Thank you Dave and Peter.

Yes, Pete, I'm in Aus too

From what you say, I guess the key thing for Australian interest rates at the moment is commodity prices, which have been settling down a little so could send interest rates down, so watching futures on coal, steel, aluminium etc would be relevant. Checking out the Aussie Banks it seems that a number like CBA have been more conservative with their subprime plays, but that we are starting to see some fall out, which I guess could play out over the next year, which could also push interest rates down.

Wow Dave, looked at some of your vids on youtube, you know a lot and it is refreshing to see a trade web site built on real knowledge of markets, economics, not just technicals. Most other sites tend to focus purely on technicals, or one aspect or formula, whilst ignoring things like the Fed making a major announcement 1 minute ago, which can throw the expectations of a tech based trade set up out the window.

I started my trading by learning about option trades, with set ups like double butterflies and getting to grips with concepts like IV crush. This was good stuff but not the best place to start. Also I was taught to use technicals more as a forecast than confirmation which was a little dangerous and error prone. I also read and subscribed to various posts that analysed and recommended certain stocks and trades, until one day I got my hands on a proper stock valuation analysis that was meant for fund managers. I then realised that all the writers I had subscried to had no references to this info and clearly had not done the homework. The information I had was not commonly available on this young stock and buy knowing it's true value I was able to trade options on it with much confidence, and with all the hype and volatility on the stock I did consistently well for the first time. It was then that I decided that if I really wanted to trade well I would need to learn some fundamentals about how to value a stock and get then get the right valuation information and software.

So here I am at square one, wanting to learn 'value investing', not to buy and hold but to trade with confidence so as not having to reverse option trade before assignment. It will take time but once I can learn to find undervalued stocks based on real knowledge and techniques, not market hype and then use my knowledge of how to use the various derivative leveraging tools I could do well. No wonder Warren Buffett has been known to keep selling puts each month on an undervalued stock until he gets assigned, and then be happy to be assigned as he just got a further discount, as he is confident that the stock will go up in price in the long term. This looks like one of the smart games to play.

Let me know if I am wrong on this Dave?

The market is starting to show more opportunities for value investors compared to last year.

Cheers
Mr Dad.