Value Microcaps PICKSIX LOTTO CHAMPION

[lentinman]

MSGI FINAL MEMORIAL: Taken from Ibox.

This board has been created to honor the Champion Stockpicker on the Value Microcaps Board in the latest Pick Six Lotto contest. The Champion will have a chance to semi permanently let others know his/her stock picking techniques as well as his/her favorite stocks. The Champion can provide background information on their investing experience as well as any area where they feel they have special expertise.


PICK SIX LOTTO TEN (PSL10):
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=13244

September 15th, 2008 to December 12th, 2008
88 Participants -- Gainers: 4, Losers: 84
Average gain: -41%


WINNER - MSGI: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/profile.asp?user=24029


Top 10 Posters

   1 MSGI              68.10% 
   2 Yielddude         49.96% 
   3 BBOTCS            10.75% 
   4 GUY                4.86% 
   5 LISG              -5.78% 
   6 Deathtotaxes      -8.70% 
   7 GIFF             -18.05% 
   8 CRKranz          -20.48% 
   9 RMIWA            -20.82% 
  10 Knowledgeisking  -24.44%

Top 10 Stocks

   1 ADY       81.00% 
   2 SKK       55.41% 
   3 QID       44.68% 
   4 HQS       43.18% 
   5 MDVX.OB   37.14% 
   6 FFH       33.73% 
   7 FRPT      33.33% 
   8 RRZ       31.22% 
   9 SMF.TO    25.71% 
  10 SPDV.OB   23.53%

Persons in First Place during the contest.

KNOWLEDGE
NILES
YIELD
MSGI



MSGI's VITAL STATISTICS

He started out week 1 in 34th place, moved to 1st place in weeks 2-9, dropped behind Yielddude in week 10 and then retook the lead in week 11 - holding it to the end. His high was +68% where he remained frozen over the last three weeks of the contest.


MSGI's COMMENTARY

My overall investment philosophy has been shaped by the fact that I hate to lose money. Hence, in March of 2000 when I saw some of my profits made in the late '90's start to melt away, I sold everything and just sat in cash. I thought that I would sit on the sidelines for a month or so, while I continued to look for good buys. Most of the stocks that I had invested in were NASDAQ stocks and you all know how hard they were hit back then. It turned out that I sat on the sidelines for almost two years.

In June of 2007, I started getting the same feeling about the market that I had in March of 2000. My type of stocks didn't seem to be working so I went to 100% cash again. It turns out that the market peaked around October of 2007, some 400 points higher than where I had gotten out. I have probably made a dozen trades since June of 2007 with only half of those being successful.

So, when PSL10 started, I decided to do in the contest what I had been doing in my real account. I picked 5 stocks and a cash position and immediately froze the stock positions which essentially gave me all cash. (I look for Len and SSK to change the rules so this can't be done in future contests). I then looked for a fast moving stock that seemed to be a favorite among traders. That stock was FRE. I held FRE for 4 days and then froze it. Later I unfroze it and held for 3 more days and then froze it again. FRE accounted for all of my net gain in the contest.

What this proves to me is that you don't have to be 100% invested in the market all of the time to make a decent return on your money. Especially in bear markets when holding a given number of stocks, the losers will wipe out the gains of the winners.

Some will argue that timing the market is impossible and I would agree with that as far as timing normal corrections in the market, but the period after March of 2000 and the period we are in now are not "normal" corrections. In both cases, HUGE bubbles have burst and the economy has tanked. It isn't hard to spot a bear market, what is hard is to determine when they are over.

Unfortunately, I feel that PSL11 will be just as challenging as PSL10. Good luck to all in PSL11 and also with all of your real investments.

Larry T. (MSGI)

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PSL1 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=11054704
PSL2 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=13102250
PSL3 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=15707449
PSL4 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=19222015
PSL5 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=22596832
PSL6 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=25347294
PSL7 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=28826790
PSL8 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=31870165
PSL9 CHAMPION'S BOARD SUMMARY: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=34310724


NEXT UP: PICK SIX LOTTO 11: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=14726