Anyone on here trade stocks?

[JStump]

So I have been wanting to get into some mild day trading recently and was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with it? When I say mild I mean less than 4 day trades in a 5 day period because of regulations and stuff and some over night trades. I have been playing with a simulator and have had some pretty good success making about $100 or so per trade after commission. I have been playing with penny stocks and also some high dollar stocks such as Amazon and Apple and have found both have pros and cons, the penny stocks can easily yield a 40% profit in a day but since they can fluctuate so easily due to being $1 or less, a $0.10 loss could mean a lot! Where as the bigger ones are more stable but yield less profit due to having substantially less stock. I am just wondering if anyone on here does any of this and what strategies you use. Do you go for the bigger stocks? Or do you go for the big money and go for penny stocks?

Also, I am not looking to get rich off of this(at least not at first haha) but just for some extra spending money.

[JStump]

Anybody?

[Disclaimer]

Buy and hold my friend... all day trading is going to do is make you go broke paying trading/commission fees.

[JStump]

not if I am paying a flat rate, I would have to make at least $20 per trade to break even because its $10 a trade. If I don't make the $20 I will hold on to it until it does and if I am holding on for a long time I will dump it once I get that $20 profit. I have been playing with Apple and Amazon stocks in a simulator. I bought $2000 of each yesterday and made $130 profit when I sold the Apple stock and $124 profit when I sold the Amazon stock today. If only it were real money :/

[buildit]

Is it fare to say you have better odds in Vagas? Ask a tax accountant.

[SWing'R]

I have a ShareBuilder account and a few shares of Sirius and Vonage.

Edited October 12, 2011 by SWing'R

[motociclista]

Two questions for you to consider:

1, if you've been using the simulator for just a few weeks, don't consider that to be good evidence of how you'll do going forward. Since early August, the market has been bouncing around in a trading range between roughly 1100 and 1220 on the S&P 500. In that environment, buying something and just holding it until it goes higher may work. But when the market breaks out of a trading range, it usually does so with a big move, up or down. You can lose a lot of $100 profits quickly if the market takes a 2008-style swan dive, taking your stock with it. For example, if you bought Cisco in early 2000 when everyone thought stocks would make them rich, you're still waiting for it to get back to HALF of what you paid for it. Long wait, too.

2, here's the key question. Do you know WHY you made a $100 profit on the Apple stock? If you can't explain why, then you're just flipping a coin.

Everything you need to know about trading would go way beyond what I can tell you and would fill up this entire forum. If you're serious, do some reading, good books as well as websites, be critical about who you're listening to (me included) and learn to have a plan and trade on discipline not emotions. You'll still lose money before you make any, probably. I did. Virtually everyone does. But it's better than the lottery.

[ohdaho]

Not to be a dick, but you dont sound like youre ready to be day trading.

Stock prices arent everything. A 10% gain is exactly that...it doesnt matter what the stock price is as long as you gain 10%. It all depends on your risk aversion and the VALUE of a stock. Stocks dont fluctuate easier just because its $1. Normally, its market volume driving some of those changes. I play mainly small cap biotechs, and normally hold a portffolio of 3-5 companies with various things in their pipelines.

Get onto some of the sites and start doing some research. Look into options also. You can control a lot of shares without a large initial investment.

Id disagree with Jrmii, the market right now has changed...its no longer a buy and hold (and pray) environment. If you're looking for an investment that you can buy and be hands off go buy a CD.

[Big Chief201]

pattern day traders need $25K in their accounts.... Just open a sharebuilder account and buy and hold. You're better off, trust me I managed the trade desk for OptionsXpress for 5 years.

[OSUYZFR1]

I agree with all of this except looking into options. Options are way too risky for someone just starting out. They are awesome but you have to be experienced in how they work and know the risks. AAPL and GOOG have been great options candidates when buying on dips.

Not to be a dick, but you dont sound like youre ready to be day trading.

Stock prices arent everything. A 10% gain is exactly that...it doesnt matter what the stock price is as long as you gain 10%. It all depends on your risk aversion and the VALUE of a stock. Stocks dont fluctuate easier just because its $1. Normally, its market volume driving some of those changes. I play mainly small cap biotechs, and normally hold a portffolio of 3-5 companies with various things in their pipelines.

Get onto some of the sites and start doing some research. Look into options also. You can control a lot of shares without a large initial investment.

Id disagree with Jrmii, the market right now has changed...its no longer a buy and hold (and pray) environment. If you're looking for an investment that you can buy and be hands off go buy a CD.

[JStump]

pattern day traders need $25K in their accounts

This is why I would only be doing it a few times a week, I'm comfortable holding onto a stock overnight but right now there are a lot of stocks that will dip $20 then go right back later that day or the next, which is exactly what apple and amazon have been doing. But if for some reason they dip and don't come back up right away I have no problem holding them because they will come back eventually(hopefully). I am completely new at this which is why I started this thread and why I wanted to get opinion on what people do or don't do.

