I'm simply amazed that after four pages of responses to an individual that lost 70 large hasn't seen fit to admit that maybe this person would have been better off spending some of that 70 grand on some education first. Many of you out there trash companies that charge several thousands of dollars for a seminar. Sure some seminars are junk: buyer beware. On the other hand, isn't paying $2000 for a seminar that does nothing but teach you how to preserve capital (don't even think about winning at this point) a bargain compared to blowing $70,000! So far I have spent about $10,000 getting a real education. I have a method to trade by. I have a mentor that gives me confidence. Each day I'm cosistantly getting better at what I do, and I know nothing can stop me because I'm NOT GUESSING. There are individuals and organizations that can help, if your careful, openminded, and understand that education is not an expense: it's an investment.
Come on. This guy has got to be kidding. He calls himself a "daytrader" yet he holds on to a stock until he has almost a 50% loss then dumps it, claiming they are "out to get him". Anyone who has been in this business long enough knows the key to survival is to limit your losses.
Nitro: I trade mostly NASDAQ stocks and have lost mostly trading SEBL, JNPR, ORCL using my online broker (TDwaterhouse). I usually buy 3000 to 5000 shares, long (big mistake). Traning is based on many books, I mean many books, websites, cbsmarketwatch, msnbc and this site. Thanks
Motas, You are not going to like what I have to say: 1) STOP TRADING NASDAQ - LEARN ON NYSE BIG CAP 2) START WITH 100 SHARES - WHEN YOU ARE UP $500 (after commissions) GO TO 200 SHARES. WHEN YOU ARE UP $1000, GO TO 500 SHARES. STAY AT 500 SHARES FOR THREE MONTHS. IF YOU LOOSE HALF YOUR PROFITS, GO BACK TO 200 SHARES, ETC. 3) GO TO A BROKER LIKE InteractiveBrokers THAT ALLOWS YOU TO TRADE 100 LOTS FOR SMALL COST - THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE MEAN BY "LEARNING." 4) STORE AWAY ALL YOUR BOOKS - GO GET TRAINING AT BRIGHT OR ECHO - THEN GO REREAD YOUR BOOKS AND LAUGH. 5) MARIA B. DOESN'T KNOW HER ASS FROM A HOLE IN THE WALL - TURN OFF THE T.V. AND TURN ON A SPOOS "SQUAWK." 6) WHEN YOU ARE UP $10,000, THEN, IF YOU MUST, GO TRADE NASDAQ THE SAME WAY AS ABOVE. nitro
ddog You are correct in pointing out that I am not a day trader and was not a day trader but start to become a day trader after loosing my job from the corporate environment as a technologist after 9/11. The reason I was holding JNPR this long was because it was in my investment portfolio, like I still have from the past few years LU, MOT, ORCL, TLAB, WCOM, XOXO, CSCO, etc. 70K loosing was from daily trade, protfolio down is a different story. Thanks
Can you tell us which books were most influential in the trade you mentioned? And what posts on here helped you to that decision?
Why the hell would you go in and buy thousands of shares trying to learn something from scratch? Have you ever heard of start small to control losses? Losing $70000 is inexcusable.There is no reason to kich your own ass like that, and then act like the Market is out to get you. If you want to know who is out to get you it is experienced traders lookin out for traders like yourself who are giving away money. You sound as though you have wasted six months, as you have obviously learned nothing about trading. You could have spent the last six months learning small and only been down 5-7 K, which is more respectable for the market conditions. People have given you good advice here. Trading is a slow process to learn, you are gambling. If you want to learn how to trade, pull back, go small, and get help from someone. Otherwise, let me know the next time you are going to go long big in this down market so I can go opposite the trade. I need free money.
motas, the first thing you need is decide what you want to do. invest? swingtrade? daytrade? or scalp? essentially you must decide what time frame you wish to trade. what is it you are trying to accomplish? :-/
BruceF Following are the books that were influential: The Stock Market Course --- George A. Fontanills How to Make Money from Wall Street --- Tony Oz Electronic Day Trading --- David S. Nassar Rules of the Trade -- David S. Nassar What works in online Trading -- Mark Etzkorn What I still have to finish are Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets -- John J. Murphy Technical Analysis from A to Z -- Steven B. Achelis Computerized Trading -- Mark Jurik The most interesting was Brokerage Fraud -- Tracy Pride Stoneman & Douglas J. Schulz Thanks
My apologies. I assumed from your original post that you were only a daytrader. But even if the stock was in your portfolio my opinion is that you should always place a stop loss immediately when you enter a trade. As an example my brother bought CSCO at $81.00 and he still has it! I suggested to him when he bought it to put in a stop loss just in case but he felt no need.