Philip,
I think most of the books I have read that back up your short term trading thoughts were printed 10 years ago. Most knowledgable writers now believe that carefully planned day trading is much more profitable than the ole buy and hold theory. I know personally I have made considerably more day trading in the last year than the total combined profits for the past 10 years of "investing". (and I use to have managed accounts with C. Schwab, Smith Barney, Robinson Humphery and a few others) Now I dont day trade my whole portfolio, I have core holdings, I have mutual funds, bonds and treasury strips. (I firmly believe the "Dont put all eggs in one basket theory"). What most people dont mention is the time variable. You make a deposit with a reputable broker and let him at it, not much time required on your part, (yes I made suggestions durring these times as to which stocks I might like to buy, but generally left control to the broker.) Now to be successful day trading you must treat it like a job. (16 hour a day job most of the time, 9:30 - 4:00 watching the data feeds, and research every evening. Yes it is time consuming, but very gratifing to watch your account balance grow! You must make rules and stick to them! (Cause if you dont, you can wind up hurt! I broke most of my own rules with a company SEXI and stand to book my largest loss because of stupidity, listening to hype and not following the rules!) But even if SEXI is a total loss Uncle Sam is going to be very proud of me when I mail him that check in April! It helps to come from a long line of habitual gamblers tracing back to my GreatGrandfather. At any rate do what you know and enjoy. If it isnt fun to you move on!
Stan |
