Trading the stockmarket (NO Referrals)

NeilF · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:18

Jeffstar said:
I was one of the lucky ones who bought Barclays shares at a low price: 40000@62p. Today they're worth £1.70, so a nice £43000 profit in 3months! Not bad for a casual trader

And we all need to know this cos?

eXor · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:19

NeilFawcett said:
And we all need to know this cos?

You sound bitter.

amkan13 · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:20

mcast123 said:
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.

i didnt write/explain that very well, my apologies.

i spent £100 each on 10 shares, totaling around a grand + fees.
i thought theres no point doing low trades because you wont be making money as your fees are too high in comparison.

Fusion · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:22

daz said:
Lunch break for an hour

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

Aye, Gordon Gekko once said "Lunch is for wimps!"

So mcast123, you believe the FTSE 100 is going to rise by 40-50% in only three months?

Jeffstar · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:26

NeilFawcett said:
And we all need to know this cos?

Because there's profit to be made if you do the research and have the balls.

NeilF · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:28

eXor said:
You sound bitter.

Not really... Just when people drop unecessary info like this in, it typically just comes across as a way to just make them feel better - ie: Ego boost. It offers nothing to the reader, just the author. :confused:

NeilF · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:31

Jeffstar said:
Because there's profit to be made if you do the research and have the balls.

Reads sig and all becomes clear...

Simon · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:39

chipperhead said:
A couple of weeks ago I was looking at buying a couple of grand in Barclays shares at 60p per share and thinking I should be buying these, IF they don't go bust surely they'll be at a few quid in a couple of years. Also I thought I'd be more annoyed if they did well and didn't invest than if I did invest and it all went wrong.
I was all set to buy and I thought I'd just do a bit more research and nearly all the papers and financial websites were saying it was a sell. I thought they obviously know something I don't so bottled it.
Within a week they had tripled in value, I was mortified, I felt like I'd just thrown away 4 grand.
So a few days ago I spunked 2 grand on RBS shares and 2 grand on Lloyds Bank, again taking the common sense approach that surely in a couple of years RBS shares won't be at 25p but hopefully considerably more. I'm also going to put another few grand in house building, probably Taylor Wimpey and Barrets.
The thing is I've got a few grand in the bank and if it all goes wrong I'll be annoyed but not as mad if I didn't and they shot up.
Hopefully the worst of the turmoil in the banking sector is over and I'm thinking if they've made it this far they should be able to ride it out, which I think will be at least another 18 months.

Very similar thoughts to myself

Ive been watching Barclays for months making punts and 300-400 quid gains here and there, I also bought at 65p and sold at 90p expecting another drop. As you saw though they didn't.

I do have about £7k spread across banks now though as they are massively undervalued at the moment. I don't have any in RBS though.

Simon · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:40

Jeffstar said:
Since the beginning of the year i started working regular afters shifts so i could keep my eye on the stock markets, i would never pack my full time job in though, as tempting as it might be!

I was one of the lucky ones who bought Barclays shares at a low price: 40000@62p. Today they're worth £1.70, so a nice £43000 profit in 3months! Not bad for a casual trader

Nice work

Simon · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:50

Spike560 said:
Question to the OP and anyone else who trades personally...

How can you expect your research to be able to beat that of the banks massive research departments? Do you think that you can see things that they miss or that you have developed models better than the ones that have cost them billions to develop?

This seems a genuine and common question so I'm interested to hear your thoughts on it

Gambling

Hatter The Mad · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:51

Jeffstar said:
Since the beginning of the year i started working regular afters shifts so i could keep my eye on the stock markets, i would never pack my full time job in though, as tempting as it might be!

I was one of the lucky ones who bought Barclays shares at a low price: 40000@62p. Today they're worth £1.70, so a nice £43000 profit in 3months! Not bad for a casual trader

Well done. The Barclays tumble to 60p and boom to 170 (and tumble to 140 and back to 170 today) has made the this my most successful trading month ever. I took out a CFD at 180p, settled the contract at 80p

D

). I then bought in at ~ 69p and sold when it hit 170 last week.

Bought in again at 140p two days ago (I bet on property valuations being good and China at least talking about their currency reserves, murmurs of which bank shares would rocket at the sound of), currently holding - will probably ride out today and see how it goes on Friday.

