newbie question on trading

Discussion in 'Ask any question!' started by FOCU$ED, Jan 5, 2018.

  1. FOCU$ED

    FOCU$ED New Member

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    if I have shares and I bought at the wrong time and stock is going down and I'm trying to do a day trade should i cut my losses and sell and get into another stock and try to recoup my loss?or leave it alone and be patient because it looks like it would go up in a week-long a month and leave it be?, even though it's not a "loss" because technically that money wasn't originally "mine". i understand you cant tell me what to do excatlt but through experience what's a better move? thank you for your time, your molding me!
     
  2. StockJock-e

    StockJock-e Brew Master
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    This is called revenge trading and rarely works out well!

    Plan your trades, trade your plan.

    Not every trade will be a winner!
     
  3. T0rm3nted

    T0rm3nted Moderator
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    @StockJock-e speaks the truth. You need to have in your mind what price you want to enter a trade at, what your target is by when, and what price you will cut your losses and move on. In every trade you enter, you should 99% of time know what price you want in at, and what prices you will get out at (whether that be your target or your stop loss). Obviously things can happen that will alter your opinion (news, changes in the chart, etc.), but those issues are few and far between. Normally you will stick to your plan.
     
  4. Onepoint272

    Onepoint272 2019 Stockaholics Contest Winner

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    If you trade small you can let a shorter-term trading plan morph into a longer position-trade and not sweat it. Just don't buy garbage or you'll be the one taking out the trash.

    You don't sound ready to be day trading. To make money you have to trade big which is therefore antithetical to what I said above. Stop day trading until you are experienced...4 or 5 years.
     
  5. Jrich

    Jrich Well-Known Member

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    Generally speaking, one of the worst trading habbits one can develop is selling winners and holding losers

    Losing tastes bad, holding it in your mouth longer won't make it taste any better
     
  6. Timbo

    Timbo Active Member

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    All of the above is true. What stock did you buy and why did you buy it, what was the deciding factor? How much are you willing to lose? What if it recovers after I sell?I ask myself those questions on every loser, believe me I've had a bunch. In most cases I take the loss and move on. However, you should make your own decisions it's your money not ours.
     
  7. ApexC

    ApexC Active Member

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    First let me say day trading is tough. ----
    Every time you sell and try to recoup you are shrinking your bank roll loss. If you make a habit of selling at a loss you will lose money.
    Everyone that buys stocks hopes to have their stock rise after purchasing. Everyone will eventually have stocks that go down after purchasing them.
    Should you sell?
    This is where you have to look at the reason you bought it in the first place.
    You don't want to be selling every time your stock takes a little dip, or be holding onto a stock that is in down trend.
    Most investor set a stop/ loss for each investment them. This to prevent losing too much on any single investment.
     
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  8. FOCU$ED

    FOCU$ED New Member

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    thak you all for the feed back. I am learning and have alot more to go. I was never taught to look at the market muchless become a player. excited to continue learning. wish everyone much success
     
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  9. ApexC

    ApexC Active Member

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    I would be interested in knowing what criteria you use when you choose a stock.
     
  10. FOCU$ED

    FOCU$ED New Member

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    honestly im new to this game, so I learning by mistakes, I have not moved into candlestick charts , I use my smart and use robinhood and doing this while I have a full time job and go to school. I see potential in this and usually anything that catches my interest I can accomplish. so what I think I'm doing is by using stocktwits ,Yahoo finance, and penny stocks app. I'm trying to figure out patterns.
     
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  11. Jrich

    Jrich Well-Known Member

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    Sounds alot like me only one short year ago... well, minus the school, but i work enough hours to even that out

    Robinhood is alright for getting your toes wet, but a trader isn't a trader without charts.... you can open a TD Ameritrade account with no deposit, use their platform for chart studies, and still do your trading on the Hood.... that's what i did at first

    TDA has an awesome mobile app and some of the best educational tools available, technical analysis n all that stuff..... but imo, this site right here is the best way to get acquainted with the markets..... snoop around, pay attention to how diverse the members are in their trading styles.... you might just stumble onto one that fits you
     
  12. FOCU$ED

    FOCU$ED New Member

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    thank you very much for your insight. very much appreciated
     
  13. FOCU$ED

    FOCU$ED New Member

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    thank you very much , your insight is very appreciated.
     
  14. fireopal

    fireopal Well-Known Member

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    @FOCU$ED have been more t/a oriented in my reading/studies so can't really comment on this book other than to say that a couple traders i know have recommended it so might be worth checking out

    What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars https://www.amazon.com/What-Learned-Losing-Million-Dollars/dp/B00NC63DBW

    PS - don't know if you know about stockcharts.com but that is where i started learning about candles/patterns way back along with investopedia.com - both are pretty good places for learning imo.
     
    #14 fireopal, Jan 5, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2018
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  15. T0rm3nted

    T0rm3nted Moderator
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    Tradingview.com is also kind of like TDAmeritrade's ThinkOrSwim, just a lighter version. It's what I use personally as I find it less cumbersome than ToS and being web-based I can pull it up anywhere.

