The paper trading pages I use, use 15 minute delayed quotes from Yahoo as a basis for trading.
Using their quotes, I got into SVM for 800 shares at $10.69 around 10:53 this morning.
Shortly thereafter, I got out again at $10.90 for a .21 per share increase, or $168.00 after commissions and pre-tax.
That is only a 2% increase, BUT I am compounding it daily (or in this case, I was in the trade for just a few minutes. hehehehe!!).
Since I can predict what the market is likely to look like for only about 20 minutes into the future, (Thanks to the fearmongering bears, and their profit crushing volatility) then a trade that I will be in for only a short period of time is probably SAFER than trying to predict the mythical 'bottom.'
There IS money to be made, but there are VERY few stocks performing strongly right now. You just have to have "Jeff Gordon-like" luck, and bloodshot eyes from endless perusing of UGLY stock charts. (and don't even ask me about mistakenly hitting the 'buy' button while looking at a JDS Uniphase chart. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!)
To show you how jittery I am about scandals, I have bumped up the refresh rate on my pilfered 'Business News Page' to ONE minute. Now, THAT is a nervous marketwatcher!!!!!
I believe that SVM might head back north after lunch, to prolly somewhere around the open price or higher, depending on how the Indexes look, and if it heads back into the oversold range. I will have to keep an eye peeled on it...