NeilF · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:56

Hatter The Mad said:
Well done. The Barclays tumble to 60p and boom to 170 (and tumble to 140 and back to 170 today) has made the this my most successful trading month ever. I took out a CFD at 180p, settled the contract at 80p D). I then bought in at ~ 69p and sold when it hit 170 last week.

Bought in again at 140p two days ago (I bet on property valuations being good and China at least talking about their currency reserves, murmurs of which bank shares would rocket at the sound of), currently holding - will probably ride out today and see how it goes on Friday.

Ignoring short term profits, I'd imagine all these big banks are a good long term investments...

Jeffstar · 2 Apr 2009 at 14:57

Simon said:
Nice work

Thanks Simon

With most shares being rock bottom right now, i do believe there's many great opportunities out there.

NeilFawcett, i have made a small (paper) loss in one company, does that make you feel any better?

Good luck to all investors. DYOR.

Hatter The Mad · 2 Apr 2009 at 15:00

Spike560 said:
How can you expect your research to be able to beat that of the banks massive research departments?

There are hundreds of thousands of equities and millions of equities and funds. Hedge funds cannot devote as much time to focusing research on a handful of equities - they have to maintain broad and eclectic portfolios. Day traders who trade short do not.

Do you think that you can see things that they miss or that you have developed models better than the ones that have cost them billions to develop?

I, as a home trader, am more willing to take bigger risks than the typical hedge fund.

With regards to spotting things that a bank or fund doesn't, then yes. I do. For example, I was listening into the Palm Pre keynote and announcement. I knew it was going to be big, and I bet on that. I bought a chunk of Palm stock, and hours after the announcement (once the information had filtered to the traders), Palm's stock jumped 26%. I got there first, but I was still gambling. I was gambling that everyone else with major money (the hedge funds) would like the announcement too, and buy in.

Home traders do not try to second-guess hedge funds and banks when buying stocks; they just try to get there first, and hope that hedge funds and banks change their mind about a stock and either:
- pump enough into the stock so the price changes, and more investors jump in on it
- change the stock's rating
- or you hope that more good news comes after you buy, which naturally pushes it up anyway

Jeffstar · 2 Apr 2009 at 15:19

Hatter The Mad said:
Well done. The Barclays tumble to 60p and boom to 170 (and tumble to 140 and back to 170 today) has made the this my most successful trading month ever. I took out a CFD at 180p, settled the contract at 80p D). I then bought in at ~ 69p and sold when it hit 170 last week.

Bought in again at 140p two days ago (I bet on property valuations being good and China at least talking about their currency reserves, murmurs of which bank shares would rocket at the sound of), currently holding - will probably ride out today and see how it goes on Friday.

Its been a rollercoaster ride hasn't it!

Barc are still out of HMG hands and the Ishares sale will be annouced soon, plus a possible re-intoduction of dividends. I'm holding for now, but my finger is always close that sell button

Simon · 2 Apr 2009 at 15:22

Jeffstar said:
Its been a rollercoaster ride hasn't it!

Barc are still out of HMG hands and the Ishares sale will be annouced soon, plus a possible re-intoduction of dividends. I'm holding for now, but my finger is always close that sell button

Hmm, Im tempted to sell at 170 at moment, expecting a drop so that I can buy back in. lol

lozza23_uk · 2 Apr 2009 at 15:26

Jeffstar said:
£43000 profit in 3months! Not bad for a casual trader

Going to sting when you write that on your self asessment form?

edit: my speeeling is poorz

chipperhead · 2 Apr 2009 at 15:26

Simon said:
Hmm, Im tempted to sell at 170 at moment, expecting a drop so that I can buy back in. lol

I think I'd be selling, I feel Barclays has had a good run lately and after the great day so far for the FTSE 100 (currently up 137 points I feel they'll slip back abit in the next few days), unfortunately I work on more gut feeling than anything else so whatever you do, don't take any advice from me

chipperhead · 2 Apr 2009 at 15:27

Ignore, double post.

Simon · 2 Apr 2009 at 15:32

chipperhead said:
I think I'd be selling, I feel Barclays has had a good run lately and after the great day so far for the FTSE 100 (currently up 137 points I feel they'll slip back abit in the next few days), unfortunately I work on more gut feeling than anything else so whatever you do, don't take any advice from me

I went to sell at 170.4 earlier, then my banking went all slow and the price dropped to 167 by the time it got working!

Just set a limit sell at 170