Stock Trading?

Phenom

Phenom

Get Rich Snippets, Or Die Trying
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Digital Strategist
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Nov 12, 2014
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Hello friends!

I am slowly learning to trade, have done some light stuff before, and I love penny stocks. Just was wondering if there is anyone else on here that plays with fire as well?
 
I don't do pennies but I do invest in stocks that were beaten down because of factors outside of the companies control. So for example the last industry I bought into was energy. I mostly got into oil and other stocks like natural gas that took a clobbering because of the sharp drop in the price of oil. I'll probably be holding those for a couple more years while collecting dividends along the way.

That industry is still down but I'm waiting for another opportunity before investing anything more outside of the 401k.

I'm suffering from sellers remorse on one and sold when they announced bankruptcy, only for their shares to climb from a low of .16 cents to around $7 now. I sold something like 1,500 shares for a loss at about .30. :(

The price of oil is really putting a squeeze on some of the smaller companies. Hopefully no more go bankrupt because selling them is the logical thing to do at that point.
 
I jumped into a few cannabis stocks, which was an easy choice being a resident of Colorado, but the industry still scares me.
Hopped in IDXG this week and made a chunk on the the run up, but got out at .27.
 
I come from a background as a registered investment advisor - the guy that takes care of your money during retirement. I did mostly back office work; completing applications, checking for alerts, dealing with existing clients, etc. Basically, nothing to do with actually making choices.

Regardless, it's been a good foundation for investing and I've done OK. Not good, just OK.

My goal now is to start actively investing / trading, as opposed to the sit-and-hold strategy I've been floundering with for 10 years.

However, I'm not eager to jump in and lose all my money. I'm starting slow and brushing up on the fundamentals; I've ordered about 4 economics books / textbooks and a statistics textbook in the past two months. I know I'll need a solid base of understanding in those areas to be able to make any type of logical decision while trading.

I didn't choose those two areas of study willy-nilly. Luckily, most ivy league universities make their course syllabi available online. So, I am able to follow the exact sequence of reading material as a student at a university that costs $40k+ a year.

I believe some of these universities share actual recorded video of their classes / lectures - but I usually don't have the patience to sit and listen to someone elaborate. But, that could be a great option for someone who learns better that way.

Just like in digital marketing, there will be a cumulative / snowball effect regarding industry knowledge. I'm in the boring, not-sexy phase for a year or so; and then I'll be in a practice-by-action phase for about a year; and then... if I stuck with it... I'll be in a position to make a livable wage or better. Or, at least I have a very good fallback plan.

Of course, I'll still be throwing my normal amount of savings into my retirement account during this time. I'd really just like to get to a point where I'm actively tracking an investment that I've identified as interesting, am able to identify the indicators that scream "BUY ME!", and then make an investment that earns me a nice profit.
 
So I think the best initial advice for investing is to buy and hold mutual funds with low fees - Vanguard is your friend here. They have insanely low mgmt fees, and (i think) no sales fee's if you investment account is with them. Their low fees, along with their great returns, makes them a good choice. That doesn't you can't do well in individual stocks. I heard only about 1 in 7 make any money trading individual stocks. I treat it more like a loaded dice roll - the odds can be in my favor, but it doesn't mean I won't crap out every now and then. I've done well with Twitter - people thought killing off Vine was a poor decision, but I thought it was great move toward profitability. Another great stock I got involved with was AMD. After NVIDIA skyrocketed, AMD took a hit. I got it right at $6 and it's doing very well now. I like @Calamari statement "factors outside of the companies control". Just cause a competitor has a great quarter, it doesn't mean people dumping AMD was a great choice. People's emotions are just as valid as a trading signal as a missed earning report.

Of course, I'm gambling, understand very little of the industry, and you should ignore everything I say. Buy biotechs.
 
stackcash said:
I come from a background as a registered investment advisor - the guy that takes care of your money during retirement. I did mostly back office work; completing applications, checking for alerts, dealing with existing clients, etc. Basically, nothing to do with actually making choices.

