The Golden Lounge

[SSP]

Interview with an OTCBB Trader- Steve Platsis

http://www.otcbbnn.com/commentary52.htm

Written by: Giando Argentina

Published by: OTCBB News Network

06/08/2001

The Internet has proven to be somewhat of an equalizer for the individual investor, especially in the OTC Bulletin Board arena, where information about stocks was extremely difficult to find just a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, due to the easy profits of 1999 and early 2000, many investors have come to rely on newsletters, touting stocks for payment or stock pickers that made a name for themselves when any stock with a pulse was rewarding investors with double or triple your money gains.

Steve Platsis has a somewhat different approach to trading and investing in the OTC BB. While not against trading a stock simply on a momentum move, the focus is definitely more on uncovering pertinent information about a stock before the masses. In part from digging deep in the SEC filings, something the majority of OTCBB investors fail to do. As Steve stated in an article from The Wall Street Journal, “I have access to more tools and data than a lot of professionals that I know…but you know, it's hard work. You've got to really be willing to dig.” Three years ago Steve decided to leave the accounting profession behind and trade stocks full time, estimating he spends about three hours a day researching stocks.

Steve Platsis started a message board on Silicon Investor a couple of years ago called “The Golden Lists”, recently also adding a real time chat room available at http://www.goldenlists.com or http://www.tgllive.com . With the emphasis being on research and understanding of why particular stocks are moving or will move. Steve can be found in the chat room or message board under the online moniker SSP. Today we will chat with Steve to find out a little bit more about his style of trading and investing.



Giando: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. How did you become involved in the OTCBB and was it a profitable experience at first, or did it take a while to hone your skills?



Steve: Thanks for having me; although I didn't start trading the OTCBB stocks until about a year later of online investing, they were the stocks that made me really get serious about research. My initial experience with them was an eye opener, and at that point I was at the stage where I had made enough money to leave my work from trading the NASDAQ internet stocks during the dot.com mania. OTCBB stocks are a whole different world of trading! I became more interested in them because of the leverage they have to offer. However, there was so much more to be cautious about, which I quickly became aware of. My original OTCBB experience wasn't profitable, in fact I still have the shares as a reminder/lesson, I just moved on and went for a more disciplined and careful method of trading since then.



Giando: You have managed to do what most OTCBB investors dream of doing, quit your job and trade full time. What advice do you have for someone who may be contemplating such a move?



Steve: The only way anyone should quit their job and begin trading full time, is if they have built enough equity and cash to allow such a move possible. I didn't quit my job and dive into trading online without building up a nice portfolio first! While I had my job, I would use my lunch break to make a few trades, after I had enough cash I made the move to leave my job.



Giando: What is the idea behind The Golden Lists message board and when did you start it?



Steve: My experience with trading lead me to pay attention to companies that made it known to the public that a major event was coming during a specific date. I used to keep track of the ones that caught my eye on a paper notebook. Because I couldn't catch them at the instance the news was released since I was at work, I waited until the hype died down and for the stock to level off as people forgot about the event or at least didn't have the patience to hold until the specified event date. Most of the time as the event nears, people are reminded and begin to buy back in, leading to the events completion. An example would be MSFT, with the launching of XBOX in November as a forward event mentioned in a press release. I was using this simple method trading and was patiently waiting for a gold stock that I held to prove itself. As I was following the gold stock message boards, I met my now partner, Jim Bishop. Jim and I were "making money elsewhere" as we were waiting on "The Golden Stock". Jim decided to start the message board on June 3, 1999 on Silicon Investor, which was based on the theme of forward events and impact dates mentioned in press releases or other reliable sources. Now my paper notebook was kept track of online and became a group participation of finding List stocks that met the criteria. We didn't know if the message board would amount to anything, well it's 2 years later and there is over 86 thousand messages and still going strong. The "Golden" in The Golden Lists was derived from the gold stock. The Golden Lists web site was created to keep track of The List stocks, and available for all to view at their leisure.



Giando: When did you decide to start the real time chat room and why?



Steve: The Golden Lists message board became more than just a message board to follow The Lists, it became a group effort on market watch, news scans and alerts, volume and price movement alerts, and generally finding hidden gems that are about to move, or have just started moving. However to do this in real time means a huge advantage! Therefore I introduced TGL LIVE last December. It has now become a very popular place to hang out in such a short period of time!



