Trading the stockmarket (NO Referrals)

mcast123

mcast123

mcast123

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This thread is for anyone curious about trying it...

Long story short, quit my IT job 2 years ago and began trading the markets from home.

I will categorically tell you now, you WILL lose more than you make for at least a year (even if the markets aren't as mad as they have been). Any websites that make you believe this is easy and they're making a fortune are probably run by Mr Madoff (ponzi scheme guy). I use 3 trading chat rooms on a daily basis and it's amazing the private messages you get vs the public ones. One guy admitted to me he lost his parents house and all his savings etc.

It took me 18 months of frustration (I've gone through 5 keyboards, seriously), research and bloody hard work to finally get it. I'm now making a very good return.

If you want to do it, I say go for it, but like anything in life it's not easy. Stay small (trade small amounts) and research obsessively, everything you need to know is on the net.
 
 
Hey Mcast, very interesting. What sized trades to you generally make? Also what sort of things do you trade on? Do you hedge? Lastly as for research, how much do you do? Id love to give it a shot but dont really have the capital, I only place the odd bet on the markets now and then.


Mr_T said:
You got into it at the wrong time, stocks have been on a downward spiral since 2007.

DOW
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^DJI#chart2:symbol=^dji;range=5y;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined

FTSE
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^FTSE#chart2:symbol=^ftse;range=5y;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined

There is still money to be made, but it's going to be in real things with real value, ie commodities.
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The markets may have been going down in general but volatility = money making opportunities, doesn't matter which way they go. You can always short..
 
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Mr T, as Christo said, I couldn't care less if the DOW hit 1000 or 20000, I'm trading not investing.

Christo, as you say, to do it full time you'll need a minimum of around £20k ($25,000 is a legal requirement for the US which I trade). I won't go into specifics on what I do, but most "home traders" trades are usually from $2,000 (options) to $50,000 (stocks/etfs).

The more research the better your trades, simple as that. When you know the daily rate for a Panamax drybulk carrier going from Oz to China, the thermal efficiency of a solar cell and why virtual server technology is making money, you're getting there. You also have to understand the economy and the consequences of the UK/US printing cash will mean for various stocks etc, not too mention technical analysis (get your GSCE maths hat on).

2 years ago all I knew was, the interest rate going up means my mortgage goes up, now I don't have one.
 
mcast123 said:
Mr T, as Christo said, I couldn't care less if the DOW hit 1000 or 20000, I'm trading not investing.

Christo, as you say, to do it full time you'll need a minimum of around £20k ($25,000 is a legal requirement for the US which I trade). I won't go into specifics on what I do, but most "home traders" trades are usually from $2,000 (options) to $50,000 (stocks/etfs).

The more research the better your trades, simple as that. When you know the daily rate for a Panamax drybulk carrier going from Oz to China, the thermal efficiency of a solar cell and why virtual server technology is making money, you're getting there. You also have to understand the economy and the consequences of the UK/US printing cash will mean for various stocks etc, not too mention technical analysis (get your GSCE maths hat on).

2 years ago all I knew was, the interest rate going up means my mortgage goes up, now I don't have one.
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Well done, have a cookie
 
It's something I'd be interesting in doing when I've got a bit of capital behind me but I suspect it would only ever be likely to be an occasional punt here and there which isn't really the way to do it but as with all betting I take the attitude that I should place down what I can't afford to lose (on a vaguely related note Rudyard Kipling's If is something people could do a lot worse than living by). Congratulations though on making a decent go of it so far and all the best for the future.
 
I certainly wouldn't risk it in this state of economy...
If I had to know I was going to lose out within the next 12-18 months and have no job to boot, as well as the fact you gotta be an avid "researcher", count me out!
Too risky, too time consuming imho...
 
Having lost a five figure sum (5-10 years ago), I'm never trying it again...

The things is, as a private trader you're too susceptible to word of mouth/rumours. And quite often these are put out by people simply wishing people to buy so as to raise the price, so they can quickly sell...
 
The BBC Tv series about making ordinary people into hedge fund traders was quite eye-opening. The amount of research required to pull off consistently successful trades is crazy.
 
daz said:
The BBC Tv series about making ordinary people into hedge fund traders was quite eye-opening. The amount of research required to pull off consistently successful trades is crazy.
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I was unlucky. Before we had kids I had money lying around, so tried a few investestments and was making a good profit. eg: With one investement of just over a thousand pounds or so, I doubled my money in less than two weeks.

This was during the 'good times' when the market was growing, and no one realised that a lot of the IT and web related companies who were actually making nothing (not even money) were actually worthless - Freeserve comes to mind.

Anyway, I wish my first attempts had been unsuccessful, as I then carried on and as the market sank, and I lost a nice lump of money (which would have been far better off invested in the mortgage).

It was clear that a lot of tips coming out (even in reputable papers and web sites) were completely unfounded and IMHO were there simply to push up the price for other individuals to make a quick profit of your losses!


Anyway, my fault... I've written it all off and just laugh about it now... :(:(:( <--- See!
 
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the economy is eventually going to pick up again, so recently i put a £100 into 10 different shares for the long term. i dont give a crap if i lose it, id consider it a learning experience.

i didnt listen to tips, just did my own research and brought em.

as long as you understand what you are risking its all good.
 
amkan13 said:
recently i put a £100 into 10 different shares for the long term. i dont give a crap if i lose it, id consider it a learning experience.
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Perfect!

I still have a couple of grand of shares left from my 'disaster' - I've written it off and they're just sitting there (probably still losing money) - But in 10-20yrs I'll take a look at them for a laugh!
 
amkan13 said:
the economy is eventually going to pick up again, so recently i put a £100 into 10 different shares for the long term.
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Considering the cheapest UK rate to buy shares is around £5 per trade, you've spent £50 on fees to buy £100 of shares. I'll assume you got the trades for free in a £100 or less broker signup or something, good luck to you either way.

Just to let you know, global stockmarkets are about to rise around 40-50% in the next 3 months, so any buy and hold investments should be fine. Be wary of when inflation caused by money printing kicks in, current theory is for new stockmarket lows next year.
 
Always been a bit wary of the stock market. A family friend of ours used to work in the city on the stockmarket. Went to a lunchbreak for an hour one day, only to come back and find out he'd lost £500,000 :o
 
RossG said:
Always been a bit wary of the stock market. A family friend of ours used to work in the city on the stockmarket. Went to a lunchbreak for an hour one day, only to come back and find out he'd lost £500,000 :o
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Lunch break for an hour
ugh.gif


Losses or no losses, pretty sure most firms would not like someone ever taking that long over a lunch during a trading session.
 
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