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3SOF: What's your age?
Leaira: I am 18 years old.
3SOF: What's your real name?
Leaira: My name is Leaira Powell. My first name rhymes with «sierra» in case you're wondering how to pronounce it. I know it's not a very popular name!
3SOF: Where do you live?
Leaira: I live in Highland, Michigan.
3SOF: How long have you been trading the stock market?
Leaira: I have been trading for over a year now. I started out by paper-trading with fake money in February 2005.
3SOF: What was your motivation/trigger to get in this business?
Leaira: Last year when I was a senior in high school, my economics teacher gave the class an assignment where we had to paper-trade stocks. He gave each of us $100,000 in fake money to invest, and we each had to create a Yahoo portfolio. Our goal was to buy stocks that we thought would give us a good return, and see who ended up with the most money at the end of the semester. Not knowing anything about the stock market at the time, I did like all the other students, and just bought stocks in familiar companies, like Wal-Mart, McDonalds, clothing stores, car companies, etc. I did terrible, and ended up with a 12% overall loss. I dedicated almost my entire Christmas break (2004-05) to researching the stock market and trying to learn how people actually make a living at this. I read some good books and websites on the subject, and a couple months later I re-did the same assignment on my own. I started over with $100,000 and applied the information I learned. After 2 months of paper-trading, I made a 28% overall return by last spring. Then I felt ready to try it with real money. The only problem was that I didn't have any to invest. A few weeks later was my senior prom, and my parents gave me $1000 for it, after they heard what the average prom costs nowadays. At the last minute, I decided not to go to prom, but to open up a brokerage account and invest it in the stock market instead. My boyfriend wasn't too happy, in fact he took another girl and they are still dating. I started out with some risky day-trades and swing-trades to try to build up my capital. I know that went against money management rules, but you can't do much with $1000 to start. After I got up over $28,000 that summer (with a lot of luck), I applied the techniques in the book, and I've been following the same methods ever since.
3SOF: What's your trading time frame?
Leaira: I do strictly position trading (trend-trading). I hold for a week to 2 months, and usually not through earnings reports.
3SOF: Besides Stocks, do you trade anything else?
Leaira: I only trade stocks. I don't know a thing about options or anything else.
3SOF: Do you trade for a living, or do you have other activities?
Leaira: I'm a full-time college student, majoring in business. I just started my freshman year at a junior college in SE Michigan. I'm paying for college with money I make in the market. I want to be a stockbroker or maybe even a full-time trader someday.
3SOF: Do you practise any sports, or other leisure activities?
Leaira: I never played any sports, but I used to be a cheerleader in high school for 4 years. I love to travel! I bought a new Chevy Cobalt last summer with money I made in the stock market. I took a trip in it to the Smoky Mountains last August, and down to Florida for spring break this year. I've never flown on an airplane before. I'm scared to death of heights!
3SOF: How do you pick your stocks?
Leaira: I look at stocks that come up on www.barchart.com, and many of the picks that people write about on 3SOF. Barchart.com shows many of the currently trending stocks. I look mainly at NASDAQ stocks trading at $1-9. I might go up to $15, but the fundamentals have to be good too. Lately I've been getting better returns on the $1-5 stocks than higher priced ones.
3SOF: How's your trading desk?
Leaira: I use an HP laptop. It's the only computer I have.
3SOF: What's your favourite stock market book?
Leaira: It would have to be «Short-Term Trading in the New Stock Market» by Toni Turner. I just bought it a couple months ago, and I was reading it a lot this past spring break while sunbathing on the beach! But the books I got started with were «A Beginner's Guide to Short-Term Trading» by the same author, and «Technical Analysis for Dummies».
3SOF: What's your favourite movie?
Leaira: Home Alone 1 and 2, and having been a cheerleader, both of the «Bring it On» movies. I really wish they'd make a movie about the stock market. That's one theme I never see in movies. Maybe one about young people trading in it. I'd love to see one like that!
3SOF: And your favourite websites about the markets?
Leaira: Of course, 3SOF! Also, barchart.com, stockta.com, Yahoo Finance, businessweek.com, data.inetats.com (real-time quotes), and bettertrades.com (chat room, free online classes)
3SOF: Do you have any inspiration on the stock market?
Leaira: First, the Inspiration for everything in my life is our Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, I could do nothing. I would have to say that another inspiration would be Markay Latimer. She is an instructor at the Better Trades trading school, and my system is remarkably similar to hers. I was using it long before hearing about her at a free seminar I went to from an infomercial. She made $2 million from $2000 in 2 years. It'll probably take me a little longer than 2 years to become a millionaire, but it's always a good goal!
3SOF: Congratulations on your stock pick, NXXI gave you 89% profit in 1 month, and did you actually trade NXXI on your real money portfolio?
Leaira: Yes, I bought NXXI the same day the contest started. I discovered it while staying in a hotel in Knoxville on the way home from spring break. It looked like an awesome bullish setup, so I decided to buy it and enter it in the contest the following Monday. But I didn't make 89% on it. I sold it a couple weeks later for an 8% profit when it wasn't going anywhere, but bought it again at a higher price (1.60) when it looked like it was ready to make another run. I'm up 54% on this position.
3SOF: Tell us about your biggest gain since you start trading?
Leaira: On June 21, 2005, I took a gamble and bought CTTY at 4.46 after seeing it on INET that morning. I went over to my friend's house to go swimming in her pool, and then I came back and saw that the stock was up over $21! I quickly sold it at 21.57 for a 383% profit on a day-trade! I don't day-trade anymore, just position trade. My best position trade was BCON last summer from July to August. In at 1.36, stopped out at 4.95 for a 264% profit.
3SOF: And about your worst loss?
Leaira: This past December I went bottom-fishing and bought some FORD (Forward Industries, not to be confused with Ford Motor Co.) at $15.50, thinking it was the bottom by the white candle. Well, the day before Christmas Eve, the stock tanked over 30%, after continuing its downtrend since the white candle. On the next trading day after Christmas, I got out at 10.08 for a 35% loss. Lesson learned — no more bottom-fishing. Only buy if the indicators are bullish.
3SOF: How did you find 3stocksonfire.org?
Leaira: Someone mentioned it in a Yahoo stock message board.
3SOF: What members have you been applauding recently on 3SOF?
Leaira: Setravis, Terlisa, Elite-G
3SOF: What would you say or recommend to someone that just started trading the markets?
Leaira: Be prepared to spend a lot of time studying. It takes a while to learn how to read charts and how all the indicators are used. More important, you must paper-trade for at least 2-3 months before even opening a brokerage account. This will prevent you from losing any money when you make mistakes as we all do when starting out. You'll be able to see what works for you and what doesn't. I know I still have a lot to learn, and I definitely consider myself a novice, not an expert by any means.
3SOF: Thanks a lot for this interview; I wish you luck on the next edition!
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