,800 securities. The less established companies are usually found in this market until they can meet the more rigidrequirements of the National Market. The OTCBB lists a group of stocksthat tends to be issues that traders stay away from, as their future isuncertain at best.
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKSIn the Nasdaq Stock Market, we have two groups of market participants.The first group we talked about already, the Market Makers. Theyprovide the liquidity necessary to keep stock prices stable and orderly.The alternate group is made up of Electronic Communications Networks(ECNs). An ECN is a private trading system and is a relatively newaddition to the Nasdaq marketplace. ECNs simply match buy orders tosell orders. If the order cannot be matched, the order is placed to therespective ECN order book until such a match can be made. In 1997,when the SEC order handling rules were implemented, ECNs wereincorporated into the structure. ECNs are required to register with theNasdaq and are required to follow NASD Regulation to participate inthe marketplace. ECNs are basically order books that match orders atspecific price levels. There is no human intervention with ECNs. If theorder on the book is matched, it’s executed, sometimes with priceimprovements.
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At the time of this book, nine ECNs are currently registered. Theyare Archipelago L.L.C. (ARCA), Attain (ATTN), B-Trade Services L.L.C.(BTRD), The BRASS Utility (BRUT), Instinet Corporation (INCA), Island(ISLD), NexTrade (NTRD), Spear, Leeds & Kellogg (REDI), and StrikeTechnologies (STRK). ECNs became more prevalent as the online trading explosion occurred. Institutions and Market Makers use ECNs to provide themselves with anonymity when entering orders for stocks at pricelevels. One of the advantages of ECNs is that active individual traderscan utilize ECNs to bypass Market Makers in the attempt to get a betterprice when Market Makers are not present at inside price levels.ECN orders are routed in a way that they are first matched againsta pending order. If the order is unable to be matched immediately, it isposted to an order book on the quote screen until either the individualcancels the order or a matching order executes against it. The primarychoice of active traders in the past few years has been the ISLD ECN. Theamazing amount of volume that ISLD constitutes on a daily basis hasprompted some desires to have ISLD become its own exchange. Whatstarted out as a quotation-driven market has evolved into a quotationand order-driven marketplace for investors and active traders.In the NYSE, stock symbols are comprised of one, two, or three letters. For example, Agilent Technologies has the symbol A. Boeing Co. hasthe stock symbol BA. Caterpillar Incorporated has the stock symbol CAT.In the Nasdaq, symbols are either four or five letters. For example,Microsoft Corporation has a stock symbol MSFT. Nasdaq stocks thathave a fifth letter usually have a meaning associated with that fifthletter. You can find what these definition symbols mean at http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/trader/defincludes/sdDefinitions2.stm#nasdaq issues. An example would be on a stock like IRIDQ. IRID isthe symbol for Iridium and the Q is defined as a company in bankruptcyproceedings. These fifth letters are especially important to traders as youwant to avoid stocks with uncertain futures. Those that are delinquentwith their filings or in bankruptcy are stocks that have clouded futuresat best and are not worth our time.We spend a lot of time talking about the different exchanges, butmomentum traders primarily concentrate on stocks traded on theNasdaq. These stocks tend to be more technology oriented, and by usingthe Market Makers and ECNs, they produce more intra-day momentum.Momentum traders do trade stocks on the other exchanges, but they tendto be larger and more stable, which leads to less volatility and momentum. Momentum traders do not care whether or not a stock is moving
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up or down; all that is required is movement and momentum and as suchwe concentrate mostly on Nasdaq stocks.
