Do we have any day traders in here?

[Patman]

I totally realize that my idea might just be completely insane, which is one of the reasons why I'm asking in here (and on other forums I frequent) and also why I'm practicing with fake money just to see what I can learn. I do believe a big reason why a lot of people fail is that they just get greedy, and perhaps I'm foolishly thinking that if I go into it with a different attitude maybe I won't fail?

As I mentioned earlier above, it's highly unlikely that I'd choose to do something like this to make a living, but I guess the dreamer in me kinda hopes something like this could be possible. Anyone who is like me and has been out of work for a few months can vouch for the fact that you go through some crazy ideas of how you're going to earn money in the future, especially once you settle into a habit of not going into work, and finding that you actually enjoy being out of the rat race, but just don't quite enjoy the fact of knowing that eventually the money you've got in the bank is going to run out.

Another idea I've considered is not so much being a day trader, but perhaps a "short term" trader, for lack of a better term, where I would hold onto one stock for a week or even a month and then hop onto another one. With the markets at or near the bottom (hopefully!) this could be a very good time to jump in. But without a doubt, a lot of it definitely depends on luck, that's for sure.

 

[D189379]

You might be able to pull it off with a larger sum to start, say 100,000. But 10,000 will not support what you want it to do for you.

 

[JHZR2]

My father does not daytrade, but being retired, he buys lots of 100-1000 shares of certain companies, and lets them go through their 50c-$1-$2 swings, and just buys and sells. He just watches charts, and some go through decent swings that can be turned into money.

He just watches the charts in his free time, and given no real need to make money or need for a timeframe, just pounces and dumps. I think patience is the key.

He does well enough, $100 here and $300 there, no profit on a lot? just hold 'em. That little bit of cash helps Im sure...

 

[ryansride2017]

Patman,

After reading your last post, I would recommend not doing it. Put the money in a Roth IRA or similar. Being out of work for several months will make you do silly things. I could see myself day-trading one day, probably when I retire. I'll be using money I don't need, and like I said before, it will be like a hobby. Invest the $10K in a few good mutual funds and keep playing the fantasy trading games.

Of course if your independently wealthy and don't need to work another day in your life, go for it.

 

[Patman]

If I was independently wealthy I certainly wouldn't be day trading! If I was ever lucky enough to get a large sum of money I'd invest it in something a lot less risky, something like a bond fund that might only get me a 4 or 5% annual return on my money, but with a large sum to start with that's all I'd probably need.

At some point in the next few weeks my old employer is supposed to be turning over my pension funds to me, I think it's only going to be about $1000 or so, but I figure I might just take that "found money" and put it on a couple of different penny stocks and see what happens. Then if I lose it all, it's no big deal since that money was kind of forgotten about anyways. And if one of those stocks freakishly goes through the roof, then I could use that money to goof around on the markets.

 

[JHZR2]

I'd say that penny stocks are definitely not the way to go... yes, oddball things do happen, but its all pump and dump, so unless youve been tracking for months, youl be guaranteed to be on the wrong side of things.

There are some decent pennies out there, but generally they take years before they approach any sort of characteristic indicative of the exponential rise you talk of.

Forgotten money is great to put into ING or another high interest account and keep as a just in case fund. Not having a job makes you more succeptible to emergencies, found money is a gift, which Id at least invest very responsibly.

 

[Dave Hess]

The last thing you want to do is risk any money you have sitting in the bank.

Any job leads yet ?

I'm sure you will find something soon, even if its not exactly what you were previously doing.

 

[ryansride2017]

Originally Posted By: Patman
If I was independently wealthy I certainly wouldn't be day trading!


That's when it is the best time to day trade....when you basically have nothing to lose!

 

[crinkles]

don't do it if you cannot afford to lose that money of yours.

 

[Dave Hess]

Even if you came across a decent amount of money, day trading is not wise.

I have a friend that was injured at his job back in 2003 (a forklift fell on him and was air lifted to a Trauma Hospital. He had to wear a steel Halo around his head/neck for 4 months). He sued and between the settlement from his compnay and Workers Comp, he got $700,000 after he paid his attorney. He put most of his money in real estate and did very well. But I'm sure if he tried to day trade he would of lost his @**.

