Buy low .. sell high

Discussion in 'Trading' started by Cheese, Nov 14, 2003.

  1. Cheese

    Cheese

    'Buy low, sell high' or 'Buy high, sell higher' always seem to me not to have any real meaning or alternatively are just circular expressions.

    Do you 'Buy low, sell high' or 'Buy high, sell higher'?

    If the next day's play is at higher prices levels (say, Dow) well, sure I can only buy higher and will have to sell even higher to score a profit. Presumably, like certainly some others I do not have a price level perception as an important parameter; that means when each days play comes up I don't really care whether the market, say the Dow, is at 9600 or 9900 or some other general level. I'm not playing trends per se and also I day trade without the need for carrying positions intra-day; the purpose of my play is to exploit each days major gyrations.

    To explain my positioning, my strategy is an own system whereby the most recent past movements are the important parameters; thereby I have the pre-determinates for each new days play. Obviously months and months of research go behind this.

    Incidentally this is not aimed against those who rely on price levels and trends. Comparing notes is always interesting .. thats my general aim, if I may say that.

    If 'Buy low, sell high' or 'Buy high, sell higher' is useful at all how do you follow either prescription?
     
  2. Briefly, you have a problem.

    You cannot know the second half of each statement until both are history.

    If you predict the second half with consideration to the three possibilities that always exist, it is unlikely that the odds would be with you.

    A lot of the truisms out there need to have a methodology to make them work. The expressions alone do not lead you to getting the results the expressions advocate nor do they lead you to a methodology.
     
  3. bobcathy1

    bobcathy1 Guest

    Oh my, you poor deluded soul.
    Buy low, sell high?
    Naw.
    Buy high, sell higher.
    Sell low, cover lower.
    Maybe.
     
  4. Or for the awfully rich or mightily poor, Buy higher - sell never.
     
  5. Actually it's relative. A stock breaking out at 2 and going to 20. You buy the breakout or high at 2 1/4, and sell higher at 19 3/4. So you bought the high and sold higher. But to someone else, you bought low and sold high.
     
  6. Absolutely, buy low and sell high. It is the only way to make money and ride the 100% up room to go. You are right.

    :p
     
  7. Cheese

    Cheese

    I'd don't as such "buy low and sell high" at particular price levels; I've pointed at my methodology which, put simply, exploits the major daily gyrations (ie Dow).

    It would interesting if anyone else can say how/why they may "buy low and sell high". Giving away no secrets, can you define your approach?

    Do you have particular price parameters?
     
  8. bobcathy1

    bobcathy1 Guest

    My favorite strategy is the "breakout"
    So if it is an upward breakout, you buy it as soon as it goes above the channel. This is buying high and selling higher.

    Short the same for the reverse.

    Basically you watch from 9-10 approximately and draw a channel at the highest and lowest price. Then take whatever sticks above or below it and hold it until lunchtime when it starts to lose momentum.