THE ESSENTIALSTraders often ask about hardware, software, and data requirementswhen they are setting up shop in their homes or offices to begin trading.With the introduction of online trading through brokers such asE*TRADE and Ameritrade, the Internet has placed the power of information dissemination at the trader’s fingertips. This not only empowersthe individual to make his or her own trading decisions, it allows usaccess to applying our decisions to market participation in real time.The explosion of online trading is a by-product of the increased efficiencyin data distribution and the personal desire for self-directed decisionimplementation.Many brokers are offering lower commissions and complete datapackages to pull traditional investors and active traders away fromhigh-priced brokers. Many commission rates are under $20 per trade anddepending on the level of activity or size of one’s portfolio, the data package is free. What was once available to us only through our broker is nowavailable to us with a few clicks of the mouse. At face value, we are ona more level playing field. Obviously, the public is still the last to knowin some areas, but we certainly have more access to more informationthan ever before.We are in a stage of technological advancement when hardware thatis bought today is obsolete within a year. Processing speeds are faster andmore user-friendly functions are enhanced. One year ago, 5 gigabytes ofhard-drive space was more than enough to store most of our applications.Sixteen megabytes of RAM was enough memory to allow our computerto function efficiently.The first component that one must have is at least one computer.The computer that you choose should include at least a 500-megahertzprocessor. It should also include at least 128 megabytes of RAM as youwill be pulling a lot of data down into your computer and it needs to beprocessed and displayed as fast as possible.The monitor that comes with your computer should be at least 17inches. Advanced traders often find themselves with limited screenspace and would gladly pay for a larger screen. With recent deals andrebates through some of the larger computer stores, a brand name computer can be bought for as little as $500.
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Many advanced traders like to have at least two computers ormonitors when watching stocks throughout the day. Some have electedto network their systems to provide more efficiency through their datafeeds. Although this may seem like something that is beneficial, beginning traders should start small and build as they progress. There is noreason to go out and buy two or three computers and monitors if, in sixmonths, you decide trading is not going to work for you. It’s best to keepyour capital for trading and as you begin to profit over time, expand yoursystems with your portfolios.The most important component a trader needs is a fast connectionto the Internet. Traders have often joked about using carrier pigeons tosend in their orders because their connection to the Internet is slow.Although a simple phone line with at least a 56K connection is minimal,you should research at least three more efficient routes, depending onwhat is available in your area. First, your local cable company may provide cable modems.RoadRunner is probably the most familiar Internet cable access service. This can provide speeds up to ten times faster than a normal 56Kconnection. Other options include DSL, ADSL, ISDN, Satellite, andFrame Relay that may be open to you in your area. When you look intothese options, find out how much the up-front capital requirement is,how much the service costs per month is, and how fast the optimal speedis when comparing it relative to price.You don’t need a T-1 line to trade stocks, but if you are going to putout an extra expense for something, get the fastest Internet hookup youcan afford. With a 56K modem, inexperienced traders may not notice it,but when the volume of trades is heavy in the first few minutes of themarket, it tends to backlog your quotes. This forces you to trade on information that is sometimes minutes behind what is really happening in themarket. A solid, fast cable hookup will alleviate much of this and helplevel the playing field.
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GETTING STARTEDThis chapter will examine the different education and teaching forumsboth available on the Internet, pointing out some of the benefits andcommon pitfalls and traps that await you. It will teach you how todevelop a proper trading mentality and identify realistic expectations ofgains and losses. Finally, it will teach you to do the one thing most tradersfail to do: paper trade until your methods are successfully creating highpercentage gains.
EDUCATIONMany of the traders that came from the explosion of online trading seethe market as a game that is to be played, rather than a business to belearned. It is precisely this reason that we see such a high turnover rateamong aspiring traders who want to make trading a career. A lack of education and preparation is clearly the number one reason why traders losemoney and are forced out of the game.Many of today’s active momentum traders actually stemmed fromthe explosion of the stock market in 1999. They saw the phenomenalgains in stocks like Qualcomm (QCOM) (see Figure 2-1) and Yahoo(YHOO) (see Figure 2-2) and were simply dissatisfied with the meagerreturns they were getting from their money managers and professionalportfolio managers. They saw the huge gains others were making andthey wanted a piece of the action.This opened the public’s eyes to the gains that can be made byproperly exploiting the market. The potential capital to be made is in facthuge, but nothing comes without risk. You can reduce this risk byrealizing that education and a disciplined approach should be two ofCopyright © 2002 by Mtrader.com.Click here for Terms of Use.
