The new guy

[LemonButt]

05/29 Sold 1000 TNK @ 12.27
Net profit: $206
Annualized YTD return: 435%

I switched my order to a trailing stop since the spread was tight and the stock was going green. Looks like there was a big selloff and it's dropping quickly as I speak (down to 12.04 from high of 12.45). I now have $13,216 in buying power. Looks like I missed the boat on STAR as it's about to hit Mr Market's target price of 21.05.

05/29 bought 1100 IGD @ $11.90

15.6 cent dividend on Monday = $171 in my pocket. Stock has been rallying as well with the rest of the market. Should be able to sell for a profit as well.

[LemonButt]

I've got a limit sell order in to dump my IGD at $12.00/share (dividend = 0.156, last close was $12.16 we should see a lower open at $12.00) This will translate to $171 gain in dividends and $96 in capital gains for a grand total of $267.

I will be looking to buy FGP on Monday/Tuesday for the dividend with ex-date on 6/3 (Wednesday). It looks good technically and fundamentally with $36/share in revenues versus the $17.22 share price which makes this a good stock to have with or without the dividend. Rising energy prices doesn't hurt either

The dividend amounts to $0.50/share and at $17.25 I'll be able to pick up 780 shares for $390 worth of dividends. When the IGD dividend pays out on 6/15 and the FGP dividend pays out on 6/12 and not including gains/losses on the actual sale of the FGP shares, I'll have $7416 in principle for a 24% gain in 25 trading days. Not a bad 5 weeks

[billyjoe]

Lemon,
Good numbers. Keep it up all year and you'll be in great shape.

---------billy

[Mud_Doctor]

Ok I have a question. for capital gains, what about taxes when trading and not holding for a year? are you making enough to not sweat the 25% tax or just sucking it up and paying uncle sam? or is it okay to sell all but a few shares so technically you are still long in the stock? about how much cash do you need to be playing with were the 25% isnt an issue? how are you guys doing this.

Thanks
Scott

[LemonButt]

Taxes are an afterthought. It's much better to have a tax problem than an income problem. My trades will be counted as ordinary income since they are considered short term and my wife and I fall in the 25% tax bracket and will be taxed accordingly. If you are a homeowner, you will have mortgage interest to deduct and most likely still get a refund at the end of the year and won't be subject to additional taxes.

If you are getting dividends, they are taxed as long term capital gains at 15% for myself, or if you are in the lowest brackets, 5%. I'd rather have $10,000 in capital gains and pay $9,000 in taxes than have $0 or even a loss. Don't worry about taxes (unless you've got stock you've had for 11 months or something about to cross over into long term gains territory), and just worry about realizing gains.

[skiracer]

Ok I have a question. for capital gains, what about taxes when trading and not holding for a year? are you making enough to not sweat the 25% tax or just sucking it up and paying uncle sam? or is it okay to sell all but a few shares so technically you are still long in the stock? about how much cash do you need to be playing with were the 25% isnt an issue? how are you guys doing this.

Thanks
Scott

if you are trading on a consistent basis and you have consistent gains you will be in a class above millions of others. make the gains first and then pay whatever the taxes are. its very hard to make consistent gains and there are not that many that do it consistently.

[Peter Hansen]

Roth ira absolute best

if you are trading on a consistent basis and you have consistent gains you will be in a class above millions of others. make the gains first and then pay whatever the taxes are. its very hard to make consistent gains and there are not that many that do it consistently.

I would URGE everyone to have their children place money into a ROTH IRA when they get their first job. As a parent you may wish to place some into it also . As they get older and their salaries increase.....they will be INELIGIBLE. Remember you can ALWAYS Take OUT what you put into a ROTH IRA ..because you already paid taxes on it. Of course you cannot touch any interest or profits it made until you reach 59.5 Years Of Age. All trading is TAX FREE NO Wash Rules and none of the other BS >>>>>>BEAUTIFUL! At the end when you retire ....and collect at 59.5 NOT ONE MORE DIME IN TAXES. If you do not get into one .....you must be mentally deranged LOL

[LemonButt]

I would URGE everyone to have their children place money into a ROTH IRA when they get their first job. As a parent you may wish to place some into it also . As they get older and their salaries increase.....they will be INELIGIBLE. Remember you can ALWAYS Take OUT what you put into a ROTH IRA ..because you already paid taxes on it. Of course you cannot touch any interest or profits it made until you reach 59.5 Years Of Age. All trading is TAX FREE NO Wash Rules and none of the other BS >>>>>>BEAUTIFUL! At the end when you retire ....and collect at 59.5 NOT ONE MORE DIME IN TAXES. If you do not get into one .....you must be mentally deranged LOL

