What would you do with only $5000?

[MrCrowley]

I have not traded long (only since March) and do not have ample time to do a ton of research. I read the google blogs and have just signed up here to see what folks think on this site.

Since March, I have been able to increase my portfolio value by 200%. I had a friend at work turn me on to a site with a chart tool called profit charts. He taught me how to trade on the technicals which worked pretty well back in March April and May with financials such as C, HIG, BAC, WTF. I also traded GE, ACI and HAS and made some pretty good profits. I don't understand all the intricacies of technical trading but enough so that I made much more than I lost.

I then had a friend turn me on to "penny stocks" starting with BPUR. I made quite a bit rolling over BPUR, OSCI, NFLD, and HEB.

Enough so that I made money and ended up with free stocks to hold long. Of the stocks mentioned above only HEB is still in the running though.

Recent tidbits I picked up from legitimate posters on the Google board made me some really good cash on HTDS. I bought several million shares at .0001 share and punched out of half of my holdings at .00061 a share.

My personal feelings are that this stock may do well.

I also recently purchased 3.5 mil shares of LGTT and 10 mil shares of EVFL but I do not have a really strong feeling EVFL will do good in the short term. This was a more long term position. LGTT on the other hand I think has potential. I like thier product/service (cyber security) and think they have a chance to do well within the next year.

So with 5K I would try to pick up some more stable companies (play the technicals) earn 100 to 300 a trade and then take the profits and try to ride some pharm stocks up towards FDA approvals. Cash out of at least half your position to take profit and hold the remaining half long.

That's my 2 cents (or because I bloviated long maybe 2 bucks worth)

[FXSTcmh]

put it all on black

No, on Red...... No, no, I mean black, no, no maybe red.........

[jestudley]

start with small stocks like stsa.
it has done great lately and will continue
i dont like to hold anything too long although the market is changing to a buy and hold market
UPDATE AT I SOLD MY STSA @3.37 AND WAITED FOR IT TO CRASH BACK AND IT DID ,I BOUGHT BACK IN THE SAME STOCK @ 2.02 AND IT IS CLIMBING NOW ,IT WILL BE BACK TO3.37 IN ABOUT A MONTH FOR A REALLY NICE GAIN AND I WILL SELL IT AGAIN AND WAIT FOR THE NEXT CRASH BACK DOWN AROUND 2.20 AND BUY IT AGAIN
FIND A STOCK YOU LIKE AND STUDY IT AND GET TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS GOING TO DO,IT DOES WORK, MOST OF THE TIME
GOOD LUCK

[TrippleZero]

How would you invest? What would you do? Why?

How much time do you have? what are your goals? what are you comfortable with.

You can get 10% daily gains if you have the time to put the work in and know what to look for. I have a watch list a mile long that I'm always looking at. I like to take the gains, get out and start over. Find a good company with the right range, watch it and get to know it.

The last several weeks 15 - 25% daily gains have been easy to find.

[stiletto]

Put half your $5k into a REIT - they were hit really hard, but they are rebounding and will cost a lot more in the next few years. This will offset your another half which you are going to spend on a stock like SPPI or ARNA, where you can loose most of it, although this is unlikely.

[Ripama]

How would you invest? What would you do? Why?

I'd buy 10 SPPI ITM Long Call Options Contracts for Jan or Feb 2010 with high Deltas (90 and higher). Then I'd keep the rest in cash in case I have to bail out at a loss. The balance plus the proceeds for bailing out should allow me to make another trade.

[joemaid2438]

Glad you asked! I would spread out my investment to 5 or 6 stocks, under $1 pps, investing no more than $1000 in each company. For example, if you find a pps of .25, buy 4000 shares, which would = $1000. It's simply a matter of math in this instance: 400 shares at $2.50 = $1000, and if the pps increases to $3.00, you now have $1200, not so big a deal. HOWEVER, if your .25 pps stock goes to 3.00, you now have $12,000, a much better deal (4000 shares x $3 = $12,000). Can this really happen? Yes, especially in biotech stocks, for the time being. I bought CTIC at .05, and in less than six months it went to over $2.00. You do the math. Of course, it doesn't always work out that way! But you can see the potential. And REMEMBER, whatever you invest in, do your "due diligence."

[cfppopp]

I am in BIEL at around 108,000 shares and think this stock will continue to grow. Could be at .50 by years end.

[joemaid2438]

I hope you're right, as I hope all ventures into the stock market end well. At any rate, BIEL has sometimes seemed a little suspicious to me. The pulsed electromagnetic field therapy idea just doesn't quite seem on target, of course, imo. The Google finance page does not list any employees, evidently the officers of the company constituting the entire work force, which is OK, but serves notice that this is a small outfit. Let me be honest, I have bought BIEL in the past despite my misgivings, and then sold for a small gain. Interestingly, the last time I tried to purchase more, Scottrade would not do it, citing availability issues with BIEL's shares! At any rate, be cautious and do your due diligence. Hope the best for you!