Month: October 2014

What is Shorting?

Hello from the Finance Club 2014 Officers!

President: This is the education blog, which is written by our VP. Usually, this one will be published on Sundays. So, for our first issue… what does SHORTING a stock mean?

Vice President: Shorting a stock is method by which one can make the most money if the stock goes DOWN. We have all heard the phrase “buy low, sell high.” This is the same idea in reverse, so our goal in shorting is to “sell high, buy low.” In order to do this, we would:

  1. Borrow shares of a stock (typically from a broker).
  2. Sell the shares on the open market.
  3. Wait for the stock price to decrease.
  4. Once the stock price has decreased, buy the same number of shares from the open market.
  5. Repay those shares to our lender to close the trade.

Shorting diagram

For example, Jason, a value investor, believes that QRS stock, currently trading at $70, is heavily overvalued. To short the QRS stock, he first borrows 100 shares from his broker. He then sells his borrowed shares of QRS on the open market for $70 * 100 = $7,000. Eventually, he must buy back the shares from the market to repay his broker. Three months later, when the price of QRS falls to $55 a share, Jason buys 100 shares from the open market for $55 * 100 = $5,500. Finally, he gives his broker the shares he just bought to close the trade. Through shorting, Jason has realized (or made) a profit of $7000 – $5500 = $1500. Of course, there are commissions.

In order to short a stock on our stock simulator:

  1. Go to www.wallstreetsurvivor.com and log in.
  2. Scroll down to the section that says Make a Trade and click on the title.
  3. Type in the stock to be shorted in the search bar.
  4. When it asks if you want to buy or sell, expand the bar and click Short.
  5. Decide the type of order you want and how many shares you want to short.
  6. Make the trade.

To close the trade:

  1. When it asks if you want to buy or sell, expand the bar and click Cover.
  2. Enter in the same number of shares you previously shorted.
  3. Decide the type of order you want (ex. limit, market, etc.)
  4. Click the Trade button to close the trade.

– Ken Croker, VP.

 

Blogging

Hello everyone!

The RHS Finance Club will begin to publish three blogs on a regular basis, and one on a irregular basis. See the Blogging page for more information and instructions if you are an officer.

– Michael Trehan

Communication

Clarification:

If I email you about the club, you should reply back. If you want to email me about the club, use the CLUB EMAIL page, even though this is a hassle. That way I know what is important.

Currently, only my VP can COMMENT on posts using his login. Later, we will see if we can have all the officers able to POST, so we can create a blog for other members (they’ll be coming!).

Challenge

Our first virtual challenge is up!

Note that this is entirely optional, though VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you were wondering about a real money challenge, that would be a possible legal issue for me.

However, officers: I was deliberating doing a real-money charity donation thing. Let me know using the club email what you think. (this isn’t a request, DO IT please).

Steps to register for the challenge:

  1. Using the club email, notify me that you are signing up to be part of the challenge. You don’t have to wait for me to reply.
  2. Go to www.wallstreetsurvivor.com on a COMPUTER.
  3. Click sign-up WITH YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL in the top right. (DO NOT USE ROCKLINUSD).
  4. Using the CLUB EMAIL, email me your username and password.
  5. Go to your DASHBOARD (top left, you might already be there)
  6. Scroll down, click on the big My Leagues > heading.
  7. Search for “RHS Finance Club”. You might see others with dates after them, ignore them. If you have trouble, Club email.
  8. Click join private league. Our password is the same as for the protected pages. If you do not know this, CLUB EMAIL.
  9. The way this works is that there are LEAGUES and PORTFOLIOS. You will be both part of a league and have a portfolio. You will want to manage the PORTFOLIO.

Rules:

  1. No trading options/forex/futures/etc. until we get to that section.
  2. Start trading stocks right now.
  3. Your performance is not an indication of your knowledge.
  4. Informed trades only.

Information: (this is subject to change)

  1. You start with a hundred grand, which is not a lot.
  2. You will want to leverage, but wait till we talk about 3x ETF’s and options before using them.
  3. The challenge lasts until August 2015.
  4. Have fun!

Club Rush

DATE EDITED:

Hello Members,

We will be having a table at Club Rush, which I believe is the 23rd. There will be an extended lunch. Officers will be at the table. If there is only one person allowed at the table, then it will be me.

SECRETARY, I need you to print 10 of the brochures found here.

We might have many new members, but I definitely do not want to slow down from our current pace.

Welcome to the Finance Club!

EDITED:

For those of you who were there in the first meeting (10/8), I hope you now understand the concept of money, and how to obtain it in today’s society. Please make sure to do your homework; it should take about 15 minutes. Look at a financial news source daily (e.g., WSJ).

If you missed the meeting, COMING TO THE MEETINGS BEGINNING NEXT MONTH IS THE ONLY WAY YOU can be part of the club. The way the official list will work (college apps, etc.): There will be a list of people who attended at least TWO of the meetings and did at least TWO of the homework assignments. There will be another list (ideally you want to be on this) of people who attended more than half of the meetings.

You CAN make up meetings: Using the Finance Club Email page, email me why you weren’t there, what the meeting you missed was about (3-4 sentences, elaborate on the questions in the slide), and any other questions IN ADDITION to completing the homework. I will then add you to the made-up list.