You cannot trade on margin with a Roth IRA, which means you can't leverage your money. I'm still a young guy (25) and haven't setup a Roth IRA yet, but plan to in the next couple years. I'm in the 25% bracket, which means I can either make $1000 on a trade and pay zero taxes in a Roth IRA for a net of $1000, or I can make $2000 on the same trade using margin and pay 25% in taxes for a net of $1500. Being a young guy, my investment goals include growing my capital while I'm young to setup a strong base in 15-20 years when I realign my investments to more conservative vehicles. While having a Roth IRA isn't a bad thing, everyone should evaluate their investment goals before making the jump

[LemonButt]

6/1 Sold 1100 IGD @ 12.06

Net: +$162
Dividend: +$171
Total: +$333
YTD Annualized: +795%

Scottrade seemed to be having server issues this morning, but I managed to sell for a gain this morning.

6/1 Bought 300 FGP @ $17.87
6/1 Bought 290 CEL @ $27.75

I wanted to buy before the 10am report came out on manufacturing data as I expect things will only be going higher. FGP has a 50 cent dividend with ex-date of 6/3 and CEL has an 84 cent dividend with ex-date of 6/4. That will put $150 and $244 in my pocket, respectively, for a gain of $394 not including the actual gain/loss on the shares when I sell. I made it a point to buy these many days before the ex-date because I do believe the market is going to go nuts with all the optimism out there and think I have a better chance of realizing gains on the shares by getting in early. To make a gain on the shares (factoring in commissions and dividends), I'll need to sell FGP for $17.42 and CEL for $26.96 by the end of the week. I'll hopefully be able to unload on the ex-dates for a gain. Stay tuned..

[Peter Hansen]

Lemon True

You cannot trade on margin with a Roth IRA, which means you can't leverage your money. I'm still a young guy (25) and haven't setup a Roth IRA yet, but plan to in the next couple years. I'm in the 25% bracket, which means I can either make $1000 on a trade and pay zero taxes in a Roth IRA for a net of $1000, or I can make $2000 on the same trade using margin and pay 25% in taxes for a net of $1500. Being a young guy, my investment goals include growing my capital while I'm young to setup a strong base in 15-20 years when I realign my investments to more conservative vehicles. While having a Roth IRA isn't a bad thing, everyone should evaluate their investment goals before making the jump

Lemon who needs margin .....when you can use Pro Funds and other ETFS with double and triple betas!

[steelman]

Roth is still key

You cannot trade on margin with a Roth IRA, which means you can't leverage your money. I'm still a young guy (25) and haven't setup a Roth IRA yet, but plan to in the next couple years. I'm in the 25% bracket, which means I can either make $1000 on a trade and pay zero taxes in a Roth IRA for a net of $1000, or I can make $2000 on the same trade using margin and pay 25% in taxes for a net of $1500. Being a young guy, my investment goals include growing my capital while I'm young to setup a strong base in 15-20 years when I realign my investments to more conservative vehicles. While having a Roth IRA isn't a bad thing, everyone should evaluate their investment goals before making the jump

Lemon,

If you are going to open a Roth in the next 2 or 3 years, just open one now. You can open them for as little as $50 a month with most mutual fund companies. I opened mine at 25 years old for $50 a month. As I grew older and made more money I put more into it. From 30-35 I was able to max out both of ours (my wife and I). Now at 36, I can't contribute because my wife and I are over the income limits. However, if we never contribute another dime and we get the 12% the average fund gets over the lifetime for the next 25 years, we will have a couple million in the Roths.

The point is, don't wait, at 25 time is on your side. With retirement accounts with mutual funds you want to be invested for as many years as possible in the market. I have clients that didn't open IRA's until they were in their 40's and the truth is, it's too late. They will never accumulate enough money to retire on. Even if they put in $5000(the max) a year at 12% over 15 years, its not even $200,000.

Personally, I don't have the time to to be on top of the market all day every day, so 12% average a year works for me with my hard earned income. My extra money is what I have invested in the individual picks with $$$MM$$$ and the gang, 15% every 4-6 weeks, 300% annualized gain!! You want both, to Trade stocks and a Roth. Good luck with your trades...make a ton of money.