Online Trading

Taking a Break from Online Trading

2007-03-09T23:45:00.001-06:00

I am waiting for good things to happen with my stock today. Would like to see it increase by 2 percent at least.I am most likely going to take a break today from trading. I will still keep an eye on ATSX to see if it goes over 35 cents but I will have an alert set up for that. Most likely. I will wait until Monday to jump back in to try for the stock double once again. My goal is to be a millionaire within 11 years! Purely on stock doubling within each year!

Beginning A New Stock Market Chapter

2007-03-09T23:15:00.001-06:00

Wow what a day!I am the first to admit that this last week has been a real up and down week in stock trading. Kind of a downer for me, (not always the case, of course, I saw one stock up 80% in one day. man I wished I had it first!) but I expect things to heat back up soon enough. I invested in ATSX today at .31 and I am hoping for the best!

Born to Stock Market Blog

2007-03-09T22:30:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody!I am the first to admit that this last week has been a real up and down week in stock trading. Kind of a downer for me, (not always the case, of course, I saw one stock up 80% in one day. man I wished I had it first!) but I expect things to heat back up soon enough.

Stock Market Kings

2007-03-09T22:15:00.001-06:00

Stock Market Blogging at Its Best

2007-03-09T22:00:00.001-06:00

Hey everybody! The stock market trading is a blast. Just trying to get my bearings now.

Taking a Break from Online Trading

2007-03-09T21:45:00.001-06:00

Why Not Trade My Stock? That is The Question..

2007-03-09T21:15:00.001-06:00

I am waiting for good things to happen with my stock today. Would like to see it increase by 2 percent at least.I am the first to admit that this last week has been a real up and down week in stock trading. Kind of a downer for me, (not always the case, of course, I saw one stock up 80% in one day. man I wished I had it first!) but I expect things to heat back up soon enough.

2007-03-08T21:45:00.001-06:00

Stocks are beginning to rise! Look for a bullish market soon!

Just sold my first investment... but bummer for a loss!

2007-03-08T00:45:00.001-06:00

I just sold my stock NTWK at a 4 cent loss off of $1.68! Not a really great start to my stock trading career but it did get my feet wet! The only thing is that I now think I need to wait on the funds to settle in my Scottrade account before I try to go after another investment

Taking a Break from Online Trading

2007-03-08T00:15:00.001-06:00

I am most likely going to take a break today from trading. I will still keep an eye on ATSX to see if it goes over 35 cents but I will have an alert set up for that. Most likely. I will wait until Monday to jump back in to try for the stock double once again. My goal is to be a millionaire within 11 years! Purely on stock doubling within each year!

Online Trading Article - "How to Trade the Stock Market"

2007-02-20T22:03:00.000-06:00

Came across this article and thought this might help the newbies of online trading like myself...

How to Trade the Stock Market

by Peter Halpin

Investing in the Stock Market can be one of the most profitable skills you'll ever master. Whether you're trading indices, foreign currency, stocks, commodities or options - there are some vital matters you must understand before you can even begin to make money.

The Stock Market is one of the largest markets in the world, so it is going to be around for a long time. This means that if we can master a few strategies that bring consistent profits, it is not inconceivable that we could set ourselves up with a reliable income stream. The fact is, one of the most profitable skills we can ever master, is the skill of trading.

But trading the markets can also be very stressful. Many an optimistic graduate from some guru's course, has become disillusioned with the passage of time, as they watch their hard earned capital draining away to the point where further trading is no longer viable. Sometimes this even accompanies a career being neglected, as professional development gives way to an obsession with "finding a way" to make it work. Every spare minute is spent swamped in the markets. Newsletters, bulletin boards, forums, articles, books, courses, software, even tipping services - all become the new learning path.

Trading can be the fastest way to go broke. The market doesn't do the same things all the time. So one day a particular tactic will work, the next day it won't. Compare this with a normal everyday function like walking down the street. If you walk into a lamp post, you soon learn that you need to walk round them. But in the market-place, the lamp posts keeps moving as you approach them, you can never be sure that you can get round them. But what you can do is develop the mental discipline so that even when you do bump into them it's OK.

You have to learn trading skills, which ultimately are about 95% of this game. In the end, it's not about the markets - it's all about YOU. You are the essential element behind the way you trade.

Markets move from extreme to extreme across all time frames. They are a manifestation of human psychology, driven by fear and greed. Peaks are driven by greed, troughs by fear. This is obvious in the very long-term extremes. At the extremes the key point is that price is stretched unrealistically. Why is this? Because traders and / or investors are paying too much, selling too cheaply, because it is an emotional decision.

