Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Newbie Lessons - All your questions answered

Ok it's time for a lesson.

Turning an Idea into Profit

Many posters on this forum will talk about a system or strategy. I want to lead those interested down the process of how you go from an idea...into actually making money from that idea. This will be a simple process or idea I'm going to take you down. This won't be new territory for many traders, but what I'm trying to show the newbs is the process. This means it will require some input from the newbs though...I'm not just going to hand over a system, I expect others to think their way through the process. You won't value what you learn if you are simply given it. So unlike most of my lessons where I just vomit up information...with this lesson I want commentary, questions, flames na-uhs and lively discussion and will be pausing every so often to seek it.

Disclaimer: This is NOT ADVICE. DYOR stands for DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. You heard me. Don't make me break out the legalese. This is also a system I have used but currently don't have the time/inclination to operate. So I'm not ramping anything. I will not be speaking about any specific stocks, only the characteristics that a system will look for. If I mention a stock it will be for example purposes only and most likely involve past price action. Feel free amongst yourselves in the thread to comment, but any questions along the lines of what do you think of XYZ stock in the strategy should be ignored. Anybody feeling the need to respond to that kind of question please remember the forum rules about stock ramping. I want this to be clean and I DON'T want to get Joe in trouble. If I see a post that skirts the grey area I will ask a mod to remove it. Clear?

So what is a system as opposed to a strategy?

In my definition a strategy is the indictors, both technical or fundamental, that are used to identify trading targets to achieve a high probability of a successful outcome. It's easily able to be tested on a large amount of data and across multiple market conditions. Ideally it also allows the market to be scanned for opportunities.

Ok so what's a System? A system takes a strategy to the next level and through a process of preselection increases the probability associated prior to the application of indicators. To me the system is the idea, what you are going to use to preselect those high priority targets.

So lets start with an idea...

Have you ever noticed that something will tank down over a relatively long period of time and then when it seems it cannot go any further down, it explodes out of the blocks? It moves very rapidly, like a rubber band being pulled to full extension and then let go. What is happening? Why the very quick movement? That stock is a dog isn't it? Look how far down it's come? What the?

Link

If you have a look at the above link this might explain what is going on with the price action. It's from the ASIC website and is a list of declared short positions on stocks. Here in Australia you can short a stock using a synthetic instrument via an equity CFD or in limited circumstances short the stock itself if you have a friendly full service broker. The amount of shorts as a percentage of issued capital is an interesting idea, because what happens when the share price starts to rise? All those people who are short in the stock need to close out their positions (which means purchasing the stock at market price). This can cause a rapid movement of the share price as the short positions are unwound. It's like the reverse of a stock overhang. It's a defined quantity of stock that needs to be purchased. In-built demand! With a number I can measure!!

Ok so now we have the germination of an idea, we've got a potential theory to explain some market action and we've found some data.

The next step...

...is to kick the sh!te out of the idea. We're stress testing the thought process.

1) What are the Pro's and what are the Con's?
2) Rank the Pro's and Con's in order of importance


I'll be over there with a scotch and dry while you guys and girls talk it over.

Cheers

Sir O
 
So SirO, you seem to be suggesting that a stock with a large short position is ripe to buy. This is because it has a large amount of inbuilt demand. I can see the logic.

However, my thinking would be that there are alot of people shorting....thus most people think it's falling.....hence it should fall further because no-one wants to buy it.

So why is my thinking flawed?
 
So SirO, you seem to be suggesting that a stock with a large short position is ripe to buy. This is because it has a large amount of inbuilt demand. I can see the logic.

However, my thinking would be that there are alot of people shorting....thus most people think it's falling.....hence it should fall further because no-one wants to buy it.

So why is my thinking flawed?

Hi Stu. Okay so have you identified a Pro or Con? It's good that you are questioning the idea. That's what a stress test is for after all. Always be happy to question the basis of the idea. What I want you to think about though is how you justify the validity or lack thereof the idea.

Con - Is this idea valid? I have to take the time to test it out and I might be wasting my time.

Con - Can stocks be shorted into nonexistance? How frequently does it happen?

Question for Stu - Is this just a visible aspect of potential future demand?

Questions for everyone - Stu's identified that timing appears to be a critical component. As it is in every system or strategy Would you want to buy whilst the share price is still falling? Or would you want to buy when the share price is rising and you are seeing confirmation by a reduction in the number of short positions? On one hand I have greater certainty of outcome. One the other hand I give up some potential profit by allowing a confirmation to occur. Is the greater certainty worth more than the risk?


Cheers

Sir O
 
... Is the greater certainty worth more than the risk?