Regardless, it's been a good foundation for investing and I've done OK. Not good, just OK.

My goal now is to start actively investing / trading, as opposed to the sit-and-hold strategy I've been floundering with for 10 years.

However, I'm not eager to jump in and lose all my money. I'm starting slow and brushing up on the fundamentals; I've ordered about 4 economics books / textbooks and a statistics textbook in the past two months. I know I'll need a solid base of understanding in those areas to be able to make any type of logical decision while trading.

I didn't choose those two areas of study willy-nilly. Luckily, most ivy league universities make their course syllabi available online. So, I am able to follow the exact sequence of reading material as a student at a university that costs $40k+ a year.

I believe some of these universities share actual recorded video of their classes / lectures - but I usually don't have the patience to sit and listen to someone elaborate. But, that could be a great option for someone who learns better that way.

Just like in digital marketing, there will be a cumulative / snowball effect regarding industry knowledge. I'm in the boring, not-sexy phase for a year or so; and then I'll be in a practice-by-action phase for about a year; and then... if I stuck with it... I'll be in a position to make a livable wage or better. Or, at least I have a very good fallback plan.

Of course, I'll still be throwing my normal amount of savings into my retirement account during this time. I'd really just like to get to a point where I'm actively tracking an investment that I've identified as interesting, am able to identify the indicators that scream "BUY ME!", and then make an investment that earns me a nice profit.
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Awesome! I am learning the technical side of things, but one thing good about being in digital marketing is the ability to trade on news if you know where to find it.

I typically jump in stuff I know about though as it helps. I hope to be able to trade off charts and all that at somepoint. But it also scares the shit out of me. lol
 
coopreme said:
So I think the best initial advice for investing is to buy and hold mutual funds with low fees - Vanguard is your friend here. They have insanely low mgmt fees, and (i think) no sales fee's if you investment account is with them. Their low fees, along with their great returns, makes them a good choice. That doesn't you can't do well in individual stocks. I heard only about 1 in 7 make any money trading individual stocks. I treat it more like a loaded dice roll - the odds can be in my favor, but it doesn't mean I won't crap out every now and then. I've done well with Twitter - people thought killing off Vine was a poor decision, but I thought it was great move toward profitability. Another great stock I got involved with was AMD. After NVIDIA skyrocketed, AMD took a hit. I got it right at $6 and it's doing very well now. I like @Calamari statement "factors outside of the companies control". Just cause a competitor has a great quarter, it doesn't mean people dumping AMD was a great choice. People's emotions are just as valid as a trading signal as a missed earning report.

Of course, I'm gambling, understand very little of the industry, and you should ignore everything I say. Buy biotechs.
Click to expand...

Why not just invest in an ETF with no fees at all? An index ETF like SPY is hovering around 10% YTD.

Commodity ETFs are doing even better - although that's probably a bubble due to the election.

The point being, why pay any management fee when you can buy into an entire index or commodity for the price of a single trade?

Phenom said:
Awesome! I am learning the technical side of things, but one thing good about being in digital marketing is the ability to trade on news if you know where to find it.

I typically jump in stuff I know about though as it helps. I hope to be able to trade off charts and all that at somepoint. But it also scares the shit out of me. lol
Click to expand...

Yup. I'll be investing time heavily into technical analysis when I get to that point. I know I need a lot more fundamental understanding before I can make an impact. I don't just want to eeek out a slight profit as if I'm gambling. My goal is to use education & research to reduce my opportunity cost and maximize the return of whatever I'm investing in.

A single "Learn to Trade Forex" eBook probably isn't going to get me there!
 
stackcash said:
Why not just invest in an ETF with no fees at all? An index ETF like SPY is hovering around 10% YTD.

Commodity ETFs are doing even better - although that's probably a bubble due to the election.

