Robert -- what an excellent post. I understand
your frustration. I have been there, and I am often
there. There is so much information flying so fast, it
is easy to get overwhelmed, dazed, and frozen in your tracks.
I use MB Trading. I like the realtime level II quotes and the
instant order entry as well as the realtime "portfolio" management.
I put portfolio in quotes because MBT is really geared for the
daytrader -- though I use it for both day and swing trades.
Many people on this thread do not use Level II quotes, and I
agree with their reasons. I just find that for me it works best.
I think the best advice I could give anyone starting out is to
go very slow. Pick a few stocks -- maybe up to ten -- that you
like and create a portfolio on Yahoo!, reading the news that comes
out on the companies and studying their profiles. Read this thread
every day, and keep CNBC on during the trading day.
Then, decide to trade something. Start small, around 500 shares. Some people say start wth one or two hundred shares, but you need
a bigger move to cover your trade costs and get a little profit, so
I recommend 500. DON'T TRY TO WIN ENOUGH FOR YOUR MERCEDES IN
THE FIRST TRADE. Let your goal be to make a good trade.
A good trade might make a little money, but it might lose a little
money, too! A good trade lose money????? Yes -- if you followed
your rules doing it. If your rule is not to lose more than $100
or half a point on a trade, and you close the position before
you lose that much, then you have made a very, very good trade. For
me, making money has been a snap. The difficult thing has been
to avoid losing too much money on a trade that doesn't go my way.
To summarize: A, get trading software you like to use; B, make one
trade and follow your rules no matter which way it goes; C repeat
B, slowly and surely. Soon, you will be comfortable going with
more shares and more than one stock at a time (this is still hard
for me). Soon you will be discovering wonderful gems to let us
all know about. Soon you will be refining what works for you and
sharing it with others.
Welcome! |