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your top priorities. Too often, traders jump in feet first without rhymeor reason or even a basic understanding of the market, tools, or methods required. Do not make this mistake—it is a costly one.Investors will spend literally hundreds of hours researching stocksfor their investing portfolio, but jump right into the mix when learningto daytrade without understanding even the basics. You need to lookat trading as a business, and with any business, there are startup andeducation costs. Taking losses while you are learning is part of the game,but your number one objective during this period should be capitalpreservation.Historically, the market has found a way to weed out the undisciplined traders and end their careers abruptly. Just as you would listen toyour broker for investment advice, you should have a disciplinedapproach to studying the stock market to gain a basic understanding ofkey fundamentals. From this foundation, aspiring traders can move
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along with a consistent progression until they feel that at some point theyare ready to make a living from trading. The key to effective trading isdeveloping your own disciplined approach and methodology.You can develop these methods by several means. First, you can finda mentor who is an active, successful trader and learn by example. Playfollow the leader; trade when he or she trades and fully explore the logicbehind each trade. This is the best method, but unfortunately the hardest to do as successful traders who are willing to spend the time teaching on a day-to-day basis are hard to find. Secondly, you can embark ona self-education process by reading many of the good trading books currently on the market. This gives the new trader a basic background onmethodology and technique but lacks the real-time, live trading experience. Lastly, you can find a mentor or teacher who leads and teachesgroups of traders online. Several online services are available such asMtrader.com or RealityTrader.com where this type of education can befound.
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Before you embark on this journey, you must identify what yourgoals are. Is your goal to trade full- or part-time? Are you looking for acareer or simply a way to increase your odds in the trading world?Granted, each trader’s objective differs; some want to make a living at home trading from their living rooms, while others simply wantto learn trading as a hobby. Some want to make trading a disciplinedcareer, while others are looking for that age-old quick buck. Whateverthe reason for one’s desire to be a market participant, it must come withan acceptance of responsibility. That responsibility lies within the understanding and need for education, cautious progression in a disciplinedtrading program, and finally the implementation of a comfortable trading system. If any of these steps are skipped, trading becomes more akinto gambling. Over the years, gamblers tend to lose the majority of theirmoney on unsound decisions or methods.When traders first begin trading, they need to find a method thatworks for them. Numerous systems and methods are available to tradeon the stock market. There are methods for options, futures, derivatives,currencies, bonds, equities, and so on. If speculation is involved, there isa system somewhere for it. The trick is to find the method that best fitsyour financial status, risk tolerance, and learning curve. Obviously, buylow and sell high is the common method that makes money. Knowingwhen to buy and when to sell is the key component to trading.To learn trading, one must study a theory and be able to apply it totrading at a consistency rate that allows for gradual profits over time.Those that expect huge one-time gains in trading methods are also setting themselves up for big one-time losses. Normally, over time, one cannot continuously make huge gains without a few huge losses tocomplement them. These get-rich-quick schemes almost always end upin failure. The market doesn’t allow for consistent get-rich-quick methods. It finds a way to take from the undisciplined eventually.
ON-SIGHT TRAININGOver the past five years, with the explosion of online and daytrading,many educational services have evolved to help traders with theirprogress in this business. Although some of these services are nothingmore than just stock picking sites, some very good educational sites areavailable that correct a lot of misinformation about the marketplace andprovide a reasonable forum for professional discussion. Most of the systems or methods are different, however, and therefore must be reviewed
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by the individual before making any choices about which one to pick.You should review many things when ascertaining an opinion aboutwhere you want to learn.First, beginning traders need to choose whether they want to learnfrom on-site training or if they feel comfortable enough with straightonline discussion. Both have advantages. In discussing the on-site training, the major advantage is obviously being able to speak face to face withprofessional traders. This type of training requires that you travel to theirfacility, but they are not cheap and can cost anywhere from $1,000 to$5,000 for a week’s worth of training and personal guidance. They willtake you on a crash course for one week on the A to Z’s of trading. Theywill work with you on an individual basis to provide you with a basisof trading that is a starting point for where you need to start relative toyour trading experience. The traders who are teaching are accredited intheir fields and have a working knowledge of key components such asLevel 1, 2, and Time of Sales. They can pick out price action and pointout key points of interest to you onscreen where everyone can participate and ask questions regarding their examples. It is simply a more personal approach to learning to trade.The main disadvantage that one should know when choosing thisroute is that the expense for the crash course may not be worth it.Trading for a living is not something that can be learned in a week’s time.The costs can add up when you include expenses such as a hotel room,food, a rental car, and plane tickets. This tends to scare many beginningtraders early when thinking about this avenue for their learning process.The alternative to on-site teaching has therefore become the online teaching forums.
