Category: Stocks

Last time, I told you how I sold my Microsoft (MSFT) shares at $23. Afterwards, it sank under the $23 mark and hovered there for a few days. Yesterday, it closed up at around $23.50 on a day that saw a lot of return to tech stocks. What’s in store for Mr. Softy?

Today will be a big test for the stock. If MSFT breaks $24 today and stays well above $23.50 on Friday, I think we may have seen the true bottom for this episode. On the other hand, there is still a possibility the stock will sell off after these gains and plummet to new lows (look around May 6th on the chart above). How’s that for ambiguous?
adsense

I’ll be honest here. In true InvestorGeeks style, I’ve been winging it this whole time with MSFT as I brought myself up to speed on “technical analysis” and how to read charts. Below I’ll go through my evolution as a chart reader and technical analysis convert, and show you the different chart tools and technical indicators I’ve been looking at lately as I follow MSFT and other stocks. I’ll cover support and resistance levels today and go into moving averages, stochastics, and moving average convergence divergence (MACD). (I know you’ve been waiting for these guys, but just wait a little longer. It’s good stuff coming.)

Earlier today I sold my 100 shares of Microsoft (MSFT) at $23. Truth be told, I should have unloaded the shares a couple of weeks ago. Overall though, I’m still happy with how I’ve been trading this and looking forward to buying back in when goes on the upswing. Below is a brief history of my investments in MSFT.

Originally I bought 25 shares to start a position because I thought (and still do) that the company has a bright future once Vista is released and their online Live component gains some traction.

I kept my initial purchase to 25 because I was a little unsure of the short term outlook for MSFT leading into the quarter. I bought my first shares right after the last Vista delay, and it seemed that more bad news could be coming. Lo-and-behold… Microsoft announces a lack-luster quarter, states that margins on their operating systems and Office software can be expected to shrink in the future, and (perhaps worst of all) declares their intention to spend a little more than $2 Billion to beef up their online services and Xbox segments among others. Well, investors were not to pleased with this.