Anybody Trade Stocks?

[duncanpa]

[quote name='Sugarphreak' date='08 July 2010 - 09:05 AM' timestamp='1278597953' post='19021']

Kick ass, Markets are going nuts!... I am cashing out today <img src='http://www.canadianhummerclub.com/forum ... ght_on.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':right_on:' />

[/quote]



How much do you regularly invest?? How much do you stand to make today??? Always wanted to "play" but I was always too scared to lose big!!!!

[Sugarphreak]

First and only rule is you have to 100% have to be prepared to lose whatever you put in! You are right to be scared, but also remember that playing the stock market with your emotions usually gets you into trouble. As an example if you take a look at UTS... that is one of my stocks I buy and sell on a regular basis, although I got scared recently and didn't want to invest in it because it has kind of been floundering around... as a result I missed out on yesterdays little windfall, a 63% gain in one day to be exact. A perfect example of how getting connected emotionally can mess you up, it is a really hard thing to get past sometimes, even for me.



For me I only use RSP money, that way I don't pay any taxes on gains. I also only use a small percentage of my total RSP savings.



From my own experience I have tried trading with only a few thousand before, the problem is in order to make any money you have to basically be investing in risky stocks or trying to hit it big with more stable ones... which rarely happens because anything over 3 or 4% seems to trigger a sell off for most blue chip or high rated stocks. 3% on a 2000$ investment is only 60$... just enough to pay the commission.



The minimum for me seems to be around the 5,000$ mark, however my typical amount is around 15K per trade with the biggest single trades in the 30K range. I buy in on an exceptionally terrible day (lets say more than a 200 point loss on the market or more than a 4% decline in the stock) or sometimes at the end of a bad 3 or 4 day down turn. I never buy on a good day, no matter how much I think the stock will go up.



Then I wait... sometimes up to 6 weeks if needed. More than often I end up selling just a week or two later. I pull in about 3-4% easily doing this, sometimes more.



That may not seem like much, but it adds up. As I mentioned before just using this small amount has been earning me a heap load lately, I surpassed my work income last month... this month has been slower though.

[Sugarphreak]

This is one of the stocks I bought on the 29th. Notice just how terrible it was, sliding downward like an out of control roller coaster... emotionally I wanted to run away and hide from this stock, it looks like it is going to plummet to earth!



http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickc ... ymb=CA:CLL



But... I took a deep breath and bought in.



Then when it shot up yesterday I was up about 7%... despite the fact it looks like it will keep going crazy and emotionally I just want to hang on for more I sold and cashed out.



Sure I missed out on another 3% or so today, but the most important thing is I walked away with a good solid gain. Getting greedy in the stock market will eventually bite you in the end.