blast - sounds like you have a plan in place, but just don't want to admit it! Just kiddin - if it works for you to be 'lazy' or just more laid back, more power to you. I'm sure all of us could use that sometimes!
I'm diversified and young so I am paving the way to be lazy in the future. I have plenty of money stashed in other places to protect myself so a burn on a position won't kill me. I trader longer term for bigger gains...2-10X gains so I'm happy with that and I don't have to do day to day stress. I do have a plan...but I'm also really lazy sometimes. Been brushing up a bit and such, but I must say, nothing is better than being able to go down to Brazil for a week(as I just did for Carnival) and come home to a handful of gains in stocks that I didn't really worry about while gone...actually, only thing I did do was worry about whether I should have sold some when I saw that they had gone up quite a bit. I don't think that anyone has to daytrade and personally I'm not sure why you'd deal with the stress of doing so as an individual when you can likely make more money taking your time and being a patient trader. I also trade in the money options on big chip stocks that are trending and they make for excellent gains. PCU: bought March $57.50 options when it traded at $62.30 for $5.10 or so and sold them a few bucks higher within a week or so...wish I would have held them, they're worth $17/contract now and I would have had a 200%+ gain in less than a month. Going to go play Xbox now.
<i>"I don't think that anyone has to daytrade and personally I'm not sure why you'd deal with the stress of doing so as an individual when you can likely make more money taking your time and being a patient trader."</i> Ah, to be young again with all the answers so readily at hand. Life has some interesting lessons in store for you. Enjoy the journey... it'll be a blast!
Act old and wise if you wish but coming across as a dipshit has it's characteristics too and one need not be old and wise to see sometimes the old and wise are just veiled dipshits. Congratulations.
<i>"Act old and wise if you wish but coming across as a dipshit has it's characteristics too and one need not be old and wise to see sometimes the old and wise are just veiled dipshits. Congratulations."</i> Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd bet there are other guys past 40 here who read your post and saw a bit of themselves in the past. I've been 20s. You ain't been 40s yet. All I'm saying is, life will lead you down some roads you cannot fathom right now. Trust me on that one. I meant no offense... please continue as you were
It took me a couple thousand hours of study/pain to finally come around to this way of thinking. I rarely spend more than an hour of the time the market is open doing anything with my positions. I spend another 10-15 hours a week when the market is closed studying my positions and looking for new ones, and I could probably accomplish all of that same stuff in about 5 hours a week if I tried. I still get a bit of anxiety that hits me at times that I am not making as much as I should. I should be daytrading and making more money! Then I spend time trying that yet again and lose a few hundred bucks. Back to the swing/position trades we go.
I'd like to concur with some of the posters in this thread. 5-10 years of grueling, constant study (with no guarantee you'll pan out). I do 1-2 trades/day per instrument. I am either done or orders are locked in by 10-11am EST. At first I wanted to *trade*, I had a more work + more complexity = more $ complex. Now, while I am still obsessed with trading, and finance in general, I've arrived at a less is more point. It makes sense really. As long as there is a 5-10 year learning curve, and only a few make it at that, I suspect things will remain approximately the same. I now see the value of: Low commissions, Low required time consumption, Low stress. I doubt it is the most profitable method, and blowups due to mismanaged risk or loss of control are possible, but it seems very robust and long-living in nature so far. It was actually more enjoyable trying to "crack the code" than having a workable long-term approach. It's like slaving after a material item you have put on a pedestal, and the harder and longer you work to get it, the more satisfaction you realize you were getting before you obtained it. After you obtain it, things change drastically.
That's fine...I'm sure plenty of people guys do see a bit of themselves in me. I was 21 when I made over a million and lost 2/3rds of it in two months...I'm 4 years older now and definitely better with my risk and money management and am diversified. I trade play money and have holdings that are extremely steady and don't worry me in the least. I mostly trade for living expenses for entertainment/challenge/education. So while many guys might see some of themselves in me, it's also silly of them(perhaps only you) to project their past faults on someone like me. Sorry if I took offense to what you said before but it was fairly naive to be honest.
Penny stocks. I had multiple 5 baggers and a few 10 baggers in a short period of time...lost it moving into larger gambles with larger lots. It was a lesson and I'm glad I learned it as now I'm worth more than ever before and know better.