ONLINE TEACHING FORUMSOnline teaching forums have reduced fixed overhead costs. Many ofthem pay for the servers for the site, a few licenses for data transfer, possibly a news service, and then salary to the employees and professionaltraders. When compared with the facility and upkeep of on-site training,the costs are much lower. These cost savings are passed onto the traders.Whereas a week of training at an on-site training course will cost you$1,000 to $5,000, an educational service may only cost $200 a month. Thisis the major advantage to on-site training. You can test the waters to seeif the methods being taught suit your needs before you lay down a largepayment.
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This gives you five months’ minimum with most educational services versus one week of a crash course at some on-site training facilities. For around $50 a week, traders have access to the service instructor’sexpertise and knowledge. They are encouraged to ask questions and participate in a professional manner that enhances a trader’s progress. Mosteducational programs are not stock picking services because their function is to provide reasoning behind the methodology, rather than justalerting the room to entry and exit points.Everybody is looking for the cure for cancer, the easy fix in the worldof trading, but it simply doesn’t exist. If you limit yourself to a room thatonly offers simple stock picks, promotes buy and sell calls for entries andexits, you are doomed to failure. If you are in a trade just because someroom guru says it is a good trade without knowing the logic and methods behind it, you will lose in the long run. You may make a few goodgains, but over time your losses will take you out of the game. We haveall heard the old saying, “if you give a man a fish, you feed him for aday, but if you teach him to fish, he is set for life.” It could not be anymore true in the world of online trading rooms. Many times the fish youare being fed are not healthy and are never in the quantities promised.The only way to truly succeed in trading is to learn the methodologyyourself and make your own trades after you have educated yourself.The disadvantage to on-site forums is the personal approach whereone does not interact face to face with the room leaders and instructors.This provides a sense of uncertainty behind the service as traders areskeptical about who is running the room. Primarily, this skepticismstems from the media coverage about those room leaders that have nevertraded a stock in their life but are deeming themselves as experts. It alsostems from those reports that room leaders are front-running their alertsin the room and then selling to their members. The trick for aspiringtraders is to develop a trust with their instructors.Trust is usually developed by the information that is provided andthe guidance that one is willing to give. Most offer a free week or two oftrial services to evaluate. I have seen educational services with great andtrue information to traders, but no guidance through the learning processin terms of key issues like money management or stop loss risk. I seesome services offer information on these key issues but then beratethe clients in the room if they ask what the room leader deems to be astupid question. If someone is genuinely trying to learn the businessof trading, he or she should seek out a forum that will continuouslyprovide a supportive atmosphere where any and all questions can beasked without fear of attack or retribution.
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When reviewing educational services, you need to compare the costof the service versus the benefits that are most important to you. Withvarying degrees of trading expertise, some traders may find some services too advanced or simple relative to their knowledge base. If the costincludes items that are not needed by the traders for whatever reason,then they need to weigh those aspects.The most basic of rooms should at least provide a forum by whichone can follow along on trading alerts with the room leaders to gain anunderstanding of the methodology. As you become more advanced, youwill require the understanding of morning preparation, daily classes togo over key trading issues regarding methods and topics of confusion,and individual help from room instructors. Some services are offeringfree online seminars, weekend seminars, trading universities, after-hoursdiscussions, and much more. The key is to find the average cost of theseservices and weigh it against the benefits of the room relative to yourneeds. If the methods presented by the individual traders do not fityour abilities or learning curve, then finding a system that works wellfor your style is crucial. Otherwise, frustration sets in and progress ishalted immediately.Methods are simply the theory behind the trades. Whereas onetrader can earn a living off one method, another trader can starve following the exact same method. It is not the method that is the key to success. It is the ability to follow it in a consistent manner and adjust whatis working while weeding out what isn’t. If a trader is reviewing a siteand likes the methodology and service, then he or she has a basis fortrust. If the method is not liked or profitable, then moving onto the nextservice is a viable option. These services usually don’t require a contractfor a specified time period of membership and most offer at least a freeweek trial to evaluate how the room works and assess its effectivenessin trading and instruction.Although I think that on-site teaching has its value and may workfor some traders, obviously I am a big fan of online teaching forums.Many of the online forums simply offer stock picks, when to buy or sell.If that is what you are looking for, plenty of services are available thatoffer this. In fact, most of the services do not offer education at all, onlybuy and sell calls. I find that the best online forums offer the educationto teach you how to develop your own trading programs. Simply following the leader into and out of trades is never profitable over time. Agood online service prepares the members for the coming day, identifying stocks that are expected to be in action and laying out a rough planof attack. Without a pre-market plan, simply too much data needs to be
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absorbed and traders tend to get overloaded and chase after anythingmoving. Once the market opens, staff traders offer real-time marketcommentary on what is happening and why it is happening. Real-timeeducation is the key to successful trading for both on-site and onlineeducation services. Once the action slows down, traders on the staffexamine every aspect of the market, what happened, what did well, andwhat didn’t do quite so well. At some point during the trading day,structured daily class sessions teaching the core methods or topics thatwarrant attention should be discussed.
