Mark,
Welcome, I too am a newbie,made my first buy less than 60 days ago. You talk about "very little money" this is the only way to start. I started with only $1,000 and promptly lost 40% in the first two weeks blindly following any stock picked. (Buy high, sell low) Last Thursday I finally hit $10,000 thanks to all the great people on SI. If I could ,let me share a few thoughts has that helped me.
1.Take a profit when you can. a $10.00 gain is better than a $10.00 loss.This is the hardest rule to learn, we all wish to become millionaires overnight or hope our stock will go up tomorrow. They don't.
2. Never chase a stock. MM games or profit taking will bring the price down to a point you will be able to enter. Remenber there's always the next stock
3.Never use a market order in the first 30 min. of the day. Wait till the market settles down (yes I bought at the high & sold at the low doing this).
4. Learn from other peoples mistakes. Read the posts, think about errors that people have made (buys, sell, etc etc) We are all here to learn from each other. If you don't know ask!
5.Do your DD on each stock before you buy. Read the PR completely, look at a company overview and read the posts. This takes years to learn well. Call the company. This will keep you out of the 30 min. momentum run or the classic pump & dump.
6.Don't be afraid to take a loss. A small loss today is better than a large loss tomorrow. If a stock bothers you, or you decide you just don't like it anymore Sell it. This will cloud your mind with negitive thoughts and you will miss the next one.
7. Never say I Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda. It's what you did that counts.
I'll stop on lucky seven. As I said before I am a newbie with a lot to learn. I'll never be a poet nor can I spell, that's the way it goes. It's the thought that counts.
I personaly would like hear from others with more experience on the do's & don'ts of investing.
Hope this helps,
Doug |
