Stock Trading Strategies

Throughout this 2 month stock trading simulation I discovered different ways to invest in stocks. One major strategy that I found worked for me was short selling the Nasdaq or NYSE top gainers of the day. A common trend I found with all stocks is that if the stock has a major increase from opening to about 10:30 will eventually have a similar percentage decrease throughout the day. If you short sold a stock at the all time high of the day around 10:00-10:30 and put in a limit order to cover around the price it opened at by 1:00 you would have made a good profit on that stock. Many stocks tend to fluctuate throughout the day especially if they have a major increase throughout the opening hours. I found that if stocks increase by a large percentage during the pre-market stage then they tend not to drop as much during the day. For example Kraft stock increased about 36% pre-market but did not drop later on in the day.
Another strategy I used throughout this stock market simulation was placing stop orders, limit orders, and day orders. This allowed me the freedom to trade stocks without the worry of losing a lot of money. If a stop reached or dropped to a desirable price for me it would automatically sell so I would not miss the boat. Many times it is a very small window to sell a stock at a high price. This allowed me to get the best capital gain out of stocks.
As it got later into the stock trading weeks I started to put a good amount of money into safe blue chip stocks so I would always have a steady capital gain coming in even if I was losing money on other risky stocks.

Kraft Stock Earnings (Wednesday March 25th)

After hours on the NYSE proved impressive for Kraft stock. Tuesday night a deal was set in place for Heinz and Kraft to merge. This deal would successfully create the worlds 5th largest food and beverage company. Allowing Kraft to grow internationally and evolve into a more consumer-focused company. This massive merger was valued at about $36 billion. Kraft CEO John Cahill said he will become vice-chairman of the newly formed Kraft-Heinz. This news propelled Kraft shares nearly 36% or $21.93, which resulted at a close price of $83.15 per share Wednesday Night. Immediately upon opening on wednesday morning the stock shot up 25% based off the overnight merger. I decided to buy 2053 shares of Kraft at $85.16 based off the fact that the Kraft Stock would continue to rise throughout the day and begin to fall again before close. Later on in the day the stock rose to about $86.75, I placed a limit order so my shares would automatically sell at $86.75. My original market value for Kraft on my stock portfolio was $174,833.48, I sold the Kraft shares with a capital gain of $3,264.27 which increased the market value of my Kraft Shares to $178,097.75. In total the capital gain I received from these Kraft shares allowed me to get back in the green. Its been a rough road during this stock market simulation and I'm happy that I'm finally back making profit.

Wednesday's Stock Earnings (March 11th)

This Wednesday's stock earnings left a less than impressive impact on my stock portfolio. Apple specifically took a huge hit due to the release of the iwatch keynote presentation. Many critics of Apple products released articles claiming the apple watch will not provide the revenues projected by apple. Another big complaint about the apple watch was the price compared to other smart watches. The stock recently reached a 5 month high of about $132.00 per share and immediately dropped the day after the keynote presentation was released to about $122.24. This was a massive upset in the technology industries but it was one that many people predicted. After all every time apple releases a new product their stock seems to plummet only to impressively increase in the following days. Over the next few days the apple stock rose back to about $128.47 per share, which has been about the average lately for the company. I purchased 200 shares of AAPL back when the stock market investment game begun, i purchased it as a long term investment knowing that Apple is a relatively safe company (blue chip stock) that would not take massive decreases. The 200 shares were purchased at $126.71 totalling a market value of $25,342 currently the share price is back up to about $127.30 which has been stable the past few days. Currently my market value is $25,463.50 for apple and although it is not a huge money maker it is a safe stock that i can rely on for constant small returns.

Wednesday's Stock Earning's (March 4th)

OREX, INC.

Orexigen Therapeutics, INC. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of obesity. On Wednesday the stock share price rose again back to $8.95 per share as an after affect of the positive testing results. This originally caused a big capital loss for my stock portfolio on Wednesday considering I short sold 10,000 shares of OREX at $8.55. The stock was said to be the most volatile of the day. Based off this I decided to short sell 1906 shares of OREX at $8.95 in total my market value on OREX was $59.808.70. I am still holding on to all my shares in OREX.

Tuesday's Stock Earnings (March 3rd)

OREX, INC.

For the second day in a row my stock portfolio performance left an impressive impact on my respectively high capital loses. Orexigen Therapeutics, INC. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of obesity. Recently on Tuesday they released testing results that proved the new weight loss pill they have designed works without any liver failure. That morning the stock opened at $5.78 per share, within 10 minutes of releasing the testing results the stock shot up to $9.12. This was the all time high price per share. So I decided to short sell 10,000 shares of the company at $8.55, which totalled a market value of $42,750. I believe this was a risky investment because once a stock reaches its all time high it will either crash or continue to increase at a high rate. My decision paid off because over the last 2 days OREX has dropped back to a current price of $6.85 per share.

DRAM

Another stock that added to my daily returns for March 3rd was DRAM. I decided to short sell 10,000 shares of DRAM at $3.04 per share. I made this decision based off the fact that it was the NASDAQ top percent gainer for the day. Later that day the stock dropped back to $2.89 per share and I decided to buy 10,000 shares to cover. In total I had a capital gain of $1500 after short selling DRAM.

Monday's Stock Earnings (March 2nd)

BIOC, INC.

Apple, INC.

The first trading day of March left me with some impressive capital gain considering the first few weeks were less than impressive. Once again BIOC, INC. was the hot stock of the day. Since the release of their testing information from Columbia University the BIOC share price was at an all time low of $2.75 per share. I decided to purchase 20,000 shares at this price ($55,000) because after doing research the stock was predicted to increase due to an after affect from the original testing results release. Later that day on BIOC rose to $3.56, being satisfied with the capital gain on BIOC I decided to sell half my shares increasing my capital gains by a total of $8,100. This was the beginning of my upwards trend. By the end of the day BIOC increased even more to a high of $3.85 per share. At this point I made a decision to sell all my remaining shares of BIOC, increasing my capital gains by $11,000. In total the market value of BIOC increased by $18,100. My total returns for Monday was slightly over $19,000 due to a small increase in the Apple stock which I invested in as a long term safe investment back during the first week of stock trading.

Fridays Stock Earnings- February 27th

BIOC, INC.

The final week of February left my stock portfolio with a less than impressive impact. I purchased BIOC on February 25th based on a break through within the companies studies. Biocept found that it's blood-based diagnostic OncoCEE-BR, was used to determine hormonal status of metallic breast cancer patients in a prospective study at Columbia University in New York. This study caused BIOC to increase nearly 100%. I purchased 5554 shares of the stock at $4.52, which was too late. I purchased the stock too long after the major increase. Over the next 2 days it continued to drop below $3. Once the stock dropped to $2.75 my holdings automatically sold due to a stop limit I had on the order. In total the impact on BIOC decreased my total capital gains by $9,830.58.