The point being, why pay any management fee when you can buy into an entire index or commodity for the price of a single trade?



Yup. I'll be investing time heavily into technical analysis when I get to that point. I know I need a lot more fundamental understanding before I can make an impact. I don't just want to eeek out a slight profit as if I'm gambling. My goal is to use education & research to reduce my opportunity cost and maximize the return of whatever I'm investing in.

A single "Learn to Trade Forex" eBook probably isn't going to get me there!
Click to expand...
We need to start a skype chat so I have other people that will tell me how stupid I am. On the flip side, if someone finds something good, we can all make some money.

As I said above I am all about cannabis stocks since I live in Colorado. It seriously resembles a gold rush, and every state that jumps on board puts more eyes on the stocks. The big one I am waiting for is a company that has created a THC breathalyzer that just got approved by the govt and the stock went for .08 to .80 in like 3 days. Shit is crazy.
I am also buying some shares of a CBD/THC organic coffee that just inked a deal to sell on Amazon, but it really could go either way at this point.
 
Phenom said:
We need to start a skype chat so I have other people that will tell me how stupid I am. On the flip side, if someone finds something good, we can all make some money.

As I said above I am all about cannabis stocks since I live in Colorado. It seriously resembles a gold rush, and every state that jumps on board puts more eyes on the stocks. The big one I am waiting for is a company that has created a THC breathalyzer that just got approved by the govt and the stock went for .08 to .80 in like 3 days. Shit is crazy.
I am also buying some shares of a CBD/THC organic coffee that just inked a deal to sell on Amazon, but it really could go either way at this point.
Click to expand...

My affiliate marketing buddy just added me into a Facebook group that's all SEO's / Marketers learning to trade / invest while helping each other. PM me and I'll send you an invite. The group mod is pretty dedicated to no-nonsense in the group...so there's no tangential conversations or advertisements.
 
@stackcash Cool will send you my skype when I get back home.
 
I use to do a lot back in the day, even though I wasn't really smart about it at the times I did it.

Kinda like how a beginner does SEO, you jump in not knowing a lot and fail fail fail until you "get it". That's how I was back in the day.

At some point in my life, I've done:

1. Buy and sell penny stocks. Got took to school pretty hard on this. This was my first active trades ever. This was late 1990's

2. Did buying and selling long termish on "Dogs of the Dow" type buys, early 2000's.

3. Traded Forex somewhere around 2008.

4. Just decided to dump money into a passive Index fund.

Haven't done much since really. I kept losing money on the first 3 and got out of those at some point.

I'm looking to trade options though in 2017 and not be foolish with it. I have some clear and drawn out plans/methods for it, and I think I'm more experienced now than ever to buy and sell based on my background, reading, and circle of friends I have around me now.
 
eliquid said:
I'm looking to trade options though in 2017 and not be foolish with it. I have some clear and drawn out plans/methods for it, and I think I'm more experienced now than ever to buy and sell based on my background, reading, and circle of friends I have around me now.
Click to expand...

Can you share what reading material you're digging into for this?
 
coopreme said:
check out robinhood. it's great for gambling.
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Is this the best way to start toying with penny stocks? I never did due to the insane volume you'd have to buy to cover the broker fees on each trade.
 
@stackcash With your investment advisor experience, how common was it for home-based investors to make a living by trading stocks? I don't expect it to be too common, but was it common enough that it's actually a viable path?

Not talking about people who just held on for the sake of holding on through a downturn, or people getting lucky over the course of a few trades. I'm wondering about the solo investors at home, who do not work for an agency, and make their living by trading stocks.
 
stackcash said:
Can you share what reading material you're digging into for this?
Click to expand...

Other than basics from books, the most interesting read is the one over at the TheFastlaneForum ( Millionaire Fastlane Book's forum ) where MJ shares how he has been making money with options for a long time now. Its a full drawn out process, but you have to have an insiders sub to read it.
 
