I posted to this forum a few months ago and was provided with several links to beginners' tutorials. I have finished reading through those and several others, including a dead-tree book. I feel that I have a good introduction to TA and System Trading. I feel that were I to continue with my education and begin practicing on paper, in time, I could succeed with this venture and potentially eventually be trading for a living. My overall impression is, however, that even after a few years of part-time education and a few years of part-time trading, I will still not be nearly as skilled at picking trades as some of the industry experts with decades of experience and proven track records. To note, my goal with trading is not to become a trader per se, it is rather to generate some income with some capital I have sitting in a bank account or a REIT presently doing not much of anything. It seems to me that I will find more success were I to sign up for a newsletter from one of these experts and just do exactly what he says. Some of these people claim to return upwards of several hundred percent annually, and one even well beyond one thousand percent. It furthermore seems to me that the easiest way to follow every one of their suggestions precisely is to just allow my broker to automatically place every trade. I have discovered that many brokerage firms offer such a service. I am thus strongly considering opening an account with brokerage firm, putting in there a reasonable amount of money, signing up for a newsletter from a well-known advisor, and then allowing my broker to auto-trade that newsletter for me. Last time I posted here, I was given excellent advice. I would like to ask now if what I am suggesting is sound. I see no reason why I should NOT pursue this course of auto-trading, yet perhaps being a beginner there is something I am missing. Thank you, Hershel Robinson
Lower your expectations. Begin with 30% a year (do you realize what 30% compounding can give?). Survival and diversification is important. You might consider practicing with a portion of your funds to get your feet with. I think you are ready. You seem reasonable with your post. The goal is to grow your capital at risk and to make a profit after you deduct your time and taxes. There are many traders who diversify their funds to others to manage. Good trading to you. Michael B.
Unfortunately, many of them are fraudulent. There is good sense in what you say, but only if the newsletter or service to which you subscribe has been INDEPENDENTLY MONITORED for an absolute minimum of 2 years. IMHO.
Hershel, Look at www.optionsxpress.com They have some estabished advisories with REAL track records through AutoXecute... I can recommend the OptionSmart Advisory or the Peak Investing Advisory if you wish to triple your capital annually. Remember, however, "the bigger the returns", "the bigger the drawdowns". Finding that smooth upward sloping equity curve through advisiories, diversification and self-trading is harder than it seems. Question: Would you rather live with lower drawdowns or double the profit with a tough ride...Hershel? The answer to your question might help you discover what the Holy Grail is to YOU. Michael B. P.S. And Hershel, when trading through a service or yourself, the initial goal is to preserve your bankroll. So always try to pull out of your account, the original stake as soon as possible and pull it to your cash account. This way you will be trading with, "house" money. You might be able to juggle many uncorrelated and different systems with this formula. Treat this as a business, and later a conglomerate! P.S.S. I am putting many personal opinions in here. You were asking for input, so there you have it. There are many ways for you to achieve your goal. Maybe some posters may advise against trading yourself, where others may advise against newsletters and advisories.
Thank you both for your responses. I appreciate it. optionsxpress.com does not appear to have performance records: Where can one find such monitoring reports?
Unfortunately, my brain is rusty today but there is a service that keeps track of all the news letters and their track records. The guy who does this is highly respected and goes back a long way. You might start by subscribing to his service. Now that I've mentioned it, perhaps some one will come up with the name. In the meantime, I'll check the web and see if I can find it.
Well there is Futurestruth too....but this is not what he means Jana. I can't remember either...This guy was like the morningstar of newsletters..