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Strategies & Market Trends : From the Trading Desk -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: john Kurisko who wrote (3509)	8/24/1998 7:46:00 AM
From: steve goldman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4969

There are always going to be those who say you can start with 10, 20k. Personally speaking, having seen many do so and having seen the varying results, something in the 50 to 75 would be bare minimum in my opinion. Less? sure, it can be done, but you have to be a bit more choosy. You'll have to trade less and as a percentage your transacitons costs might be higher, but thats the case with any business that starts with a tight budget. $125 or so would be ideal as it allows you to take a few 20,30 dollar positions at one time. Much of the gains in trading can be made in a few, one or two, rallies or routs. You need to be in there in a few positions at those special moments. When we rallied from -280 to -80, on friday, the full buying power of the accounts pays off. If you only owned 2 positions, maybe they performed and if you only had 40k, most likely you didnt own those that did rally, the ge's, the fords, the lucents, etc. Undercapitalization in any business runs great risks. Regards, Steve@yamner.com

To: john Kurisko who wrote (3509)	8/25/1998 9:25:00 AM
From: the Chief	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4969

Hi John. "Thread please excuse the intrusion" I lurk on this thread and don't normally comment. You asked; Starting capital...How much, is the question i ask of those who trade for a living, how much did you start with, has any one started with less then 40,000, and made good money? I started with $6,000(Canuck (which equals $1.87US) about 4 years ago. I didn't daytrade fulltime like I am now, but I was cognizant of "stop limits and sell orders" after getting an order filled. My porfolio increased relatively quickly (extended bull market, not because I was good) to a point where I now can trade fulltime with sufficient funds to take advantage of small swings. To trade fulltime IMHO you do need as much as these people are saying (50-70K) but you can daytrade with a smaller porfolio but it can't be your only income. Obviously if you are working, the number of daytrades may be just one a day, but as time goes on, it can reach 3 a day, without "ticking" the boss off!! I had the enviable position of having access to the internet and could check market depth and brokerage buy/sells and figure out whether I had purchased or sold while still sitting at my office desk! My opinion is that you can start with a smaller portfolio and still do well. You have to be 5 times more dilligent than the rest of us, because your exposure to the stocks you must play (penny-stocks/small cap) has a higher risk level( also has higher reward level). It is a fight uphill, but hell, even with a bundle o' money its a fight uphill!! MOO ( my opinion only, or, the noise a cow makes) the Chief