Parlus Fragrances (PARL)

Company

"PARLUX FRAGRANCES, INC. is an established, international designer, manufacturer and marketer of prestige fragrances and related products. We have been in the fragrance business for over twenty years and, as a public company, our stock is traded on the NASDAQ exchange (PARL), since 1987. Our brand names include Perry Ellis, Ocean Pacific, Paris Hilton, Guess, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, BabyGund and Royal Copenhagen." (company website)

Buy

26-Oct-06. Parlux has been in a downtrend for most of the past year, but appears to have broken the trend line (see sidebar). When it reached $7.75 I decided the turnaround was real and, after the pullback toward the average, I placed an order to buy in at $7.00.

• Price momentum (PPO) — picking up smartly
• Trend (ADX) — strong, with buying pressure (+DI) well above selling pressure (-DI)
• Money flow (CMF) — flowing in after an outflow period
• Relative strength (RSI) — gradually strengthening over past three months
• Volume — in October, all the above-average days were up-days

Sell

2-Nov-06. My shares sold this morning when the trailing-stop triggered the stop-loss order. PARL has been all downhill since I bought, for no apparent reason. Earnings should not be due until the end of this month (no announcement as yet). Must be pre-election jitters. (Hey! If the "experts" on TV can make stuff up, why can't I?)

I'm still struggling with the trailing-stops, as I am using them. I seem to be getting stopped-out a lot for losses, and I can't decide if I should change the size of the stops or if I am still buying at the wrong time.