Cheers

Sir O

If we are talking about bottom pickers
(and I think we are)
we all agree that you can't pick tops and bottoms!

But from here the the camp is decisely split.
Those who say you should at least try and those who wait for confirmation.

I am more than happy to hear some more on this topic!
 
If we are talking about bottom pickers
(and I think we are)
we all agree that you can't pick tops and bottoms!

But from here the the camp is decisely split.
Those who say you should at least try and those who wait for confirmation.

I am more than happy to hear some more on this topic!

But for you burglar whats the answer? Confirmation or no confirmation? The process we go through here is an individual one, because it's your risk tolerance. The same basic idea may have many slightly different applications based upon what you thinkis an acceptable risk and others do not.

Want to contribute any other pro's and cons that you can identify with the idea?



Cheers

Sir O
 
But for you burglar whats the answer? Confirmation or no confirmation? ... Cheers

Sir O

If I may ... I have a story!

I know a person in the confirmation camp.
He was always asking for tips.
There was always something wrong with those I offered.

So, tongue in cheek, I recommended a particular stock pick.
He replies that as it had charged through 50% gain on the back of a good report he had bought some.
This was the confirmation he was seeking
Gulp!
He was caught on a local high.
THE STORY GETS WORSE!
He claimed to know how to Stop Loss.
He didn't!!

I don't do tips anymore, ...
And I am a bottom picker.
 
thanks for the response.

So


Con - Is this idea valid? I have to take the time to test it out and I might be wasting my time.

true. Need to put the time in. and in theory I would expect to have more systems fail than succeed when testing.

Con - Can stocks be shorted into nonexistance? How frequently does it happen?

Yes - onetel, babcock and brown etc. Doesn't happen very often.

Question for Stu - Is this just a visible aspect of potential future demand?

True. It is one aspect - and a measurable one (which is pretty rare).

In terms of your next question regarding timing.
As with everything you need to assess risk. I think you want a bit of both (ie some confirmation....and still a high enough level of movement to make it worthwhile). How can you quantify the risk?
 
If I may ... I have a story!

*snip for relevance*

I don't do tips anymore, ...
And I am a bottom picker.

Burglar...focus.

Try not to derail the flow of what I am trying to do here. I don't care about other situations. I want to show how to build a system and that comment is just distracting. The Newbs will just get lost. You've said you are a bottom picker..as in NO confirmation. This says you would be perfectly happy buying in on the way down, confident that the unwinding short positions would eventually see you in the black. Is this correct? If it is...justify it. If it is not correct, you're sitting in a grey area. You require some kind of confirmation. What KIND of confirmation would you be looking for? Technical indicators? Fundamental details? News announcement? Price and volume trigger?

Can you see where I am going with this? By our process of testing the idea and listing the pro's and con's we are starting to define the characteristics of the indicators that we will use in our system. It gives us something to SCAN with. We are also considering a number of variables and assigning a relative importance to them (This is why I want of list of Pro's and Con's and why I want them ranked).

Burglar, give me your number one advantage and disadvantage with this idea.

Cheers

Sir O
 
Too much confirmation is bad ...
Bottom picking is equally bad ...
I see that now.

Therefore a system will hopefully show a pivot.
A scan will separate optimum candidates from the background.

Your idea revolves around finding a company that is heavily shorted.
(measurable)
The advantage is fewer companies to research.
The disadvantage is that some of these are heavily shorted for a reason.
 
thanks for the response.

So


Con - Is this idea valid? I have to take the time to test it out and I might be wasting my time.

true. Need to put the time in. and in theory I would expect to have more systems fail than succeed when testing.

Con - Can stocks be shorted into nonexistance? How frequently does it happen?

Yes - onetel, babcock and brown etc. Doesn't happen very often.

Question for Stu - Is this just a visible aspect of potential future demand?

True. It is one aspect - and a measurable one (which is pretty rare).

In terms of your next question regarding timing.
As with everything you need to assess risk. I think you want a bit of both (ie some confirmation....and still a high enough level of movement to make it worthwhile). How can you quantify the risk?

Excellent response Stu. I was responding to burglar and I think I answered this question. By listing and ranking the pro's and con's we automatically begin thinking in terms of risk and more importantly risk mitigation. Quantification of the risk is only revealed once we begin testing. So Stu. Give me a different answer from Burglar. What's the number one advantage and number one disadvantage with the idea?

Cheers

Sir O
 
Too much confirmation is bad ...
Bottom picking is equally bad ...
I see that now.

Therefore a system will hopefully show a pivot.
A scan will separate optimum candidates from the background.

Your idea revolves around finding a company that is heavily shorted.
(measurable)
The advantage is fewer companies to research.
The disadvantage is that some of these are heavily shorted for a reason.

