RunawayTrader

One of the problems of being a life-long writer is that, on occasion, I get burnt out, or as my son says, I get a little short on bandwidth. But a couple of items recently caught my attention to sufficient degree that it kindled a flame of renewed writing pizzazz.

First, I had another birthday (yeah, another one). And those natal anniversaries are starting to click by so fast they’ve melded into a unstoppable blur. (Worse, the birthday cakes always set off my condo’s smoke alarms).

And that isn’t all that flashing by with tornadic rapidity: trading technology seems to be blazing by so fast I can’t keep up with it. Well, I can, but this blog can’t. And that’s making me feel even older.

When I created this missive (2006) I complained that hand-held PDA-type devices were simply so much electronic kitsch, since they were unable to gather and present the information most traders need before they start throwing thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars at selected trades.

As faithful readers may know, I’ve revisited that pretended bit of omniscience in many blogs over the years as electronic gizmos appeared on the marketplace that slowly but surely began to do just about everything the savvy, on-the-road trader needed.

For example, several months back Charlie the anti-Luddite, bought his first iPhone and my trading world has subsequently been turned on its head. Literally. Without even raising my noggin from the pillow, I can check the indexes, scan for hot news, double-check pre-market stock activity and more with my iPhone.

Who’d have thunk it, just a couple of years ago?

Quite literally, I can track stocks, make trades, and earn money on the run from just about anywhere. No long tethered to a desktop; not even burdened by my newish lightweight Acer netbook. Hey, I wrote about that new gadget just six months ago.

Then I got a double-whammy of electronic news yesterday. First, I learned that CNBC has a new app that provides news, streaming quotes, videos, etc. all in an easy-to-read iPhone format. Not to be outdone, Forbes has an app as well (if you like business interviews and background pieces). The NY Times has a nifty app, too, but you have to drill down to business news (not always relevant to trading but business news nonetheless).

Then I learned of the forthcoming iPhone Trader. I’m not sure exactly what this web site will offer, but it looks as though it’s going to feature a sophisticated repository of info on iPhone stock trading. I’ve emailed them seeking (not their job writing copy), more info. (God help us if it’s an online mart for swapping second-hand iPhones, as a UK outfit called iphonetrader.net apparently does. Plenty of room for confusion there). I

At any rate, next week I’m going to give iPhone a full-blown test to see if I can make sensible, money-making trades using only the data I can get on Steve Jobs’ G3 electronic marvel. If you’ve already cut the cord, let’s hear from you. In either event, I’ll make a full report on the results soon.

Meantime, I’m busy planning my next runaway trading excursions. A revisit to Mexico this winter; a trip to New Zealand to stomp the Milford Trail, and then, stocks willing, a return to the Appalachian Trail.

Charlie the RunawayTrader