Am I suited to investing?

[mazzatelli]

Quote: Originally Posted by greasy_pancakes The Myers Brigg personality test indicated that I am an ENFP (idealist champion) type person. To be honest, I don't believe I have bipolar, but that I'm just a person who is much more intuitive, sensitive and inquisitive than most. Anyway, my perception of trading is that it's very much a game of psychological warfare against your own mind. My skills: - good saver (I save on average $200 a week into an account that does not get touched) - willing to learn and a quick learner - humble - asks good questions - makes decisions quickly but also can modify them if new information is available My weaknesses: - is somewhat hesitant to 'pull the trigger' - sometimes makes an analysis of the situation too quickly I am someone who thinks a lot, and can be a bit fiery towards issues that are close to my heart. I have read a lot of self help psychology books, never finishing one completely, rather I read to get the information required. This may also be a weakness, as it's hard to get a general understanding with only bits and pieces.

[Poppypop]

I've been day trading my own money since October 2008 with no prior education or experience in share market trading. It has been my sole income in that time and I have 39% less than what i had before I started trading. I am also 1% richer than i was on the 30th of March 2009.

I feel I'm getting better at it everyday. The biggest lessons I've learn't is don't put all your eggs in one basket. Sell one stock for a loss if u think another stock has a better chance of going up. Get familiar with the stocks before u invest in them. Read up to date broker ratings (not just one) and look for predictable patterns in the daily, weekly, monthly charts. Weigh up the pros and cons before u invest. If you can't handle losing money then definitely don't do it as its a fact u will lose money, and that will lead to emotional turmoil which can be really hard to handle. The highs are great, the lows are bad and it will take a mature mindset to handle properly. If you spread your portfolio out a price drop could mean more buying opportunity. Turn the negative into a positive. Set your alerts on your mobile phone when your stock reach your price targets, or price sensitive information comes out, so u always know whats going on. Invest in an iphone/laptop with internet access, so you don't have to spend your days infront of the home computer and u can go on holidays without having to worry about whats happening to your shares.

[brty]

Poppypop,

Where does one start???

Quote: It has been my sole income in that time

[Tysonboss1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Poppypop I've been day trading my own money since October 2008 with no prior education or experience in share market trading. It has been my sole income in that time and I have 39% less than what i had before I started trading. I am also 1% richer than i was on the 30th of March 2009. I feel I'm getting better at it everyday. The biggest lessons I've learn't is don't put all your eggs in one basket. Sell one stock for a loss if u think another stock has a better chance of going up. Get familiar with the stocks before u invest in them. Read up to date broker ratings (not just one) and look for predictable patterns in the daily, weekly, monthly charts. Weigh up the pros and cons before u invest. If you can't handle losing money then definitely don't do it as its a fact u will lose money, and that will lead to emotional turmoil which can be really hard to handle. The highs are great, the lows are bad and it will take a mature mindset to handle properly. If you spread your portfolio out a price drop could mean more buying opportunity. Turn the negative into a positive. Set your alerts on your mobile phone when your stock reach your price targets, or price sensitive information comes out, so u always know whats going on. Invest in an iphone/laptop with internet access, so you don't have to spend your days infront of the home computer and u can go on holidays without having to worry about whats happening to your shares.

[GumbyLearner]

I wish I invested like I had for Mum.

Told her to buy with Super retirement over a year ago

PFL @ .60cents
WCB @ 1.90cents
SUL @ 2.70cents
COK @ .28 cents


Where are they at today?

As robots would say

Glorious paradise. Bring it on!

Enquire within
No financial planners needed!

[canaussieuck]

Quote: Originally Posted by Poppypop I've been day trading my own money since October 2008 with no prior education or experience in share market trading. It has been my sole income in that time and I have 39% less than what i had before I started trading. I am also 1% richer than i was on the 30th of March 2009. I feel I'm getting better at it everyday. The biggest lessons I've learn't is don't put all your eggs in one basket. Sell one stock for a loss if u think another stock has a better chance of going up. Get familiar with the stocks before u invest in them. Read up to date broker ratings (not just one) and look for predictable patterns in the daily, weekly, monthly charts. Weigh up the pros and cons before u invest. If you can't handle losing money then definitely don't do it as its a fact u will lose money, and that will lead to emotional turmoil which can be really hard to handle. The highs are great, the lows are bad and it will take a mature mindset to handle properly. If you spread your portfolio out a price drop could mean more buying opportunity. Turn the negative into a positive. Set your alerts on your mobile phone when your stock reach your price targets, or price sensitive information comes out, so u always know whats going on. Invest in an iphone/laptop with internet access, so you don't have to spend your days infront of the home computer and u can go on holidays without having to worry about whats happening to your shares.

