as a long-term buy right here. The one thing that does worry me is that Trader T didn't say anything about where his stop-loss order is placed. One thing that's almost universally agreed upon among traders is that you should decide where you would get out of the stock at a loss before you even buy the stock. As I always say, money management is the most important aspect of trading. I'm always more concerned with protecting my capital than making profit.
I have some other thoughts on this trade, specifically on the sell target, but the books cover everything I would say very well. Hopefully they'll be helpful to Trader T.