So what reasons for shorting am I looking for? More importantly what reasons am I looking to avoid? Can I build either of these into a scan? Is it worth my time in doing that or will that be part of my research process once identification has occurred?

Define "Heavily" in the above statement.
Is 1% of the issued capital heavily shorted?
is 20% of the issued capital heavily shorted?

In relation to the above. The target company has 45% of issued capital held in the hands of management. Does this change where you have drawn the line in the sand of "heavily"? Why or why not?

Burglar, you've stated you want to see a pivot. What sort of pivot are you looking for? A Hard pivot, a soft pivot, a confirmed change in trend by the break of the previous lower high?

Can you see what I'm leading you towards? We're getting things we can test for validity.

Keep going, Pro's an con's.

Rank them.

Cheers

Sir O
 
Really gets you thinking doesn't it. Hopefully I am answering the correct question - and my answers aren't too simple!

The idea is: Use the % shorts as a starting point to go long. The higher the % shorts, the more hidden demand.

Advantages in no order:
- Measurable. You have a value you can measure against (% of shorts).
- Timing. As the shorts start disappearing, you can better time when to get in - and get out
- Confirmation. Hopefully as the shorts disappear the share price rises, thus constantly confirming you are on the right side of the ledger.
- Shorting is normally a short-term venture. Thus higher likelihood of people buy back their shorts.

Disadvantages.
- other influence. Is the equity linked to some other factor (ie gold, copper etc) - and the short is really against that item, and the equity is infact a derivative?
- I would expect that people/companies that short, are more experienced than those that just go long. So essentially more experienced people are betting against you (me).
- shorting a company can just be a way of shorting the market. Thus market falls = share falls. Does our timing need to including looking at the XJO rising also.

Stu
 
Really gets you thinking doesn't it. Hopefully I am answering the correct question - and my answers aren't too simple!

But equally we don't want to make it too complex either. Most of my systems are a lot of work to set up, and then require relatively little time to apply. This is due to the fact that one of the advantages that I look for in a system is being able to use small amounts of time to execute it. As you can see the system needs to work for you as an individual trader. If you can't be chained to a computer, don't build a system that requires you to be.
The idea is: Use the % shorts as a starting point to go long. The higher the % shorts, the more hidden demand.
that's our hypothesis and what we need to test for statistical significance.
Advantages in no order:
- Measurable. You have a value you can measure against (% of shorts).
I would also add to this we have data that goes back to June 2010. Is this sufficient data/time for a working hypothesis?
- Timing. As the shorts start disappearing, you can better time when to get in - and get out
- Confirmation. Hopefully as the shorts disappear the share price rises, thus constantly confirming you are on the right side of the ledger.
- Shorting is normally a short-term venture. Thus higher likelihood of people buy back their shorts.

Disadvantages.
- other influence. Is the equity linked to some other factor (ie gold, copper etc) - and the short is really against that item, and the equity is infact a derivative?
- I would expect that people/companies that short, are more experienced than those that just go long. So essentially more experienced people are betting against you (me).
- shorting a company can just be a way of shorting the market. Thus market falls = share falls. Does our timing need to including looking at the XJO rising also.
Would you then want to classify types of markets to get an appreciation of when this system may have optimal efficiency?

Great Start Stu and Burglar...remember to rank them.

What else can you think of? Anyone want to add to Advanatges or Disadvantages?

I'll give you one you may not have thought of.

Con - The data released by ASIC is up to 5 days after it happened. There is therefore a weeks lag and potential slippage associated with waiting for confirmation.

Cheers

Sir O
 
Lets get come ranking talk started. here's my initial rankings. Change as you see fit (or add to it).

Pro
1. Measureable short value %
2. Have latent demand (can see this through volume increase when it unwinds)
3. Cuts down on list of companies to research
4. you can see confirmation (% shorts decreasing)


Con
1. The data released by ASIC is up to 5 days after it happened.
2. Company heavily shorted for a reason
3. Data only goes back 1 year. is it enough
4. is the short a function of the market
 
Sir O,

Is it easy to determine what % of a company's shares are held by the board/directos/internally? Is this concept measurable?

At first glance the % of winning trades may be quite low and as such may not suit all traders/investors.

I can only see data onthe ASIC website for short %'s held back to June 2010. Is this enough data to perform the required backtesting?
 
Pro:
- Unique approach (limited competition?)
- Inherent demand as mentioned earlier

Con:
- Only 2 years data to back-test with
- Limited to markets that can be shorted?
- Requires buying into a falling stock (not everyones 'cup of tea')

How do we pick the point to buy in? Where is the tipping point?
 
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