[CleaveTheGreat]

I would agree with most of what was said previously, especially the fact that options are too risky and volatile. As far as the timing goes, it isn't great. The market has been so unpredictable lately with all of the economic uncertainity (debt ceiling debate, europen debt crisis, etc) that day trading is probably the last thing I'd be trying to do right now. I do mutual fund accounting for a large financial services company and it honestly doesn't matter what you invest in, if it is anything other than fixed income, sometimes you will lose large chunks of money unexpectedly and occassionally you will make a decent profit. Investment and portfolio managers aren't nearly as good at their jobs as they'd like you to think. I suppose if you have a large budget to work with and a very high risk tolerance, day trading might work for you but personally I would avoid it right now and look for something with a fixed income stream if you absolutely have to invest your money. Hell if you're just trying to make some extra cash and have a few grand to play with you'd probably be better off buying bikes on craigslist and flipping them than doing day trading

[OSUYZFR1]

Investing like this is like playing craps. Trying to anticipate daily peaks and dips is a losing proposition. I would suggest you buy with the intention of holding until you reach your predetermined gain or loss point. There are stocks that you can trade on momentum but you have to get some experience in the market and what drives it first. There are many things that cause a stock to drop or rise that I feel makes no sense.

This is why I would only be doing it a few times a week, I'm comfortable holding onto a stock overnight but right now there are a lot of stocks that will dip $20 then go right back later that day or the next, which is exactly what apple and amazon have been doing. But if for some reason they dip and don't come back up right away I have no problem holding them because they will come back eventually(hopefully). I am completely new at this which is why I started this thread and why I wanted to get opinion on what people do or don't do.

[Josh1234]

I'm comfortable holding onto a stock overnight but right now there are a lot of stocks that will dip $20 then go right back later that day or the next, which is exactly what apple and amazon have been doing. But if for some reason they dip and don't come back up right away I have no problem holding them because they will come back eventually(hopefully).

I trade. Or, more accurately, I own stock

I have my nest-egg in the market, basically, and it's about 10K. I bought $1,000 worth of apple (8 shares) when it was $120 and it closed at just above $400 today I've re-bought a couple times since then, as well bought a few other stock... I had Verizon for at least a year hoping it would jump up when the iPhone came out on their network, but it didn't. I'm actually ALMOST 100% into apple, which is a VERY risky strategy... It's MUCH SAFER to diversify.

You don't want to day-trade. You want to "swing trade."

What Does Swing Trading Mean?

A style of trading that attempts to capture gains in a stock within one to four days. Swing traders use technical analysis to look for stocks with short-term price momentum. These traders aren't interested in the fundamental or intrinsic value of stocks, but rather in their price trends and patterns.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swingtrading.asp#ixzz1acj0PN93

The difference is that you don't mind holding it for a couple days.

I originally decided to buy $1,000 worth of stock instead of making a casino trip, using the logic "If I lose, I can always hold the stock until it goes back up." There's a saying in the market... You haven't lost money until you sell the stock.

The first stock I bought wasn't apple, though, it was a company called Smurfit-Stone container company, who made packaging materials from recycled cardboard. I got 1920 shares for my one grand. A couple months later, they declared bankruptcy, haha. My 1K was now worth 200-300. I held onto it, and with rumours of government help (This was during all the economy BS a few years ago) it went back up and I sold my 1920 shares for about $1300. So I still made out Okay.

Anyway, when it comes to Penny stocks, I doubt you can day/swing trade them... At least not easily. You're probably interested in ETF trading (Online, like e-trade, of Charles Schwab, what I have) and they only do real markets like the NYSE, NASDAQ, w/e, and penny stocks won't be listed there. You can still "day trade" or swing trade apple/amazon/whatever using it, but commission fees will eat you alive... 8.95 a trade means $17 dollars gone from the buy/sell. Remember, you'll pay commission twice, not once.

I've been watching apple daily for about 3 years, and the stuff it's been doing last couple of days is hardly normal... I mean c'mon, S.J. just died and they just released a new iPhone

Anyway, I'm happy to answer any Q's I can, and thanks for reading my experiences

In 2-3 years, I've turned 6 grand or so into 10 grand... but I got in when apple was pretty low, that's why. My other stuff has made profit, but not enough to make it worthwhile (Not that I'm complaining, I haven't lost money anywhere!).

Then again... until I hit that "sell" button... I haven't MADE any money, either.

[motociclista]

...if for some reason they dip and don't come back up right away I have no problem holding them because they will come back eventually...

I repeat my point that people who bought Cisco in 2000 would still be waiting to get back HALF their money under that plan.

