Heil, I'm trailing half my position behind the current price to guarantee a profit, and would cut the other half if it moves back up to my entry and wait to reenter at a better time. As it stands now, my trailing stop for the first half is at 88.29 so I can at least keep 1 point profit at worst. If the stock continues moving down I'll be more liberal allowing it lots more wiggle room. AAA, I don't know who specifically you're referring to with regard to shorting EBAY, but every time I've shorted it so far I've made a profit. It may be a cult stock, but just like with EXPE I've made my bank time and time again on pullbacks and retracements. And while these kind of cult stocks can be uncannily strong, when they retrace, they retrace in nice multi point chunks. To each his own, but your long side hype sounds a lot like you're emotionally attached to this stock, which I recommend you try to take a more pragmatic approach. taodr, I too love and use ebay. I'm just shorting the stock based on its chart mostly, and in part due to fundamentals. As I said before, if the double top gets negated, I'm out. Mecro, If it makes you feel better, I'm also heavily short on INTC on a long term basis.
That's the craziest thing I've ever heard. I'm just trying to protect you guys. Seriously, I hate to see you all get crushed by this stock when it makes its inevitable run through the century mark, very possibly next week. Have you even considered what the market for Saddam items will be?
Thanks for the concern, but as I said, I've done quite well shorting EBAY, and one can't get crushed as long as they have a proper stop/hedging strategy. I also don't really bother worrying about who sells what on Ebay as it pertains to my stock position. As I said, I'm trading this one mostly on its current chart pattern, not on Saddamabilia for sale.
If thats what u think it's heading to...why not go out and purchase some PUTS, using ur 3-6 month time frame, and at least know how much capital ur risking.
That's very true. I just happen to have an aversion to buying options as a sole position, even for longer time frames. I just like knowing I've got something more liquid, less spreads, no time value erosion, etc.
zboy, You are right. Do not buy Ebay puts. That is just throwing your money away. I would advise buying far OTM calls. If you insist on juggling running chain saws by shorting, buy calls on a ratio to your shorts to hedge. I would say for every 100 shares, buy 30 or 40 calls.
Honestly...trading the puts or using it as a vehicle for ur longer time frame at least gives you an idea of how much capital is at risk. I'd sure hate to keep averaging into a monster like EBAY...especially if you're looking for say 20-30 pts on the downside.
There is just way too much risk in shorting Ebay. Even if it does start dropping, there are too many buyers that would love to get some Ebay but unwilling to buy at the current price. Just not enough reward.
AAA, You've made it clear by your comments that your attachment to EBAY is not that of a trader, but of a long side cheerleader who sounds like someone trying to scare shorts into covering, and if that works for you, more power to you. I personally have nothing for or against the stock or company, I trade what I feel are good setups and I don't have any vendettas against a stock or anything to prove. I've made plenty of money on both the long and short side of EBAY, as well as other cult stocks like EXPE, and right now unless it can close above 91 and negate the chart's double top I feel quite comfortable in my position. TraderD, I'm not averaging into my position, I'm already fully in for the position that I intend to trade. I should clarify that my downside outlook remains only as long as the current double top in the chart holds and is not broken. As I said previously, I'm already profitable in the position, and will not let the profits get away completely. If the stock moves back up to one point below where I shorted I'll cover half and lock in at least the one point. If it moves back up to my entry, I'll cover the remaining half flat and wait either for a re-entry short or a close above 91, in which case I'll take the ride long for whatever it wants to give me.
Yes, Ebay is a loved stock, a glamour stock. Seems that nothing can stop this stock so far. But let's go back in history: Glamour stocks of the '70s: Polaroid, Xerox, Coke, MCD, Teledyne.... '80s: Borland, Wang, Novell, Commodore.... '90s: CMGI, Sun, Cisco, AOL.... '00s: Ebay, Expedia, Krispy Creme, Panera ... Yes, there are also some survivors like Msft or IBM, but take a look at the P/Es, growth rate and book value, no hype any more.