Chris Perruna

Chris has been a student of the market for almost 10 years. His passion in life was torn between architecture and the stock market. When it was time to head to college, he decided to pursue a career in architecture. After five years of long nights in the studio, he graduated with a degree in architectural engineering and still dedicates his work to the business. During those college days, he opened his first brokerage account and bought a stock that went up 200% in six months. He received a tip from his father about the earnings that were going to be released in the coming weeks. All signs pointed to a great ride. Life was great and the stock market was providing some easy money. As time went on, he collected money from his mother and even his younger sister to add to his account. The idea of such easy money was starting to get the best of his judgment. He bought a new stock with 90% of his portfolio and watched it fly from $37 to $98 without looking back. He received a voting ballot in the mail that asked all shareholders to vote on a potential split. This raised his confidence, especially when he saw that most analysts agreed that this stock was going to $150. The time was perfect to sit tight as all of his funds were tied up in this one stock. The great market environment started to become cloudy and his stock started to decline. “Who cares” he thought to himself, the guy on TV said it was worth $150 and he is a professional, I can’t sell now as I will lose out on the additional profits (greedy). Several months later, he sold after he finally realized that the stock was not going to $150 and was happy to realize some profits at $62. It was tough to tell the family that the portfolio that was once up several hundred percent has now lost half it’s paper value. Greed had gotten to his head and the lack of sell rules prevented him from keeping his paper profits. Selling at $62 still gave him very respectable results. The money was still easy, just not as easy as he first thought. He now decided to dabble in some new names with so-so results. Around the corner was March of 2000, the bubble burst, but he would never see it coming. After the bubble burst, analysts were screaming on every TV set how stocks that were once $125 are now bargains at $60. “You would be stupid not to buy at these levels” touted one analyst. What does an investor do at a time like this? An uneducated investor would buy and buy a lot before it all goes back up. Technology stocks were the preferred choice at the time, so he jumped into one hot internet security firm at $58. Within a few weeks, the stock was at $70; at last, I have hit my stride again. Don’t speak so soon. A few months later, the emotion of hope was ruling his life as the stock was now trading in a range of $30-$40. This is no time to sell, I have my money, my mother’s money and my sister’s money wrapped in this stock, we will just wait it out and sell when it breaks even. Even never came and he decided to sell at $15 per share for a 75% loss. A huge blow to his portfolio let alone his pride. After the crushing blow to his portfolio, he wondered how some people made money in the market. Why were the analysts always wrong? Aren’t they professionals that know all of the answers on Wall Street? He set out on a venture to learn how some people make consistent profits in the market without losing their shirt. While surfing the internet one day, he came across an advertisement about Investor’s Business Daily, the newspaper owned by William O’Neil. They were offering a free two week trial, so he decided to give it a try. This was the turning point in his investing life. After reading the books written by Bill O’Neil, he started to realize that a personalized system was an intelligent way to invest in the market. A system with both fundamental and technical analysis was the answer, not tips on the AOL chat boards. Reading company fundamentals and studying chart patterns is the proper way to buying and selling stocks. From the O’Neil books, Chris was pointed in the direction of Jesse Livermore. Jesse Livermore has inspired his life more than any other Wall Street figure to date. Born in the late 1800’s, Jesse was one of the most successful speculators on Wall Street in the first half of the last century. To date, his methods have stood the test of time. William O’Neil refers to Livermore several times in his book and frequently in his newspaper. Other investors, traders and authors can be seen on our “Links and Recommendations” page. Using O’Neil’s CANLSIM style of investing, Chris developed his own similar method of investing that tied directly into his personality and emotional state. As the bear market wore on, Chris started to test his new style of investing with some decent results. The results weren’t close to the ones from pre-bust days but respectable compared to the major indexes. He decided to devote more and more time into the study of his own philosophy, a philosophy that is strongly influenced by O’Neil’s CANSLIM. He would spend up to 30 or 40 hours a week studying stock fundamentals and technicals while compiling a huge database of his own. He joined several discussion boards looking for a way to teach and learn at the same time. He used an old college nickname “Piranha” and started to post. As the months went on and he posted more and more detailed threads, community members started to e-mail him and ask for guidance. It started with only a few e-mails per month and snowballed into a dozen e-mails per week. Even today, Chris takes the time to respond to personal e-mails to many members on these discussion boards every week. He has built quite a fan base. Recently, in the fall of 2003, he decided to post his own personal weekly analysis in real time on several message boards to prove to certain members of his successful technique. He has become a fixture on two very popular message boards and is treated like an old pro. Currently he posted his results from his picks showcased in November of 2003, showing a 65% win-loss ratio on 44 different stocks selected. Better yet, he had a 100% win-loss ratio out of the gate from the time each stock was selected to it’s peak gain. Overall, he averaged a 55% peak gain on 44 stocks in five months. These are amazing results and have been a cornerstone of this website. Over the last half of 2003 and the first half of 2004, dozens of stocks selected in real time by Chris have gone onto double and triple digit gains. Our past selections are highlighted on our archives page located under past screens. Our "All Star Stocks" highlight the top selections over the past year or so. Chris learned to form a system with strict rules that eliminate emotions when dealing with the stock market. He studies both fundamental and technical analysis every week on every stock that makes his screens. Chris learned that money management and sell rules can be the most important aspect to maintaining a healthy portfolio without devastating losses.“With time, many discussion board members asked if I was ever interested in running an online website that dealt with my teachings. I have never had an online business and was always short on time but have decided to put all of my energy into this site and every member that joins. We are glad to have you here and can’t wait to get started in helping you succeed in the stock market. I hope you enjoyed our short but sweet history and plan on becoming a big part of our future.” - Chris Perruna "Piranha"