If the only reason you have to buy a stock is that "it will go up eventually," that's not a solid investment or trading thesis.

I know, I know, you think Apple and Amazon are unsinkable juggernauts, but that's what people thought about Cisco (or a dozen others).

[SWing'R]

You don't want to day-trade. You want to "swing trade."

SWinnnnnnnng'R

[Likwid]

I'm at +3% on my portfolio... this market is not fun for day trading. Pick some good stocks and stay with them

[Disclaimer]

I'm at +3% on my portfolio... this market is not fun for day trading. Pick some good mutual funds and stay with them

I agree, I'm only +2.6% now though with the big loser right now being my overseas fund at a -15.3%. Unless you want to remove my reinvestments and go on my out-of-pocket cost basis which makes me about +5.3%

About 1/3 of my portfolio are at losses right now, but most of them are hovering around -1 to -2%, while my the other 2/3rds are winners hovering at an average of 6-7%, with the best at 23%.

Edited October 14, 2011 by JRMMiii

[OSUYZFR1]

With those kinds of gains I would just let someone else handle it for me. Not worth your time to try and follow the market. Lots of money is being made in this market just has to be played right. This has been my best year and been doing this for about ten.

I agree, I'm only +2.6% now though with the big loser right now being my overseas fund at a -15.3%. Unless you want to remove my reinvestments and go on my out-of-pocket cost basis which makes me about +5.3%

About 1/3 of my portfolio are at losses right now, but most of them are hovering around -1 to -2%, while my the other 2/3rds are winners hovering at an average of 6-7%, with the best at 23%.

[Josh1234]

Apple went up 13.57 today to close at $422 Whee!

[Disclaimer]

With those kinds of gains I would just let someone else handle it for me. Not worth your time to try and follow the market. Lots of money is being made in this market just has to be played right. This has been my best year and been doing this for about ten.

Not much to handle... I'm "buy and hold" -- my outlook is 10+years with everything I bought. I didn't buy any I expected to flip in the short term.

I just happen to log into my account everyday.

[Likwid]

I dunno... I invest myself because it's something to do... if I was investing 50-100k then it'd be a different story.

I just checked my portfolio, I'm mostly small cap international and one mutual fund... *shrug*

My 401k is way down too, but I'm heavy into small cap domestic there.

[OSUYZFR1]

So how long will you let it go before you decide it's not getting you anywhere? Not trying to be a dick about it cause I was the same way before. I used to hold on to things waiting for them to come back which they would eventually. I have found its better for me to cut my losses or get out of something that isn't going anywhere and move it to something else. Did this with some Sirius that had been under water for about two yrs. bought aapl options with what was left and this turned into double what my original Sirius was. In about two months also.

Not much to handle... I'm "buy and hold" -- my outlook is 10+years with everything I bought. I didn't buy any I expected to flip in the short term.

I just happen to log into my account everyday.

[CleaveTheGreat]

Ehh if you're just gonna buy and hold...I'd probably buy an S&P 500 or Russell 2000 ETF/mutual fund that holds an entire index and then if you really feel the need to pick individual stocks just buy a handful that you feel very strongly about. Instant diversification. The S&P has returned roughly 11% per year over the last 60ish years. Good luck getting that kind of return handpicking stocks. If I ever do decide to do any investing other than my 401k it will probably be index ETFs.

[Disclaimer]

So how long will you let it go before you decide it's not getting you anywhere? Not trying to be a dick about it cause I was the same way before. I used to hold on to things waiting for them to come back which they would eventually. I have found its better for me to cut my losses or get out of something that isn't going anywhere and move it to something else. Did this with some Sirius that had been under water for about two yrs. bought aapl options with what was left and this turned into double what my original Sirius was. In about two months also.

I don't do individual stocks... mutual funds are the way to do it. No load, with an expense ratio < 1%. Like Cleave said, your best bet is probably an index fund, but I don't own any of those because my brokerage house needs a $10k minimum to get in if it's not a 401k, and I'm diversified enough on my own. In fact, I had an Edward Jones consultant look over my picks to see if he could do any better... he recommended some of his own funds (which had heavy front loads), but admitted that my analysis and ratios for the ones I picked indicated good long term performance and there wasn't much he could do for my portfolio.

Also, like Cleave kinda sorta pointed out, I believe the fact remains that over any given 20-year (or maybe it was 25 or 30, I dunno) period since inception, the WORST stock market performance was still at 9%. So pick any 20 years and that's the WORST you would've came out with in the NYSE. I have the research to back it up, it's just hard to find at the moment.

Basically, if you read this: http://www.fundadvice.com/articles/buy-hold/the-ultimate-buy-and-hold-strategy.html, that's near what I'm doing with my personal stash. My 401k is a wholly different story/strategy.