Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): GuruFundPicks’ Trade Alerts Service
What size account do you recommend?
The strategy is suitable for most types of accounts, including IRA’s, savings and college funds. There is no minimum needed
Do you hedge or go short in the portfolio?
We are opportunistic, and our analysts evaluate the latest news events on thousands of stocks on an ongoing basis, across all sectors and market-caps. This gives us a unique perspective, and a pulse on the market, that works to your advantage. For example, at the beginning of Jan. 2014, prior to the sell-off later that month, we began buying gold stocks, with a quarter of our portfolio in that group at the time of the sell-off, so that we were actually up while the market sold-off. Besides hedging with counter-cyclical sectors like gold, we will also consider ‘selling short’ when opportunities arise, and providing our market perspective supports such a position. That said, on average, we aspect the vast majority of our positions, more than 9 out of 10, to be long positions.
Do you trade options or employ leverage?
We believe leverage increases risk, and do not use it as a means to increase returns. We trade only common stocks in the portfolio, NO OPTIONS, futures or other leverage instruments. Also, on average, about 30%-35% of our portfolio has been in cash to-date.
How do you decide what to buy?
Our analysts evaluate news catalysts on hundreds of stocks every day to come up with the best three opportunities that we alert our subscribers to every week. The primary driver is an analysis of the change in the fundamental valuation analysis, supplemented by our proprietary consensus picks’ data based on our latest intelligence of the buying & selling activities of of our hand-picked Wall St.’s top fund managers, insider trading, and over a dozen other sector and stock-related analysis and indicators.
How do you decide when to sell?
We will sell a stock when it reaches our price target. We will also sell if the stock goes up too quickly in a short period of time, hoping to capture it again at a lower price. In addition, at times selling is automatic based on stop-sell limits we put when opening the position.
How do you enter a position?
Our order are typically buying the full position as a market order. However, often we will add stop-buy limits if we do not wish to overpay for a fast-moving stock, and often we will put stop-sell limits on our positions, if we believe the stock is too volatile, and we do not wish to participate in any down-side. Also, at times, we will recommend scaling into a position (i.e., buy 1/2 now and 1/2 later) to lower risk, and sometimes we will scale out of a position, to capture a portion of the gains and let the rest run.
Do you offer real-time alerts?
Most of our trade alerts are issued during market hours real-time. However, at times, we will send an alert after the end-of-day or during pre-market hours.
Do you use techncials?
We pick our stocks based on a fundamental valuation analysis of the underlying business. We use technical analysis only as a tool to more precisely time entry and exit points.
What is your holding period?
Our average holding period is about two weeks, with many held over more than two months. Also, our strategy allows for holding positions that work over multiple quarters.
Who is your typical subscriber?
Our subscriber base for our trade alert service is diverse, including novice and experienced investors, and U.S. domestic and international subscribers. While there are some market professionals, the vast majority of our subscriber base includes individual investors and traders.
What is included in the trade alerts subscription?
Subscription to GuruFundPicks’ trade alert service gives you on average three buy & three sell alerts every week, delivered by e-mail and SMS (optional). You also receive an end-of-week newsletter that summarizes our thoughts on all open and recently closed positions, and any other member updates. Also, when you join, you will receive on-boarding materials to help you get started, and we fully expect some hand-holding during this initial period to help you get set-up and derive the maximum benefit from the service.
Do you day-trade?
Never by design. About ten percent of our positions were closed the same or next day. In half of those, it was because we hit a stop-loss, and the other half the stock went up too quick for our comfort. An example, we bought Plug Power (PLUG) at $1.95 on Jan. 2nd, 2014, and it went up huge that day and next, so we sold it at $2.59 the next morning for a 32.8% gain in just one day. However, in respect of subscribers that may have held on to it, we also issued a sell advisory as the stock topped out at $4.90, a week later.
Do you invest in international stocks?
Yes, as long as it is traded in the U.S. securities markets, as we are cognizant that many of our customers may not be able to trade international stocks from their brokerage accounts.
What customer service do you provide?
Customer service is a top priority for us. During on-boarding, we encourage you to contact us with all your questions and comments. We respond to e-mail promptly, usually within four hours during daytime hours EST. Support is typically via e-mail, unless it needs to be escalated, in which case you will be able to talk to our personnel at our McLean, VA office.