See the chart and table below and the description as follows:

It’s early yet, but we need to get acquainted with the stocks in our portfolio and how they are performing in the real-time stock market. The stocks and their performance are shown on the chart at the end of this post, the chart has been obtained from the Finance.Yahoo.com website that allows anyone who registers with Yahoo to enter a list of stocks to track as a portfolio or a Watch List, free of charge, and which Yahoo then updates constantly during the day as the stocks fluctuate in price — a valuable resource that everyone wishing to learn about the stock market basics should become familiar with and use.

While we are mentioning resources, another one that’s free that the stock market basics learner should be aware of and utilize frequently is StockCharts.com — a great chart source where the display data can be modified by the user to suit individual time and indicator preferences, and moving averages, among other variables. That is where we get the charts we use on this website.

Before reviewing the entire list of the stocks in our new paper-trading portfolio, let us first take a look at the chart of the S&P 500 index, that shows the action of the general market to date — this can be compared with the chart of the S&P 500 shown on our post on September 1st — or you can just observe on the following September 16 chart what action has occurred in the 2 weeks since September 1st.

Note: Click on chart to enlarge slightly for a sharper view

Chart of S&P 500 to September 16 close

Chart of S&P 500 to September 16 close

So what do we see on the chart?
There have been some down days and some up days since we announced the opening of our new Stock market Basics Paper-trading Portfolio on September 1st, when we started by buying stocks, ten in  number, that we can follow from that date on, observe their progress and make trading decisions based on some simple Stock Market 101 type guidelines that are easy to follow and easy to understand.

We also need to make frequent reference to the charts of the individual stocks, listed below. In future postings to this website we can illustrate and discuss their charts, a few at a time, and also list the “attributes” that we look for in order to confirm that they are appropriate to hold for future gain. Or, if the stocks are failing, as in the case of MPEL in the list below, the chart patterns will support our decision to exit a position and take a loss if necessary — and before it becomes too large a loss. Losses in trading stocks are inevitable, there are many unforseeable forces and events that can impact a stock or the stock market in general,  but remember the axiom: “Let profits run, cut short losses quickly”.

On the S&P 500 chart above, we show the 20 day and 50 day moving averages, a blue line for the 50-day, a green line for the 20-day. Both are important for most chart watchers who consider them as technical resistance or support levels when stocks trade in their vicinity.

We can see from the chart that the last 5 consecutive days are up-trending days, very promising, and we can easily identify a couple of price levels to break through to make that trend more convincing — those are: the August 31 high at about 1220 (we closed Friday last at 1216), and the 50-day moving average in blue at around 1230. And then there is the major target, if we can reach it, at around 1340, the previous high of August 22nd or thereabouts. So that gives you an idea of what I call the stock basics 1010 approach on what to look for. We also will soon have the next quarterly earnings report season to look forward to, meanwhile it is hoped that geopolitical events and the European financial uncertainties do not create additional havoc for us as they have done in the past, not to mention action at home in the U.S.

Here is our paper-trading portfolio list:

Portfolio Performance as of September 16 close

Portfolio Performance as of September 16 close

Related posts:

  1. September 01, 2011: Our New Paper-trading Portfolio is Up and Running
  2. About Stock Market Basics Paper Trading Portfolio 3
  3. Stock Market Basics Paper Trading Portfolio No. 3
  4. At Last, Charts Signal Time for Buying Stocks? Maybe!
  5. Paper Trading Portfolio No. 3 — An Explanation of the Stock Market Basics Approach to Short-term Trading
  6. Yes, Indexes Signal It’s Time for Buying Stocks
  7. What the S&P 500 Chart Shows as of May 27, 2011 and a Review of New Trading Candidates

Filed under: Stock Market Basics

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