BMI gets the axe.

I mentioned that BMI (Badger Meter Inc) might remain on my list of potential stocks to trade...I changed my mind.

I like a stock that has a very narrow bid/ask spread for a few reasons:

1) at the open there is less chance of a tight stop getting hit due to a wide spread
2) market order executions are more predictable, a penny here or there
3) wide spreads are indicative of low volume...or low volume creates wide spreads, whichever

My attention was too scattered over the past couple of weeks to really take note of the stocks that I was playing with or I would have realized that BMI is traded a bit thinly for my normal selections. The day is almost out and it has only traded 131K shares. While it is not too bad it has been brute in the morning as the bid/ask has been very wide right up to the last moment, today was a better day as my stop was wide and there was a $1 pop in after hours trading that pulled the last traded price up to $40. Alas it did not lead to a great jump in price. At least there is only about a 6 cent spread now.

Off to find some more selections to work with. Looks like PLCE and COP might be next in line.

My back testing takes forever but it gives me some feel for the stock leading up to the current period. I was doing a full year so perhaps I will cut it down to the last quarter or so. That is the most pertinent time anyway as trading patterns could shift over a year.

I am liking only having to loosely monitor prices during the day. Today I went ahead and set two limit orders for COP and PLCE to see if I would get in...very close. Within 12 cents on PLCE and COP may yet get nailed as it is at a daily low right now...23 cents off my order.

I will wait for my prices though, absolutely no price chasing in this plan.

Jeff.