Im new to the stock market scene and have been trying to do my research by learning as much as I can before diving in and making a huge mistake financially. Im 25 years old, with what I consider to be a good paying job but am looking to make my money work for me and be able to take care of my future family. Im not looking to be a millionaire, although it would be nice. Im simply looking for a comfortable future for whomever I might have a life with. As heroic as that might sound, I am on here looking for help to get my feet wet. I have little college experience behind me because of missed opportunities but I consider myself to be a smart individual with a history of being mathematically capable. I like to be pointed in the right direction and take it from there. Ive spent a couple of days reading all there is on Investopedia.com. Very informative. I found this site as well and thought that talking to people that consider themselves "elite" would be a good place to start asking questions... Any advice for starting out and where do I even begin?! Find a broker? Get software? The right software? Please Help.
Read: 1. Technical analysis of the financial markets 2. Idiots guide to day trading like a pro (more than just day trading) 3. Come into my trading room (elder) 4. Trading for a living (elder) 5. Trading in the zone (douglas) 6. The disciplined trader (by mark douglas) 7. The master swing trader I dont like the books by Van k Tharp, but others will probably tell you to read them. Learn to swing or position trade before you try day trading. IB (interactive brokers is popular here on ET), I use scottrade and dont have any complaints. A lot of the material in the book above is repetitive, but worth reading so it sticks in your head.
First place to start is to use the search function and type in specifics that you are looking for. You should find lots of thread w/ plenty of info.
Thats your first mistake. Your not looking to be a millionaire. That tells me that you would be trading not to lose. You go into any enterprise with the proper attitude. You trade to win. Imagine this example. You go to the gym with the attitude of exercising to lose only a few pounds. Then you get to the gym and put in a half-hearted attempt. After a month, you realize your not getting anywhere. When you go to the gym, you want to think like your training for the olympics and put in a strong effort. Even though you may not reach the olympics or make a million, its important to think like you will. . .otherwise you end up putting in a half-hearted attempt that ends up in an eventual failure. In any enterprise, you go to win.
thehangingman, Come on now, this guy is a newbee, lets not rip him to pieces already. How about some encouragement. We all don't strive to be millionares. RichnJenK, I would suggest that you look at your local community college first off. See if they have a class on Economics 101 and 102. (they may be numbered differently) This will give you a good grasp on how the basics of economy's work. I would then look at some of the books mentioned above. It all comes down to personal preference for what books actually come across and light the bulb in your head. When it comes to technical analysis I prefer Murphy's books. Also another thing to think about when purchasing a stock would be, What's hot! What do all of you friends like or buy. When you are out and about look around and see what seems to appear over and over. Kind of like the IPOD by Apple Inc was a hot product. (Still may be) It all depends on your goals and time frames. For example if all your friends like the IPOD, but then you see everyone has one.... Who is left to actually buy one? Think of it as supply and demand. If Apple Inc has a bunch of Ipods to sell and your friends like it or think its hot. If they all have one it is likely many others have already purchased one. (this is a theoretical) Maybe then it would not be a good time to invest in Apple Inc. for , many may already have one and there is little need (demand) for people to buy one. Many times as the hype goes to extreme is when most already have the product and its time to sell. Just remember always try to get in before the hype gets to hot. You may also want to take a class on how to read Financial statements. Highly recommended IMHO. Then again it all comes down to your time span for making trades Just a few Ideas for you. This is just some theory based stuff for him and not in any way a call to sell or short APPL. Hope this helps you out some.
Im new to the stock market scene and have been trying to do my research by learning as much as I can before diving in and making a huge mistake financially. Im 25 years old, with what I consider to be a good paying job but am looking to make my money work for me and be able to take care of my future family. Im not looking to be a millionaire, although it would be nice. Im simply looking for a comfortable future for whomever I might have a life with. As heroic as that might sound, I am on here looking for help to get my feet wet. I have little college experience behind me because of missed opportunities but I consider myself to be a smart individual with a history of being mathematically capable. I like to be pointed in the right direction and take it from there. Ive spent a couple of days reading all there is on Investopedia.com. Very informative. I found this site as well and thought that talking to people that consider themselves "elite" would be a good place to start asking questions... Any advice for starting out and where do I even begin?! Find a broker? Get software? The right software? Please Help. [/B] I'm completely new here too. Lots of guys here are nice and will help you, lots are A-holes who are way too full of themselves. Take what useful advice there is (of which there is plenty) and don't take the rest personally. I had a tough time with some of the insulting comments I have read (not even those necessarily directed my way), but I will say that there are lots of guys who do seem to know what they are talking about. Just thicken up that skin and learn what you can. best of luck to you.
First off, good luck. My only peice of advice is this. Think to your self that you know nothing and whatever advice you get from someone that has been there - even failed - take it and remember it. Listen to everyone, and never limit your options.
Cashmoney had some good pointers. You should really just observe markets and read. I'm your same age and have been in the markets for a few years. Although I came up through the penny markets(I can hear the hissing here) and it's a swamp I'm lucky to have gotten out with my nuts let alone huge gains. You just need to observe. The biggest and best tips I can give you are: - DON'T get entranced by the market, it's a bunch of fools being separated from their money by being entranced, don't be one of us...oops, I mean them! - DON'T trade until you have a firm grasp and start off SLOW! - DON'T think that you know the future. You'll read this in Mark Douglas' books which I highly recommend. Thinking you KNOW the markets future actions are what land you riding a bad position down because you KNOW you're right and are waiting for the market to catch up to you. You should have an adequate understanding that the market is your boss, you need to heed its call. - DO paper trade...it's a great idea! - DON'T try and cover everything at once. - DO read the hell out of this site...I'd only recently discovered this site and I now spend most of my reading time reading old posts. The Journals are good. There is a world of knowledge on this site. And there are some sad stories about failed traders that you'd be smart to read...some of them are pretty brutal. - DO READ READ READ. I think books are a good way of unplugging and reading something not on the computer where it's easy to be distracted. Elder's books and Douglas' books are good. - DO observe market gainers and laggards and try and understand how they're affected by news. Good luck...hope it works out for you. You can private message me if you have other questions or anything. The folks on this site are helpful...watch out for the assholes though, there are a few floating around it's best to be assholes back to them!
No. Im not tearing him to shreds. Let me give you another example of what I am saying in regards to attitude. Lets say your the manager of a baseball team. Your goal is to always make it to the Series each and every season. You train hard, you play hard. Even if you never make it to the Series, even if you have not not made it in decades...you play to get to the Series. To say you just want to make a few bucks is the wrong attitude... Which baseball teams go in there with the attitude they just want to win a few games and hit a few runs? How about a boxer? Does he go into that ring just to throw a few casual punches and then walk away?