Giando: What, in your opinion, are the biggest mistakes that investors or traders make with OTCBB stocks, and what words of advice can you give them?



Steve: One of the biggest mistakes I see from time to time is people chasing a running stock, history proves that it'll come back most of the time, so patience can prove a better bargain. I'm not so sure if there are OTCBB specific mistakes, trading mistakes apply to all stocks on all exchanges. My advice is to learn how to research (DD) and know what to look for. Develop a system of checks that you never leave out and stay organized, create a folder containing a list of DD bookmarks in your favorites menu, so you can perform these checks quickly, speed is important when one encounters a perking stock. A good start is to review the TGL Checklist and reminders found here http://www.goldenlists.com/tgl/index.html .



Giando: When going through Due Diligence on a particular stock, what in particular do you focus on?



Steve: First I want to make sure the company is up to date with their filings; a quick look at FreeEdgar's will answer this. From there I view the up to date share structure, the income statement and balance sheet, and any other historic/recent developments that a company must report. I pay attention to S8, S4, 144 and SC 13D/G filings, a lot can be deduced from all these reports. Become very familiar with OTCBB.com web site. There are some failed companies that have reverse split and changed names and symbol to attempt another business venture. OTCBB Daily List should be a daily check! Next I view the charts, many online sites offer exceptional charts today, and I look for various indicators, Williams %, volume, price, among the many. I always view the historical prices and volume to look for accumulation signs; accumulation without a price increase is ideal. However, something in the filings may give a clue to a forward event that the majority of the public won't know about, this will be confirmed with very little historical volume. I also want to know if a particular company is already known by the public, I check the popular message boards for the number of posts and the quality of the postings. If a stock is already on the move, a check to the popular boards can often tell you why it's moving, a good sign is if no one knows and the board is quiet. Another check is looking for E-mail blasts, signing up to many sites that release picks via e-mail can keep you informed as to why a stock is moving. Of course I always look for current and previous news releases. A quick look back at a historical news release may reveal a company in chapter 11! Also get to know the symbol suffixes, E, Q, D are most important.



Giando: How does the Golden Lists chat room differ from the other OTCBB oriented chat rooms available on the net?



Steve: TGL LIVE uses the Digichat software which is one of the best, the choice to use graphics adds to the experience and makes it all the more enjoyable. On top of the market watch and group DD on stocks, there is always room for fun. So a new person to the room will encounter a few patented WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!'s which is a statement used loosely, it can be used for greeting people in the room, for excitement, as when one of our stocks starts making a run. Or it can be used to mean, "no way", "unbelievable", "wow" etc. However the group of people that visit TGL LIVE are the reason for its popularity. They are the best group of people I have come across; I feel so close to them that when anyone is absent for any length of time, they are always missed. TGL LIVE is about the TGL group, the group is what makes the real difference from other live chat rooms.



Giando: The last couple of years have brought us incredible volatility in the OTCBB, what is your opinion of the future direction of the OTCBB?



Steve: The OTCBB is a very important place for start up companies, there will always be start-ups leaving the OTCBB to higher exchanges and failures joining the OTCBB from the higher exchanges. Many will drop off the OTCBB and head to the Pink Sheets. As long as there is entrepreneurs, and investors looking to be a part of their dream, and daytraders hopping on and off the ride, there will always be volatility. With the SEC enforcement laws working to keep the OTCBB clean, the better a place it has become. Figures are showing an increase in volume for the month of May over April, a good sign of investors/traders coming back.



Giando: Thanks again for chatting with us; what words of advice can you give the new investors about how to approach the OTCBB and the companies in it?



Steve: My pleasure, I would like to mention that new investors should get prepared before trading any stocks in the OTCBB. A good way is to join a live chat group, TGL LIVE <ggg>, and lurk until they get the feel of it. Don't be afraid to ask questions, it's important to know! Get well organized, learn the trading methods, and get the proper software that offers real-time quotes, level II and a good online broker account. Learn what market makers are and how they operate, level II reveals a lot. Get familiar with the online sites, bookmark the important ones and develop a stock research method. DD the companies thoroughly, and don't become attached to any of them! They are vehicles for making money, and many are on the move daily; so don't be upset if you miss one ride. We've all heard this before, but it worth repeating, don't play with money you can't afford to lose!