I started trading in 1993, trying to short my own employer's stock. No inside knowledge. No technical analysis. Just "Hey, look how high it is! It doesn't belong up there! I'll short it and make money." But I wasn't content to do that alone. I also would look in the newspaper for stocks trading under $3, with the assumption that "All they have to do is come up $3 in value, and I'll double my money!" I didn't need to look up what the companies did, or their financial condition. After all, companies rarely go out of business, right?? Looking back on those days, I can't believe I didn't blow up the account. But somehow, I managed to finish even for the year, in spite of the results of such ignorant decision making. And I even made money in 1994 and 1995. But by 1996, I put it all in mutuals, since I realized the bubble economy was rising faster than my ability to trade. I decided to try trading again last autumn, but hopefully I'm older and wiser than 10 years ago. I'm sure I'm at least one of those!
Only those with the trading 'gene' can expect to make money in the first several months of trading (this of course excludes the late '90s when any idiot could buy anything and make money). Do yourself a favor. Start with some education. Visit one of the trading expos and pick a program you like, then post a 'want' ad on Elite, and buy the materials second hand. In the meantime read all the great books on trading. Also, don't keep all your trading capital in your account at a time. A few bad days can eat it up pretty fast. If you have to start sending the broker checks it will make you reconsider your strategy! Finally, dig in for the long-term. The market loves to eat rookies. Cheer, kp
Hey Frank I know how you feel! I papertraded for a year using tradestation. which I think has to be the best software out there. I sit at the computer most of the day.I have tried every strategy that you could possibly think of. I t wasn't until I subscribed to www. intraday trades that I started becoming consistantly profitable in the stocks. This subscription gave me the confidence to start trading with money. He charges $99 a month, and shows you how to trade. not just buy her sell here, he explains every thing in detail. I only needed a month to watch his system. I t is quite profitable. I t does require a little common sense on your part though. In a subscription service , he can't tell you whoops! time to get out. You have to develope a feel for the market on your own. Some time you want out before lunch . some time the end of the day. The system is simple. If a stock is in a strong uptrend,and takes a one day pullback against the linear regression with out bending that lg line, buy it tommorrow morning after it has cleared the 8:40 reversal period. It should have made a high and has come back to it's own high. There is something magic about this. but wait till it trades above it's high, this is critical! He likes to use an initial %4 stop. but I can't do that. I simply watch the 20ma and the 55ma. to get a feel for the market. no shorter than a 60 minute chart to feel the trend, and average your pricbars to decide an exit. DON'T be greedy, if a stock has averaged .40 for the last few bars, and momentum is slowing, get out! try to trade a basket of stocks, not just one. this spreads the risk, and leaves you coming out in the plus just about every day.I am not trying to sell someones subscription service but I have spent some heavy bucks on courses and none of them have actually taught me how to trade. for the price , this is reccomended
I'll bet you still ware bell bottoms - right? And I'd bet that one of your dreams is to be a regular on American bandstand - right? And my guess is that you drive a '67 VW Bug. How do I know all of these things? Because you seem to be the kind of guy who is always late for the party. Your bell bottoms will be back in style before a newbie can just show up and turn a buck in the market. It's over, frank123. Have you not read any of the threads on ET? Yes, a living can still be made day trading stocks - by sharp, experienced traders who really know what they are doing...and even most of them are not having an easy time of it. Spend the weekend reading all the sad stories on this board. Yes, there are any number of success tales as well,,,but I don't think you will find any two-month wonders. Basically, the people who made it did so in the good old days, learning how to trade when it was not as hard, and then made the adjustment when things got tough. Now dig deeper. Go back to the "good old days". Make note of the so called winners, and see how many are around today. Keep your day job. Start sleeping in mornings again. And save the stories about the sheep skin for the panty-waist crowd. The party's over.
In my opinion any newbie who enters this business by daytrading is already behind the eightball. The shorter the timeframe, the more you are just swimming in the chop, slapping around trying to stay afloat. It is extremely difficult to succeed, although there are a few talented swimmers who can do it after a lot of failures. Unless one wants to scalp...which is NOT trading in my opinion...one is much better off pulling back to a wider time horizon and giving trades time to develop. I know it is difficult for many daytraders to understand that if they haven't had the experience. But take it from one who made the transition and finally become consistently profitable.
I don't have an opinion on that one way or the other. I just don't believe that you make $15g a week, consistently, in 2003 trading stocks on 3 hrs sleep (especially for scalping you need to be very alert) from home with one monitor and a cable modem in a $100 g or whatever it is retail account with 1.5 yrs or so experience. BTW, teamates who played with Wells the day of the perfect game said that he was not drunk at all (and that he apparently has a history of imbelishing or worse-perhaps you two have a lot in common).
Its true, especially nowadays, that this is where the best money is. The ranges are bigger, and the commissions are lower.