Any stock traders here?

[Higher Tech]

I was heavy in stock trading for a few years, actually I was a heavy day trader, had a nice tradestation account and did a bit of auto trading, had to learn easy language for that. The most important thing in trading is knowing your limits, having stop losses, sticking to a system that works for you, never going against the market patterns and just ride the wave. I was heavy into volume based analysis and to me that worked the best.

pretty intrested in this aswell, going to check out those sites you guys mentioned. i see you can open practice accounts, i suppose thats the way to start

Thanks Chineebai. Appreciate the info.

@Shuteye, I started out with, "stock trading for dummies," an etrade account, and about 120 bucks. I started taking 10% out of my payroll as a direct deposit into my etrade account. Once I had enough to really start investing, i started asking people that I knew were already investing, and got some tips for some stocks to start with, and it went pretty well. It was slow money but consistent.

Then I got greedy.

And started investing in all types of googly crap...

Then the positive cash flow started to descend.

Now, I've started becoming more disciplne and it's working out again. Chineeba was right, learn your limits.

 

[Shuteye]

Thanks Chineebai. Appreciate the info.

@Shuteye, I started out with, "stock trading for dummies," an etrade account, and about 120 bucks. I started taking 10% out of my payroll as a direct deposit into my etrade account. Once I had enough to really start investing, i started asking people that I knew were already investing, and got some tips for some stocks to start with, and it went pretty well. It was slow money but consistent.

Then I got greedy.

And started investing in all types of googly crap...

Then the positive cash flow started to descend.

Now, I've started becoming more disciplne and it's working out again. Chineeba was right, learn your limits.

usefull information, i will look into that book thanks

 

[Higher Tech]

No problem

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

word, I got most of my money in the Vanguard ETFs also.

I also own CVX, MSFT, BRKB, GLD (fukk gold by the way), GLRE, V, and AAPL.

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

*subs*

I don't know the first thing about stocks, but it's something I've always kind of been interested in. No idea where to start tho.

This is asked in all the investing threads too. If you got a job, look into their 401k, the company usually matches you.

 

[Higher Tech]

Were you BestofdaBest on SOHH?

Anyway my portfolio is looking as fukk. Ignore the entries that show that I'm up by several hundred thousand percent. That's some kind of software error. I'm down on those too.

Is this like an IRA or just mutual funds?

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

Is this like an IRA or just mutual funds?

In most cases, they're ETFs that follow a certain index or indexes. I don't know much about the others, but the Vanguard ones have very low costs. They can be similar to mutual funds. Typically you buy them and let it sit for years, it's not for the active trader.

http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/09/mutual-fund-etf.asp#axzz1yOBi4UER

 

[MikelArteta]

heres some dumb newbie questions


so i can just like sign up at a site and pick and choose what i want from there, and sell when i want? or do i have to hold for a certain day?

how much do these sites usually charge? a one time fee plus 2% if you cash out or something?

is there a minimum deposit to get started or?

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

heres some dumb newbie questions


so i can just like sign up at a site and pick and choose what i want from there, and sell when i want? or do i have to hold for a certain day?

how much do these sites usually charge? a one time fee plus 2% if you cash out or something?

is there a minimum deposit to get started or?

some will charge like $7.95 per trade or something like that (some are higher). If you do multiple trades in a day it can add up and eat away at your returns.

There should be no restrictions on how long you can hold a stock/security. As long as the market is open.

Some require minimum amounts, others don't.

Cashing out profits will get taxed at the capital gains tax of %15 (if you're American).

 

[VerbalIntercourse]

Before anyone gets involved in Active Trading, I think you should read "A Random Walk Down Wall Street".

I worked as an intern for some local fund managers a lOOONNG time ago. I've never ever seen fund manager with 5 year YTD return that was more that 9 to 10%. I've never seen any mutual fund with return greater than that.

It takes a lot of time and effort to research stocks and to buy stocks, not to mention the Tax nightmare that day trading can be.

consider 2 things

1) long-term capital gains taxes are lower, and losses have indefinite (IIRC) carryfoward.
2) Professionals can't beat the market on average, which means YOU can't beat the market on average.

Active investing in the stock market is pointless, unless you have information that the market doesn't. Just buy index funds and track the market.

 

[VerbalIntercourse]

Cashing out profits will get taxed at the capital gains tax of %15 (if you're American).

Short term Capitals gains are taxed at your Marginal tax rate, not the capital gains tax.

You have to hold the stock for one year.

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

I just buy ETFs in a sharebuilder index fund monthly. I don't day trade and I don't overthink it. I just buy reputable ETFs and try to be diverse...large, small, and mid-cap, foreign, and gold.

 

[Blackking]

how do you all feel about defense stocks??

I have four (van etf, one prec metals, and another) ... one is defense; Raytheon

sharebuilder. I invest then kinda forget about it for a while then check back on them. Idk if that's a good strategy but it works ok.

 

[chineebai]

Thanks Chineebai. Appreciate the info.

@Shuteye, I started out with, "stock trading for dummies," an etrade account, and about 120 bucks. I started taking 10% out of my payroll as a direct deposit into my etrade account. Once I had enough to really start investing, i started asking people that I knew were already investing, and got some tips for some stocks to start with, and it went pretty well. It was slow money but consistent.

Then I got greedy.

And started investing in all types of googly crap...

Then the positive cash flow started to descend.

Now, I've started becoming more disciplne and it's working out again. Chineeba was right, learn your limits.

This is the usual case with investors that are just beginning. They earn a little money and get greedy and think it's easy to earn money in the stock market. The stock market's job is to take your money, it is controlled by these billion dollar bots that calculates every scenario within a millionth of a second. They will take your money. Not to mention all the other crap the market is controlled by.

I think slow is the way to go, and patience is key. Having stop losses is key, and also not being too greedy. I was learning for a few years before I started investing on my own, but I worked at an IB. As long as you know your limits, then you should be good.

I was heavy into trading options, sometimes earning over 10k a day and losing just as much. Now that I'm engaged I can't be doing all that.

 

[BlvdBrawler]

Is this like an IRA or just mutual funds?

yea my IRA is in there. I think that's the nasdaq index, precious metals, and I think target retirement fund. The rest is 401(k) and then my brokerage acct.