To win you must put yourself outside that emotion.

The big question here is whether you can develop the discipline if you do not have it naturally. I believe that the answer is "yes, you can," but you must have the necessary commitment to do so.

Clearly self discipline is going to be a requirement even to start the process. However, the market itself is going to be helpful, although not as helpful as it might be. Ultimately undisciplined behavior is going to be punished by the market, either by direct losses or by the loss of profits which would otherwise have been available. But the market does not help as much as it might because of the principle of random reinforcement. This is the market's tendency to reward bad behavior from time to time. What works one day may not work the next and this applies to the "best" trading practice. Similarly , bad habits do bring rewards from time to time.

This crucial fact is one of the reasons that it takes so long to learn how to trade. It is important then to discover techniques designed to develop and enhance your discipline and to recognise when you have let your discipline slip. You'll be amazed at how much easier your trading becomes when you master this.

MONEY MANAGEMENT

Money Management is what makes your analysis/system work, not the other way around. Money Management is far more important than analysis. It is not your entry which is that important - it is your exit. Your exit determines your overall risk, your overall profit and your overall control. Your entry cannot wipe you out - but the way you exit can. Your entry does not make you a profit - the way you exit can.

RISK MANAGMENT

The traders who win are those who minimize risk. This is another key lesson and cannot be overemphasised.Those who do not minimize risk inevitably pay the price and get wiped out.

Risk Control includes the following:- (1) Not trading in too big a size, thus reducing the risk of a wipe out. (2) Not holding overnight unless you have a profit buffer in place. (3) Not holding over the weekend, subject to the same as reason "2". (4) Taking appropriate action prior to major news items. This means not normally opening positions, maybe reducing position size if already positioned - although it does depend on your trading objectives.

DESIGNING A SYSTEM

First, you must define the aim of your system. What do you want it to do? Do you want it to catch trends? Do you want to trade ranges? How much risk do you want to incur? What success ratio are you looking for? Primarily you can look to trade ranges or you can look to trade trends. Trading ranges means looking for extremes and entering when such extremes are reached. Trading trends means looking to catch trends and entering once your system indicates that a trend is in place. You can also combine these two approaches.

In both cases you need to define your trading conditions. You need to define a range or a trend. Once you define what you are looking for, you simultaneously define how to catch it.

You can define trends in many different ways. First you have to decide over what time frame you wish to define the trend. You must then use that time frame to give your trending signal, for example if you feel that you want to day-trade trends then you must in some way define the trend using charts of a few minutes.

Once you have defined the trend you will have your trend indicator. So if you decide that a higher high on a 5-minute bar chart means that you have an uptrend then that is your indicator.

There are 7 fundamental components of a successful trading system and every one of them must be in place before you can hope to become profitable. We have covered 2 of them (define your objectives and trending signal) and touched on a third (risk) and I hope you found them useful.

For further information, visit this link:- "The Way to Trade"

About the Author

Active options, FX and CFD Trader for 5 years For further information how to trade, see John Piper's "The Way to Trade" Click Here To Read More!

Looking forward to my first week of trading

2007-02-19T00:44:00.000-06:00

Looking forward to my first week of trading... will have a Scottrade account funded with $500 and I plan to pursue the stock doubling method. More details on that later.

Online Trading Start - Setting Up a Scottrade Account

2007-02-18T00:38:00.000-06:00

This Thursday I set out on my journey to getting the big bucks in the stock market game. I started an account at Scottrade. Reason I chose this company was due to the fact I had been referred to it by a friend. Actually his name is Steve Hoven of StockDoubling.com He told me it was the best deal online for brokerage service with great support. With $7 trades, he said you can't go wrong.

The process is easy to get set up. It took all of 20 minutes to jump through their hoops and chose the closest brokerage house (another benefit is the physical locations). Last thing after getting to the confirmation page is to actually send in a check with 2 forms. (IF you forget those, you will have to do it again I hear. )

I should be set to begin trading on Tuesday or Wednesday. However long it takes to credit my account. I started with $500 and I hope to do the stock doubling game like steve at his site. Will also start an IRA. Never too early to think about it!

Monday is President's day so the market is closed then anyway....

Welcome to Online Trading Advice Blog!

2007-02-17T21:24:00.000-06:00

I am strating this new blog on my journey to making lots of money in the stock market (so I hope anyway.) Along the way, we will explore different methods of trading, online trading terms, what indicators to look for, the different markets, and much more. I am a greenhorn at this so expect to hear about the simple things I learn along the way. Maybe this will help someone else in this journey and help encourage others to trade. Thanks and look forward to the journey!