    @FOCU$ED - the MOST important thing to your success in the future is going to be deciding what you want to accomplish in your trading "career". I can't emphasize it enough. Most people who are young and dabbling for the first time thing penny stocks are the way to go. They're trying to get rich quick, retire at 25, and live on a yacht. 99.99% of people who use this strategy will fail. You'll hear about the success stories, but they are few and far between. You rarely hear about the guys who spent their first 3-5 years trying to get rich on penny stocks AND THEN finally moved on to actually trading the stock market/investing.

    When I used to join chat rooms/the Stockaholics Discord chat, everyone seemed like they were trying to get rich quick. Everything was GOING TO THE MOON, 100% FOOLPROOF. I guarantee you - the ones who stuck their lunch money in and acted according to their comments have smaller accounts than they did before they bought into some penny stock.

    The moral of the story is if you are trying to get rich quick, you will probably only be losing money, and not only that, but setting yourself back a few years. All that money you could have just saved, or invested more longer-term (doesn't have to be years, could just be weeks), is lost and you are 2-3 years behind where you could have been.

    To illustrate the point, I made this quick excel chart. The left side is a penny gambler, the middle is a person just saving money and not investing, and the right side is a person earning 10% on their money ANNUALLY. This is a decent target that is actually achievable. Averaging 10% a year is certainly doable, but it will take a lot of work. Watch the way your money grows. I made everything "annual" to make it easier to visualize. Also, because you mentioned schooling, I'm going to assume you're in college, or plan to go. College careers (and lots of other careers for that matter) can hopefully allow you to save a decent amount monthly. For my own purposes, I used $500 (some could come from yours and your husband/wife's companies in a 401K, other could come from just saving, etc.).

    upload_2018-1-6_6-36-33.png

    Now obviously these numbers are still small (maybe not now, but when you're graduated college, saving ONLY $500 for an entire year would be not recommended, because you'll be working until you die). See how fast that money grew on the right side? That was making 10% a year and only saving $500 a year. The penny gambler had some big wins in there, but as you can see he kept losing whatever he made because he's just trying to get rich quick. Some of those stocks he invested in gained 500%!!! That's huge, but it does not make up for the losses he endured. The saver had no risk, but after all that saving, he's definitely not retiring EVER.

    Adjust the numbers however you want and create your own sheet. Check out your goals. My wife and I plan to save $1000 a month total in our 401K's (between the company, and our contributions). If we make 10% a year, 30 years from the first year we started working, we'd have over $2M each.

    If you enjoy trading that much and see those 10% gains EVERY year without much issue, there's really not much reason to continue working past maybe 20 years. You've proven you can beat the market, just be smart with your money at that point.

    This got WAY longer than I planned it to. I hope you took the time to read it @FOCU$ED and set yourself some realistic goals. Are you going to be the penny gambler the first few years, or just try to make 10% annually. Any goal is fine, you just need to know where it's going to most likely lead.

    Me personally, I'm 29 years old and just don't want to work into my 60's, in fact, I'd like to retire in my mid 40's. We'll see if I get there, but I at least know it is somewhat realistic because I have a REALISTIC plan.
     
  16. Stockaholic

    Stockaholic Content Manager

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    Excellent post @T0rm3nted very well said! This almost needs to be a sticky somewhere. Really good stuff.
     
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  17. Timbo

    Timbo Active Member

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    Another thing, this by far is the best forum around. At times we agree to disagree on things, but everyone is always willing to help out. Pumping a worthless stock to draw in suckers is something that isn't tolerated here, that in itself separates stockaholics from the others. Plus, you never can tell who your rubbing elbows with. Take your time, learn and select a style that fits your needs, understand what your going up against. "Swim with the sharks or get fed to the piranhas" Greed and emotions are your worst enemy, overcome those and treat you account like a business. I constantly have to remind myself of these things.
     
  18. FOCU$ED

    FOCU$ED New Member

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    cool thank you for your insight and much success for your future, I am going to trade school and opening up a business in that craft, im 34 and ive stepped outsise this box i grew up in and realize shit i dont have much time and turn this boat around but words and insight like yours defiantly make me sit back and breath real quick I am already noticing this patterns where people are investing setting themselves up for the week or 2 week and ofcourse longer than that. so i am currently swallowing that pill that I can not be rich over night. I have to pay my dues in the beginning and hope to continue picking up great advice like everyone in this thread has been spewing. very much appreciated.
     
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  19. FOCU$ED

    FOCU$ED New Member

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    I have had a first great experience here very much appreciated
     
  20. FOCU$ED

    FOCU$ED New Member

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    thank you very much and I am definatly going to check this out, I have stopped watching tv for about 2 years now only movies when my fiancee comes over so she dont bored , and i learned to love reading and how much more dangerous a person can be just by reading.
     
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