[mazzatelli]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tysonboss1 Traders are funny All that time and effort, and worse results than if he had just bought some quality stocks and held them over that period. But yeah trading is really the way to go,... I love stressful hobbies that are time intensive and produce below average long term returns

[Poppypop]

Quote: Originally Posted by brty Poppypop, Where does one start??? What will it take for you to stop doing what you are doing immediately??? Don't 'feel' anything in trading. Do the numbers. You are either getting better or you are not. Have you performed statistical evidence for yourself that in your type of trading these things will help one iota??? Care to define some of these pros or cons and how they can be statistically 'weighed up' ?? Average down because it seems like a good thing to do??? Any other reason?? Umm, I'm nearly speechless at this type of advice. Poppypop, you need to evaluate what you are doing in your trading. You are clearly losing money and treating it as a game of chance that has no real rules, yet there are plenty here that have come up with ways of winning consistently with minimal risk to existing capital. This post of yours from the 3 top holdings thread, says a lot..... All your posts tell me that you are just gambling with no real methodology or system, please, please stop and start doing some research into finding a consistent methodology that minimises risk and has a positive expectancy. This is not a methodology..... brty

[Poppypop]

Oh and greasy_pancakes, I was 35% ahead at my peak in the first 3 months of trading. This success made me cocky and was the leading cause of my downfall cos I couldn't handle the loses. Had I kept my stocks and not panic sold when they went down in March I would have been a rich man today but it's always easier to say in hindsight.

I panic sold 90,0000 fmg shares @$1.70 to buy 50,000 IPL shares at $2.56 only to see it open at $1.70 the next day, so I panic sold them and bought 5,000 Macquarie Bank shares at $19.00 and panic sold them at $16.00.

I lost 140 grand within one month.

I also had too much money on Caltex and Sigma Pharm. SIP this year and that was another huge loss....lol it's crazy I know but I wouldn't do anything else as I find buying and selling on the sharemarket NOT BORING. It makes me feel alive for some reason.

[trainspotter]

Go you good thing Poppypop ! Your trading technique sounds just like mine !! Do a bit of study, buy a parcel, sell them when they have made a realisable profit. Go again. No methodology required. But I don't trade for a living nor do I rely on the income stream of the shares to keep me liquid.

[professor_frink]

Quote: Originally Posted by Poppypop Oh and greasy_pancakes, I was 35% ahead at my peak in the first 3 months of trading. This success made me cocky and was the leading cause of my downfall cos I couldn't handle the loses. Had I kept my stocks and not panic sold when they went down in March I would have been a rich man today but it's always easier to say in hindsight. I panic sold 90,0000 fmg shares @$1.70 to buy 50,000 IPL shares at $2.56 only to see it open at $1.70 the next day, so I panic sold them and bought 5,000 Macquarie Bank shares at $19.00 and panic sold them at $16.00. I lost 140 grand within one month. I also had too much money on Caltex and Sigma Pharm. SIP this year and that was another huge loss....lol it's crazy I know but I wouldn't do anything else as I find buying and selling on the sharemarket NOT BORING. It makes me feel alive for some reason.

[brty]

Poppy,

Quote: This success made me cocky and was the leading cause of my downfall

[Poppypop]

Anyone who's a trader is a gambler. If you think you aren't just because you have different "methodology" then you're kidding yourself.

I am currently 14% ahead of where i were at the beginning of this month so I must be getting better. Plus I don't include my living expenses, so I think I'm doing alright so far.

[brty]

Poppy,

Quote: Anyone who's a trader is a gambler

[Poppypop]

Quote: Originally Posted by brty Poppy, Perhaps you should define 'gambler'. My 'methodology' returned 75% winners at a win to loss ratio of 2.5:1 in the last financial year. If that is gambling it is with a really stacked deck. It performed nearly as well as my testing of it said it should, the weakness was in me the trader. Your posts indicate that your 'methodology' resembles some type of guesswork that 'It is a good company so I'll buy some (a lot) and panic if it falls too far. Have you tested your methodology in all conditions before you started betting?? Of course you do, and being such an expert with 2 years of experience feel you can give advice on how to trade. brty

[basilio]

Quote: Your posts indicate that your 'methodology' resembles some type of guesswork that 'It is a good company so I'll buy some (a lot) and panic if it falls too far. Have you tested your methodology in all conditions before you started betting??

[Poppypop]

Quote: Originally Posted by basilio Perhaps Poppy is giving us a clear example of not over-thinking the process of punching in buys and sells.... Frankly if we did think about it all very clearly we might very well decide it was a mugs game and get out of here. But that would'nt suit the top punters who rely on the mugs to be the other side of their trades . Perhaps..

[nunthewiser]

Quote: Originally Posted by Poppypop So true, Basilio. If you over think your trades you will end up in an early grave. Yesterday I bought 25,000 shares of VBA for 31.5 cents but instead of selling them on the close for a healthy $210 profit (after expenses), I held on hoping they would go up again today. Lesson there is don't get too greedy. I could have rebought the same shares today for 31.5 cents.

[Poppypop]

Quote: Originally Posted by nunthewiser lesson 1.............work out what sort of trade you are entering before entering trade..........intraday swings, skims are a different ball game to 3 day swings ,longer swings/position trades are different to 3 day swings,long term investing is different from swing trading .......different flexibiltys, different sizes, different risks, different targets,different mentalitys. until one knows where there going they can only wander blindly in the meantime.

[So_Cynical]

Quote: Originally Posted by Poppypop I panic sold 90,0000 fmg shares @$1.70 to buy 50,000 IPL shares at $2.56 only to see it open at $1.70 the next day, so I panic sold them and bought 5,000 Macquarie Bank shares at $19.00 and panic sold them at $16.00. I lost 140 grand within one month.