Staying in cash

Although I have kept watching certain stocks such as Holcim (HOLN) and Swsatch (UHRN) I did not buy them when the buy signals came on the charts, preferring to stay in cash instead through the end of the year.

Analysing Holcim

I see a resistance for Holcim (HOLN) at CHF 117.60, the low on 17 August 2007. Will it hold?

Bought Google

Three minutes after the open I changed the limit for my buy order for Google (GOOG) to USD 670 and this order got executed shortly afterwards.

Buy order for Google

I now regret not having bought Google (GOOG) at the open yesterday. Having read more good things about Google I expect its price to go to USD 800 before long, and I now place an order to buy GOOG tomorrow with a limit of USD 660. I plan to watch it at the open and change the order to market, if necessary.

Analysing Google

I'm not sure how far I can trust the buy signal for Google (GOOG) on the trendline. Stochastic has not yet confirmed it, and with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday I decide to wait.

An alternative I considered was a naked put 620/DEC but I don't want to take this risk.

Bought Silicom

My buy order for Silicom (SILC) got executed at USD 13.96

Buy order for Silicom

The trendline gave a buy signal for Silicom (SILC) on Tuesday and stochastic confirmed it. I now place and order to buy SILC at market at the open on 15 November.

Sold Google

My sell order for Google (GOOG) gets executed at the open at USD 673.22, with a gain of 29.9% in 112 days.

Google in pre-market trading

Half an hour before Nasdaq opens, Google (GOOG) is trading down in Zurich and Frankfurt. Also at the Nasdaq, the price is down during the extended hours before the open. Therefore, I let my order to sell at market stand.

At any rate, the Nasdaq pre-open trading does not seem to give a clear indication of the price trend to follow after the open.

Analysing Google

I finally found a news report that might explain why the price of Google (GOOG) dropped sharply yesterday. It is an article in PC World datelined Thursday, November 08, 2007 12:00 PM PST. I never know whether 12 pm is noon or midnight but assume it is noon.

"After a frenzied build-up, Google, as you probably know by now, did not announce the gPhone. Instead, the company announced there might be a gPhone in your future. The announcement was heavy on future potential and light on current reality.

The basic announcement was quite simple: Google announced that the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) has been formed to create open source, Linux-based software for mobile phones and other mobile devices. With Google's clout, this effort may fare better than previous efforts along the same line, but we will not know for a while."

However, this is old news and I fail to understand why it should have affected the stock price only yesterday.

Sell order for Google

After today’s close at USD 693.84, I placed an order to sell Google (GOOG) at market at the open tomorrow.

I’ll see how it does tomorrow on the European exchanges and if the price is up I may change or cancel my sell order.

Google today

It is four hours after the market opened and I suddenly realise that I had forgotten to place the stop-loss order for Google (GOOG). Soon after the open the price fell below my intended stop of USD 695.00 but has begun to recover half an hour ago and is now at USD 692.37. I have now quickly set a stop at USD 680.00

Strictly speaking, I should sell only towards the close if it looks like it will close below USD 695.00

Analising Silicom

The trend line gave a buy signal two days ago but I do not trust it. After breaking through the resistance at USD 17.00 it may want to test the next restistance at USD 12.10. Worth watching, at any rate.

Stop-loss for Google

The time has come to give Google (GOOG) a stop-loss, and I place it at USD 695.00 today. If the rally continues – and I think it will – I may change it to a trailing stop later on.

Analysing Holcim

It looks like I sold Holcim (HOLN) two soon last week. It is a tough stock for technical analysis. I now added the zig-zag line to the chart but shall have see to how useful it can be.

As it stands now, I shall wait for a new bottom before considering buying it a gain, and I can perhaps use relative strength (RSI) and momentum to to confirm signals on the trendline.

Charting HKE-traded stocks on Yahoo finance

With the help of a member on the ThaiVisa forum I found out how to chart an HKE-traded stock on Yahoo. I have to enter the stock symbol, followed by ".HK", for example 1688.HK for alibaba.com If I don't know a stock's symbol, I can look it up by typing the company name in the field and then select not just the stock but also the market from a drop-down list. Neat!

Order placement problem for HKE-traded stocks solved

A call from my Swiss broker solved the problem of placing online orders on UBS.

Outside market hours, their system does not accept orders valid for the day only. Therefore, yesterday I would have had to make the order valid from 06.11.2007 until 07.11.2007. Then, watching the price at the open I could have decided whether or not to place an new order at a higher limit and cancel the old order. It's too late for alibaba.com now.

Just the same, once I figure out how to buy HKE stocks through E*Trade I shall use E*Trade, because of the lower commissions.

Missed out on alibaba.com

My limit buy order for alibaba.com (1688) at HKE did not go through. It looks like trading opened at HKD 30.00, or perhaps at HKD 32.00, with a low of HKD 28.00 so far and a high of HKD 36.00

I shall have to find a way to open an account with a broker in Hong Kong so as not to miss future opportunities on the Hong Kong Exchange.

alibaba.com

I place a limit buy order for alibaba.com at HKD 16.90 at the Hong Kong Exchange (HKE). Because I have no broker in Hong Kong I place my order with the Swiss bank UBS and as it does not accept market orders I have to make it a limit order. The stock's symbol at HKE is 1688.

The IPO for alibaba.com closed on 25 October, issue price HKD 13.50, and the trading of the stock will start at HKE on 6 November. One of the many news articles on the subject is on Bloomberg.com

I expect the price to go up after the open on this first trading day, but because I cannot give an order to buy at market I cannot be sure if my order will be executed. Unlike for shares at other markets, I cannot give orders for KHE stock online; I have to call UBS or send on online message. With the 7-hour time difference between Hong Kong and Switzerland, it will be 03:00 hours in Switzerland when the market opens in Hong Kong at 10:00 hours, and my broker won't be at his desk before 08:00 hours Swiss time.

Thoughts on Google

Every time I think that the price of Google (NYSE:GOOG) is about to peak another news story comes out indicating still brighter prospects. A recent story was the planned cooperation between Google and Verizon. Not as close as Goole would like, but it is a start.

One obstacle to wider Internet use on mobile phones is the pricing by mobile phone service providers. From what I see, in most parts of the world the user pays for each kB he downloads. What I would like to see is a low monthly flat rate for unlimited download. I guess we need more competition in this industry, real competition, before this will happen. Perhaps we need Google to become a mobile phone service provider. Google gave some hints at the Google Analyst Day on 24 October.

Sold Holcim

Yesterday's close gave a clear sell signal on the trandline. My order to sell it at the open gets executed at CHF 128.00, at a profit of 0.5% in 8 days.

Sell order for Holcim

Before the open today, I give a sell order for Holcim (HOLN) at market.