Ryuzaki said:
Is this the best way to start toying with penny stocks? I never did due to the insane volume you'd have to buy to cover the broker fees on each trade.
Click to expand...

@Ryuzaki Robinhood is a smartphone app that has no trading fees associated with it. Not sure if you can trade pink sheets. They have a 3 day money movement restriction that gets lifted when you apply for an instant account (which essentially allows you to trade on margin). They also have protections to prevent you from becoming a pattern day trader, which is really useful since there are no trading fees. This means you can buy 10000 shares at $1.01 and sell at $1.02. Shit... i wonder if there is an affiliate program for this...
 
coopreme said:
@Ryuzaki Robinhood is a smartphone app that has no trading fees associated with it. Not sure if you can trade pink sheets. They have a 3 day money movement restriction that gets lifted when you apply for an instant account (which essentially allows you to trade on margin). They also have protections to prevent you from becoming a pattern day trader, which is really useful since there are no trading fees. This means you can buy 10000 shares at $1.01 and sell at $1.02. Shit... i wonder if there is an affiliate program for this...
Click to expand...

Still gotta beat the spread.

Years ago I scalped Forex. Changed my whole lifestyle routine in order to get all my psychological aspects in line to trade like that. It actually was a stepping stone in building the type of discipline necessary to commit to my current lifestyle and build my authority site.

Anyway, I traded using large amounts of margin. Over a period of about 6 months I made over 5000 trades. I was profitable by a little over $4k by the end. Not nearly enough to live off, not nearly enough to do anything with, haha. But coming out ahead over that many trades gave me confidence in my ability to trade. I was actually very close to moving to the East Coast, simply to reduce the latency in placing orders (in scalping every millisecond counts). Thing is, I found scalping to be extremely stressful. Not something I wanted to do for any length of years. So I stopped scalping Forex and went into Stocks, this time using no margin and trading the trend (much longer timeframes than before). But soon realized that if I really wanted to trade like that I should start with a much larger account.

So I put it on hold for the time being. Eventually, I'll get back into it. But that will be further down the line when I have a much larger amount of disposable income.
 
Trankuility said:
@stackcash With your investment advisor experience, how common was it for home-based investors to make a living by trading stocks? I don't expect it to be too common, but was it common enough that it's actually a viable path?

Not talking about people who just held on for the sake of holding on through a downturn, or people getting lucky over the course of a few trades. I'm wondering about the solo investors at home, who do not work for an agency, and make their living by trading stocks.
Click to expand...

An RIA is different than a broker. We have a fiduciary responsibility to our clients, broker's do not. I say this because broker's probably know a lot more about the "sexy" side of investing, as they're allowed to get away with a lot more.

My exposure to day traders that make a living has been minimal. Any penny stock traders either lost their entire bankroll or never made a profit. The consensus among all RIA's is that day trading from home requires too much prediction of the market with too few resources, and is generally looked upon with disdain.

With that said, I have to admit that most RIA's are fuddy-duddy's who are risk averse. Think the classic accountant stereotype...that's similar to an RIA.

There's clearly people making a dope living from home as day traders. Similarly to SEO, most people just don't understand it and cast it off as a pipe dream. IMO, it's all about creating that fundamental knowledge base...and then testing to find your own path. Just like SEO.
 
If you have 2 hours to kill, this is the best video I have seen about the basics of penny stocks.


And I am just slowly trying learn how to not lose money. This week was good, now gonna use this to get into some safer stuff.

fH4QZ72.png
 
I had my feelings hurt twice in life.

1) Watching the Krispy Kreme empire crash... having the opportunity to spend a lot while the stock was like $1-$2 over fears of American turning healthy... then watching it grow back out

2) seeing bitcoins but not investing... choosing another option

Lol Haven't done either since.... just figured they weren't meant to be

But everyone's telling me stocks are rising now.
 
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