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Is a stock trading system really profitable?

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[FONT=&quot]There are a few things that always keep me thinking…… there are many online trading systems that demand to be profitable in all the ways as one can be .Do they really work or they are just for ones own profit . Do they make you profitable in the stock market; provide you with great tips…..I would like to use one. If you people have any know about this, then please let me know about them.[/FONT]

Comments

  • daywalker
    daywalker Posts: 42 Forumite
    greedi wrote: »
    [FONT=&quot]There are a few things that always keep me thinking…… there are many online trading systems that demand to be profitable in all the ways as one can be .Do they really work or they are just for ones own profit . Do they make you profitable in the stock market; provide you with great tips…..I would like to use one. If you people have any know about this, then please let me know about them.[/FONT]

    If they worked people wouldn't have to sell the system.
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 119,705 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    They are very profitable.... to the person selling them.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • Jake'sGran
    Jake'sGran Posts: 3,269 Forumite
    greedi wrote: »
    [FONT=&quot]There are a few things that always keep me thinking…… there are many online trading systems that demand to be profitable in all the ways as one can be .Do they really work or they are just for ones own profit . Do they make you profitable in the stock market; provide you with great tips…..I would like to use one. If you people have any know about this, then please let me know about them.[/FONT]

    You could start investing in the stock market in a small way with someone like Share.Com (used to be the Share Centre). They do have a good reputation. I seem to remember you can choose to invest small amounts as and when you like and use their or other companies web sites to do a bit of research. Some people just buy for dividends e.g. LloydsTSB, National Grid - have a look in the national press for lists of shares i.e. FTSE 100. Mining shares were doing wel but I am not sure if this is still the case. You need to do some reading. Most low cost stockbrokers do not give advice but I think Share Co do, in just a general sort of way - nothing pushy.

    Don't consider doing business with any company that makes wild promises.
  • Graeme7777
    Graeme7777 Posts: 255 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Even if they worked, selling them to everyone would soon mean that the advantage gained from using the system would vanish.
  • earlgrey_3
    earlgrey_3 Posts: 583 Forumite
    "There are two kinds of investors, be they large or small: those who don't know where the market is headed, and those who don't know that they don't know.

    Then again, there is a third type of investor - the investment professional, who indeed knows that he or she doesn't know, but whose livelihood depends upon appearing to know."

    William Bernstein
  • daywalker wrote: »
    If they worked people wouldn't have to sell the system.

    If they worked, they wouldn't sell them
  • cepheus
    cepheus Posts: 20,053 Forumite
    Successful systems do (or at least have) existed but they are unlikely to be offered for sale to the general public. Even if they were, by their widespread use and the effect this would have on the market this would invalidate any predictions based on previous results. I have traded a number of successful very simple systems of my own devising in the past, but the opportunities eventually become more limited as the market becomes more efficient and random, and market makers/brokers restrict profitable products.

    Most successful systems I am aware of consist of the simplistic rule of running profits further than losses in an inefficient market and managing the amount invested in relation to the risk of each trade. I suspect there are also still opportunities for private investors especially in smaller markets since they don't have the inertia involved with trading large amounts like fund managers. However, many systems fail not because they are faulty but because they are psychologically and practically difficult to execute.
  • Biggles
    Biggles Posts: 8,209 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    cepheus wrote: »
    I have traded a number of successful very simple systems of my own devising in the past, but the opportunities eventually become more limited as the market becomes more efficient and random, and market makers/brokers restrict profitable products.
    That (profitable product being withdrawn from the market) has happened to me a couple of times, the last time quite recently.

    But it only reinforces the answer to the original question: Would you or I have sold a genuinely profitable system like that, or kept the profits to ourselves? The answer is that, if someone is offering it for sale, they can't make sufficient money using it themselves.
  • pjala
    pjala Posts: 420 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Article in the Financial times today, that basically says they are rubbish, and if they do work they in time tend to stop working.
  • Aegis
    Aegis Posts: 5,695 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Wow, what a surprise... A brand new person asks for a stock trading system and another brand new person with the exact same post font "kindly" provides it!

    What a shocker!

    Spam reported.
    I am a Chartered Financial Planner
    Anything I say on the forum is for discussion purposes only and should not be construed as personal financial advice. It is vitally important to do your own research before acting on information gathered from any users on this forum.
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