day trading / stock market online trading

choppy-c

Hello all,

Having always had great advice/views on here I thought id ask about the above - Its obviously for my benefit & i am aware of some of the pitfalls but would be grateful opinions, tips & places to research.

I work from home (mostly) & can find some free time & for a while had the thoought that I could maybe boost our income (Needed at present) by trading on line - I dont know how realistic this is - I have a very basic understanding of the more complex financial markets & have done ok with long term stock picks. I can find a small (?) lump sum & am prepared to start small, gamble a bit (IE be prepared to loose a bit to learn) but generally having always worked for myself dont like to see the ££ going in the wrong direction !!

Lamb to slaughter or is this feasible ?

Any one here do it ?

Thanks in advance as ever -

Linton

choppy-c wrote: »

Hello all,

Having always had great advice/views on here I thought id ask about the above - Its obviously for my benefit & i am aware of some of the pitfalls but would be grateful opinions, tips & places to research.

I work from home (mostly) & can find some free time & for a while had the thoought that I could maybe boost our income (Needed at present) by trading on line - I dont know how realistic this is - I have a very basic understanding of the more complex financial markets & have done ok with long term stock picks. I can find a small (?) lump sum & am prepared to start small, gamble a bit (IE be prepared to loose a bit to learn) but generally having always worked for myself dont like to see the ££ going in the wrong direction !!

Lamb to slaughter or is this feasible ?

Any one here do it ?

Thanks in advance as ever -

IMHO this can be fun and educational leading to a good understanding of how the market works. However, it is also an effective way to lose money. Just like casinos and horses there may well be a few who can make a living at it, but this living is paid for by a large army of suckers.

So if you want to play with money you can afford to lose - fine, but playing is all you would be doing.

If you want to invest to increase your wealth I believe you should be looking for investments that provide a solid return over a long period.

choppy-c

Linton, I hear what you say loud & clear & agree thanks - I do intend to maintain the varied long term investments, but was hoping to generate additional earned income. I am prepared to play initially but this is obviously not the long term goal. I did'nt get in this position by giving it away & dont want to start now !

Blah99

choppy-c wrote: »

Linton, I hear what you say loud & clear & agree thanks - I do intend to maintain the varied long term investments, but was hoping to generate additional earned income. I am prepared to play initially but this is obviously not the long term goal. I did'nt get in this position by giving it away & dont want to start now !

It is perfectly possible to make money on short term trades - it's my primary trading style, holding shares for days to weeks and very rarely for more than a year.

However you need to know what you're doing first, otherwise it is gambling. Read up, learn, then try it. Don't be discouraged by people who keep saying "long term investment is the only way to make money", because they're not right. You do need to understand what you're doing though.

Note to people who believe long term investment is safer than short term, read this month's IC

tradetime

Lamb to slaughter or is this feasible ?

Both, it all depends, it is quite possible to make a living daytrading or any other duration of trading, however you should be aware that it is widely accepted that 80 - 90% of wouldbe daytraders lose money. The reasons are many and varied but include, lack of knowledge and understanding of markets, of the basic concepts of trading, of risk management, lack of discipline, under-capitalization etc, etc.
There is plenty of information on the internet to start reading up on, I personally would suggest that if you do decide to pursue it you start off with what is known as "swing trading" that is holding a position for a few days to weeks, rather that start out by daytrading, the pace will be much more relaxed and the startup costs significantly less..

A lot of people recommend The Naked Trader by Robbie Burns. I have no idea if it's any good, it's a long time since I read any books on the subject and they were all American, you really only need something that covers the basics. I'd start out on the internet.

choppy-c

So certainly possible then, & that sort of timescale (Swing /days& weeks)would fit well with my situation.
Is it totally unreasonable to put a % return that is achievable on this type of activity ?



IC = investors chronicle ?


Thanks much appreciated.

tradetime

It varies considerably from trader to trader and would depend on how good you were, which at the stage of starting out is running before walking, what account size you were trading, what products you were trading, and what sort of leverage you were using. It is somewhat of a "How long is a piece of string?" question
In starting out, the first objective is to survive.

purch

However you need to know what you're doing first, otherwise it is gambling

I would consider Trading in Stocks to be a form of gambling, however well informed you might be.

It doesn't mean that it is in any way a bad, dangerous or even a silly thing to do.

As has been mentioned there are many methods used by traders, and plenty of information on the internet about it.

The key ultimately will be to find a method/style that suits you and your personality/approach.

But it is a form of gambling, and what always seperates a successful professional gambler (on anything) from a poor amateur gambler is information and knowledge.

Biggles

choppy-c wrote: »

Is it totally unreasonable to put a % return that is achievable on this type of activity?

Starting from where you are, Choppy, I would put your likely % return as -100% (ie minus 100%).

As Purch says, any investing is a form of gambling and day trading extremely so. So, like any other form of gambling, the best advice I can give you is to decide how much you can afford to lose, put that amount aside and mentally write it off, and limit your trading to that amount whatever happens.

ses6jwg

a spread betting account may be more suitable for short term trades but be aware of the risks involved

I got burned a little by spread betting, not really a fan.

I prefer to buy stocks and hold 1-6 months

[Deleted User]

only ever ever `gamble` like this with money that you can afford to lose. I emphasise `gamble` because that is what you will be doing until and unless you do a lot of training in analysis etc

I was a day trader, including the dow and never got out of my comfort zone, while seeing lots of impetuous young men lose their shirts and in a couple of cases, their houses and some their redundancy money.

I manage a large pot of money now for my dh in a sipp. Risk profile is fairly low now as I am retired and he is 62. The very best returns ever, have come from `feeling` the general market and going with the trend in `safe` large stocks with good divis

You are young enough to have a more risky profile but get to know all about stop losses and about trading psychology first (trading in the zone by Douglas ) and realise your own limitations