Any Online Stock Traders?

[alchemysa]

.... I'm going with the buy and hold game there. .... I run in when everyone else is running out..... I've already decided to not play with anything I'm not willing to lose. ?

Go and join a forum that discusses systems for betting on the horses. (I'm serious, they really do exist). You'll be amazed how similar the language is. "I only bet what I can afford to lose", "This is my strategy..", "I only pick horses that do this...", "When I'm 50% up for the day I quit"." "If I'm down 50% I quit" etc, etc. etc. But most of them still lose.

The bottom line is that no 'system' alone can win. If you think you can just establish a bunch of 'rules' to follow then you are kidding yourself. You'll just be more cannon fodder. You need to do a heap of personal research PLUS have a a lot of discipline and luck in order to to just break even, let alone come out ahead.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Alright, new question...

I've heard of games you can get to test strategy. The games I've heard of tie into realtime stock quotes and let you put in buy and sell orders to see how it would go in the real world. It's a way of testing strategy without putting any real money down.

Does anyone know of a game like this?

 

[brin]

Alright, new question...

I've heard of games you can get to test strategy. The games I've heard of tie into realtime stock quotes and let you put in buy and sell orders to see how it would go in the real world. It's a way of testing strategy without putting any real money down.

Does anyone know of a game like this?

If you open an online trading account account at Charles Schwab > www.schwab.com you can log into your account in Demo mode and make trades with the market open but they do not count...That is better than a game I think since it is actual trading based on a trading platform that you would actually use when you actually began trading for real...I am not familiar with other on line brokers or if they have a similar set up. Give it a try...nothing to lose...it is just practice...just be sure you log in under Demo mode.

 

[sweettractors]

Dow up 406 10:30 CST today. I thought about buying Friday anticipating more downturn this week. Goes to show a lot of time, it is best to use reverse logic in the market? Ken Sweet

 

[brin]

Dow up 406 10:30 CST today. I thought about buying Friday anticipating more downturn this week. Goes to show a lot of time, it is best to use reverse logic in the market? Ken Sweet

Ken...That is why I am a scalper...I just buy based on the chart and stay in for only a few minutes to a half hour at most. I just buy enough shares so that just a few penny gain will yield a nice profit.

 

[js5020]

Wow not much positive investing sentiment from the bulk of posters, hmmm. Well Ill tell ya this,, not everyone makes it in the markets but I always go with the theory,, I never want to be old and say I should have tried x when I was younger,, go your own man thats the only way you will truely find out for yourself if you got the stuff,, stay out of forums they are full of folks looking for answers few have or are willing to share, and I or any other trader could lay out an entire strategy with audited proof it works and 90% of folks following it would fail,, its not easy, its not a sure thing, and your not gonna be a gajillionare by the end of the year, but if you study, study, study, work hard, and manage your capital properly you might have a shot at making it, but youll never know till you try it for yourself.

 

[brin]

Wow not much positive investing sentiment from the bulk of posters, hmmm. Well Ill tell ya this,, not everyone makes it in the markets but I always go with the theory,, I never want to be old and say I should have tried x when I was younger,, go your own man thats the only way you will truely find out for yourself if you got the stuff,, stay out of forums they are full of folks looking for answers few have or are willing to share, and I or any other trader could lay out an entire strategy with audited proof it works and 90% of folks following it would fail,, its not easy, its not a sure thing, and your not gonna be a gajillionare by the end of the year, but if you study, study, study, work hard, and manage your capital properly you might have a shot at making it, but youll never know till you try it for yourself.

Well said js, I agree with all of what you posted.

 

[sweettractors]

If you are going to try it, I would advise staying at the computer during each days trading session and keep the TV on and switching from CNBC to CNN breaking news. Don't go the the lake fishing when you have money invested short term. I was with a buddy on the lake a couple years ago and he heard on the radio that the market was probably going to move and to get his trade in before the end of the trading session, we had to make a run for the bank and he climbed a pretty good size bluff as quick as he could to get a cell phone connection and got his sell order in just about 2 minutes before the closing bell. He could have lost thousands on that one GM trade. Ken Sweet

 

[/pine]

It's all about fortitude and how much you can take...

My advice is to open an account at a full service brokerage (along with an online account)...visit your brokerage and pick their brains on learning to read the tape and watch the money flow into or out of an issue...

Since the advent of the Internet..."everybody" is a "trading guru" <caugh>...

Unless you plan on trading strictly on momentum...the key is to watch a stock (for weeks, months) and "learn how it trades...

There was a time when you could buy Home Depot stock every other week for $50-$60/share and sell it the weeks in between for $70-$80...
this would go on for months and months...it's all about learning how a particular stock trades...

Generally speaking NEWS drives stocks on the short term and fundamentals drive stocks long term...

before you invest in the stock market...learn to read SEC documents... forget all the technical anaysis BS... and learn to read the SEC docs...that is where you will find everything you need to know about a company...

Another key thing to watch is institutional interest...

Good Luck

 

[js5020]

Actually, in reading the posts on this thread, I see a lot of positive comments on investing. Just not a lot of support for speculating. Which is what day trading is.

Most people lose over time as day/short-term traders due to several factors:

- Opportunity costs (what you COULD be doing with that money in a safe investment

- Transaction costs (brokerage fees, and for some - trading platforms)

- Taxes (good record-keeping is critical)

- Poor risk management (they do not factor in risk-adjustments into their returns)

and most importantly....

- The value of their time.

The time you spend poring over research, watching financial news, checking portfolio status, record-keeping, and handling paperwork and taxes is substantial, and if calculated, the hourly returns are minimal.

Day trading is a full-time job, with questionable returns. Long hours hunched over a computer screen. Significant stress - especially when large sums are in play.

Is that how you really want to spend your retirement days? Maybe it is, and if so, more power to you.

If you are in it for the "thrill of the chase", then I would set aside a fixed sum, and have yourself a blast til it's all gone.

If, on the other hand, you are in it for some sort of financial gain, a simple risk-adjusted net present value analysis of the available alternatives would quick show short-term stock trading to be a sub-optimal strategy.

S1

Agreed,, good info by the way! I gave daytrading curriencies a try for 2 yrs, it was an absolute rollercoaster ride most of the time, and I found I could do just as well or better on longer timeframes and not be stuck behind a computer screen 18hrs a day.