I've been trading for a year now. My first trade was ETFC. I bought in at $2.37, then got out at over twice that. Great first impression, and it hooked me! I started last year with about 10K (just like this year), then I got to about $24K in April, then $50K by the end of the second quarter. After that I had some losses, and the volatility of the market scared me off. I missed out on some great swings that I knew were going to happen, and all that aside, I'm ready to start a new year. I'm back again with $10K, ready to overcome my self-doubt, and ready to do this! I've had my best luck with Financials, Solar, and Auto companies. I want to be judged based on what happens as we go forward, but what else would you be interested in knowing?
Emotions. As I said, I had a few losses, and the market became volatile, and it scared me away. I knew the swings were going to happen (GM going from 1.7 to 5, for example -- I watched it at $1.75 and KNEW it would go back to atleast $3.50, but the FEAR of LOSING kept me from making any trades). I'm over this now, and ready to go!
Well, I hope you truly are over this. But I can tell you that the simple realization that frustration is part of the game turned my game around. It allowed me to take those risks I wasn't able to take in the past. I didn't want to deal with that feeling (without knowing it). Now I am willing to take the risks. That's why I asked. It's all psychological. Just my 2 cents.
greatfire, Do you have a regular job? And how do you keep it from interfering your your trading especially if you are working with stocks? Do you plan on using options to work within a position or just strictly use stoplosses? Once you get up to 200k you might want to check out futures, the tax advantages and ease of doing your taxes or expense if you don't do them yourself is significant. Best of luck
sorry to say but if you are interested in getting judged you have an undefeatable enemy inside who will not let you reach the goal. Get rid of it first. Good luck and recognize it as such. Difficult play with stocks I think, very difficult.
Lesson Number 1: Go with the flow. There will be a plethora of short opportunities this year. I blew out trying to go long during 2001. Then I made a comeback in 2002 and started going short after the market has bottomed but I quickly reversed gears and started making money on the long side. If you are holding overnight, the money is short in a bear market and long in a bull market -- simple as that! If you're trading intra-day, anything goes. The intra-day bounces in a bear market can be very profitable. Good luck with the journal and your 2009 goals.
Only going long in penny stocks. This is a very ambitious undertaking and the odds are stacked high against the OP. Best of luck.