HYPEI spend a lot of time discussing the topic of hype in this chapter becauseI have seen literally hundreds of traders lose their entire portfolios dueto it and I want to ensure that you fully understand what can and is happening out there. One of the main complaints I hear about online servicesis that a lot of hype and misinformation tends to be given. This occursprimarily in the free chat rooms but occurs in some of the fee-based services as well. A service you pick should be absolutely free from hype.Although free chat rooms have their value, they are a cause for concern.The upside is that a room moderator usually tries to weed out themisinformation on stocks or comments presented in the room and warnsthose who are posting misinformation to refrain from doing so. Althoughthis upside is nice to see, the opposite side is that the room moderatorcould be simply using the appearance of a single or a group of roomleaders to tout his or her own stocks with a large audience.I have seen this occur far too many times. The fleecing of traders bythese so-called room leaders is what first brought me to the education ofaspiring traders. I did this in hopes of protecting them from such forumsof misinformation and hype. The most common hype that I see is whena room leader is going to give out a “special stock pick” at some pointduring the trading day. Many of these rooms have hundreds of memberssimply because it is free. When these picks are given, it can create a verylarge momentum move if the stock generates interest from a large portion of these room members.When the room leader is ready to announce the stock pick, thetraders are waiting anxiously in anticipation. This type of momentum iscalled channel momentum. When the leader finally announces it,depending on the stock, it can move up a point or more when thetraders in the room follow the leader into the trade. However, the room
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leader entered a position in the stock before the announcement wasmade. As the stock is propelled up, he exits his trade safely, selling hisshares to those room buyers who are anxiously bidding the stock higher.Room leaders normally pick low-volume stocks to tout because they canmove up quickly on low volume.Unfortunately, they turn and drop twice as fast as the rest of thetraders scramble to exit their trades all at once, leaving them holding alosing trade. They end up selling the stock in panic or holding the stockhoping for the stock to return to those heights so they can exit the tradewith little or no loss. Usually, the stock never returns to those highs andthe trader is left wondering what to do next and takes a bigger loss. I haveseen too many traders lose their entire portfolios falling prey to this typeof hype. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy; the more the leader calls trades,the more people follow him or her, the more the picks go up, and the better his or her reputation gets for calling winners every time. Traders needto be careful about finding out what the best entry point is on the alert,and if it’s too far away from where the stock is currently at, they need tolook for a possible re-entry or let the trade go.Another common form of hype is when a room leader touts a stockthat receives positive news of some sort. We call these news alerts. Thishappens when a company will issue a press release for an FDA approvalor maybe an alliance with a strong company like Microsoft or Intel during the trading day. The room leader will then immediately enter thestock and then push the stock to the room. You will see comments like,“This is great news and the market will reward it by pushing it up to newhighs.”The room leader will continue to hype the stock as the majority ofhis room continues to bid the stock higher. Meanwhile, he is once againselling his position to these traders who are bidding the stock higher, andmaybe even shorting it at the highs as he is calling the trade over anddone with. More often than not, several free forums are touting the samestock at the same time. In fact, I have suspected for years that some ofthe room leaders are in many rooms at the same time under differentnames. This creates an added momentum to the stock as now we havethree or four free rooms touting the same stock with nearly three to fourthousand members. The initial reason for the stock entry is based on aroom leader’s unaccountable hype. The exit strategy is now based onhope. This is a sure sign that this trader will not be trading for very longas a career.