 

[oilyriser]

Think of something to sell people to make them feel safer with all this flu epidemic talk going around.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
My father does not daytrade, but being retired, he buys lots of 100-1000 shares of certain companies, and lets them go through their 50c-$1-$2 swings, and just buys and sells. He just watches charts, and some go through decent swings that can be turned into money.

He just watches the charts in his free time, and given no real need to make money or need for a timeframe, just pounces and dumps. I think patience is the key.

Isn't there software out there that can do that automatically though, so you don't have to waste time staring at the screen?

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
The last thing you want to do is risk any money you have sitting in the bank.

Any job leads yet ?



Nothing at all. Even the companies that are busy don't want to hire anyone because the media has scared everyone into thinking this is the end of the world. The company that laid me off is so busy that the three remaining people in my dept. are working 60 hour weeks to keep up with the workload now! How insane is that? I'm actually better off than they are, as they are on salary so they are working their butts off for no extra pay and it's going to probably stay crazy like this for them for a long time since the company refuses to hire anyone, and they just moved them into a much smaller room that can only fit three computers now.

 

[pickled]

Use Scottrade $7 for market orders and yes you can make some serious $ right now exploiting the fear and uncertainty of the markets. The key is to use limit orders and trailing stops and keep emotions in check! I am a 10-20 guy. Essentially if I lose 10% I sell if I make >20% I sell and bank the gain. So far this year has been outstanding. I made a killing off our lovely sight sponsor Lubrizol (LZ)...just run a 3 month chart!

I will warn you that you can't just guess though you must understand the market segment (i.e. energy/transportation/pharma) and be able to recognize seasonal trends and sentiment depression vs. real earnings pressure. Case in point was UPS...fear about how "bad" the economy was drove the stock down to the high $30 share mark in January. The 4th quarter earnings didn't suck that bad! The P/E ratio and dividend made it a slam dunk at a >5% yield and last I saw Brown wasn't fading. Guess what the poor folks running mutual funds saw the same thing I did, and they started throwing their pools of money into it...stock drove up into the $50's. This took about 4 weeks to meet the horizon and I profited and moved on to the next buy.

Going into driving season I'm liking Fortune 1 right now (XOM)...Good luck Patman!

 

[pickled]

Here was a little tasty nugget...I was quite happy on this twofer last week. Taxes suck though...GRRRRR

 

[Pablo]

Pick - that's why I love trading in my IRA and 401K accounts!

 

[pickled]

Absolutely my SEPIRA loves me and fidelity hooked me up with 150 free trades for leaving Scottrade. Next year I'll be a ho and jump back to Scottrade. I have NO loyalty to brokerage pimps! Unfortunately Pablo the trades I listed above were made outside the wonderful tax exempt structure and I'll be taking a BOHICA in the 2nd quarter. Oh well maybe the wise folks in charge will fly airforce one over NY again on my dime

 

[ADFD1]

$29.95/trade is a lot, that means $60 of profit is lost in each trade, that is BIG. You need a discount broker to reduce those commissions.

I tried day trading with limited success, very limited. I know a lot of people who tried it and lost a lot of $$. Trading play money is easy. You must have an entry and exit strategy in place before you enter your trade, AND STICK TO IT. It is very easy to tweak an order, rules are rules set them follow them! That was the easy part, now sticking to the strategy win or lose is the tough part. Many times a stock will drop to your loss exit, stop you out and then shoot back up. Training yourself not to cry over spilled milk is something that has to be learned as well. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in front of the PC.

 

[oilyriser]

If you think you can make money by exploiting changes in market sentiment, remember there are people who are trading who are wealthy enough to have some control over market sentiment. Could you consistently win a games of pool against someone who can tilt the table when he shoots?

 

[pickled]

Yeah, I here you but when you can see it happening the smart money is to follow the lead of those folks...volumes, puts and calls are visible indicators of direction. Once you're tuned in to seeing the contrarian side (i.e. take the rose colored glasses off) of an investment you can sniff the winds of change a bit. Couple that with in and out discipline and you can do quite well.