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When an individual hypes a stock, he or she is attempting to movethe stock in a quick manner that enables the person to exit the stock tothose late buyers that are bidding the stock higher on excitement. Theprocess usually looks like the following dialog:“Hey, is the news that MSFT is in a deal with company ABC witha $50 million investment out yet?”“Yes, huge news! $50 million! This stock is going to the moon!”“I’m buying on any weakness. This is a 10-bagger, no problem!!”“It is up-ticking. This is your last chance to buy at these levels.”“There it goes. It is flying!”“Oh yes, I love this stock. This is a huge buy!”“If you aren’t in now, you had better get in or you will miss theopportunity of the day.”“Look at that volume. There is definite institutional backing onthis stock. Smart money is buying this one like crazy.”“Gooooo ABC!”“Here comes the first pullback in this stock. I’m adding to myposition big time on any weakness.”These are just a few of the comments that can constitute a hype ofa stock. The catalyst for the momentum is the news that Microsoft isinvesting $50 million into the company. Although this news is certainlyfavorable for most companies that were going to do a deal withMicrosoft, hopefully you can see the underlying hype that was createdwith these comments. The first sign of hype is the exclamation pointsafter sentences. If you see exclamation points, the person is very adamantabout his or her viewpoint of the stock. When you go a level deeper intothese comments, we see some very interesting information about thesepeople. To do this, let’s assign value to company ABC.Assume that ABC is trading at a level of $10 a share. Then as thenews comes out, most experienced traders will enter the stock anywherefrom 10.01 to 10.02. Bidding the stock at 10 will certainly not ensure youan execution because there will not be much selling to the bid at 10 tofill your buy order. Now, as traders enter at no worse than 10.02, theybegin to shout out these comments in the room. The first thing to realize is that these chat rooms have thousands of participants. If one or moreof these forums is touting the same stock, namely ABC, then some verysharp upside momentum to the stock can occur. The primary traders,those in at 10.01 to 10.02, will be the ones hyping the stock first. Theywill attempt to bring in other buyers so that the stock continues to rise.
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Once traders begin to enter at 10.25 to 10.50, they will add to the hypeof the stock, shouting their targets of $15 and $20 a share attempting tobring in more buyers.Eventually, the stock may go over 10.50 to near 10.75 where the hyping begins to die down. The reason the hype dies is that those primaryhypers who successfully tried to get the stock over 10.50 from 10 are nowselling the stock to the late buyers. As the stock pauses, those late buyers see the stock dropping and desperately try to keep the hype going.However, these late buyers are fighting a losing battle because the stockhype is now over and there really is no institutional backing of the stock.More often than not, the stock will move back down near the price thatit was at when the stock was first hyped. In this case, it would settle downsomewhere near 10 1⁄4 or lower as those that bought the high are sellingin panic and frustration.The underlying point to this scenario is that those who are hypinga stock are usually already in the stock at a lower price and are trying tocreate excitement for you to buy at higher levels. They will use theseexclamation points. They will post the news over and over again. Theywill post the whole story of the news and they will continue to mentionthe stock over and over to draw attention to it. They will use any catchphrases that signal a strong move to get the unknowing excited enoughto buy the stock and bid it higher. Meanwhile, they are selling the stockto those late buyers. More often than not, you are buying near the highof the move and will get caught in selling and have to take a loss. Be verycautious of stock hype.When looking back at these comments, a person will realize twothings. First, the comments made in the room are never posted to helpothers, but rather fulfill a need or desire of the individuals. Second, theirclaims of price targets or accountability have no basis if they are wrongand someone loses money because of it. Often, we will see chat roomleaders and bulletin boards make outlandish comments or offer almostimpossible price targets to those reading them.This serves two purposes for them. If they are correct, they toutthemselves as geniuses because they knew it was going to happen. A fewpeople have received rich lives in big predictions that actually came true.However, when these people are wrong, there is no retribution for yourloss. They are anonymous people hiding behind a screen name that placethe blame right back at you for your losses because you did not researchthe trade or the company enough. I hear the following comment in thetrading room from room leaders when a loss is made.
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“Geez, you didn’t stop out of that stock already? It clearly topped.Why didn’t you exit? I exited hours ago. You should do your ownhomework if you are going to trade.”Meanwhile, if someone checked the daily log of the chat room, moreoften than not, the room leaders will post their entry, but we will neversee an exit price, especially if it is a loss. Then if they do post their lossand a room member challenges the room leader, the member is scoldedfor not doing his or her own research. This doesn’t seem