Hey Y'all...
So Laura and 13th asked if I would like to contribute to the Dark Side blog to provide a perspective from someone new to day trading and short selling. Sure, I said... though it's hard to imagine that a newbie's ruminations will be interesting!
Here's the scenario... I've got money in some accounts (IRA and non-IRA brokerage... in stocks and mutual funds) and I've watched those lose a fairly significant percentage over the past several months.
And, unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've seen this happen to my money over the years. I have to say that I do believe that brokers and mutual fund managers have made more off my accounts than I have! (It feels that way, anyway)
And it's pissing me off. No, really, it is! There has got to be a better way.
Ok... so what I've heard since I was old enough to care about investing is that day trading, and selling short in particular, is evil... it's bad... it's dangerous... it screws up the markets... and YOU CAN LOSE YOUR SHIRT, PANTS, DELICATES, AND SELF-ESTEEM... not to mention your life savings!
You know what? They may be right. But I think it's time that I find out for myself. I've been reading Tim Sykes for a few months now (he's a whacko... but he's a smart whacko who knows what he's doing... can learn lots from him). From Tim's site, I found the Green on the Screen site. These guys aren't whackos (well, after hours they are)... but they are smart and they know what they are doing. And I have already (in just a few short weeks) learned lots from them.
To make it even better, I banked $400 from a short trade in GFET that I covered today. Gotta say, that's a step in the right direction. That was my 4th short trade ever... two others were basically break even (actually a little up), and one I lost on (learned a lot, so actually the loss was like tuition). But those are stories for another post.
So, assuming there's any interest in this sort of blog, I'll post periodically telling you what I'm learning (or think I'm learning). I'm hoping that Laura, 13th and Muddy will jump in to correct me when I'm wrong about things (I know they will, right guys?). It's just that there are so many basic things that people new to this have questions about. And I'm right smack in the middle of trying to figure those out. So, the purpose of my contributions is to talk about those questions and issues that newbies have.
If you have questions/comments/etc. please feel free to post them. And if you find this an interesting topic, please post a comment saying so.
And remember, if you go to the chat room during trading hours, keep it only to alerts. After trading hours, there's a lot of off-topic chatting happening... good times... so check that out too. Also, very important: read the blog posts... especially the ones under "Important Posts" on the right side of the screen (http://greenonthescreen.blogspot.com/)!!! There is so much good stuff to learn there!
TTYL.
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5 comments:
I really enjoyed this post and hope you keep it coming (or Laura and 13th let you). I'm new to shorting and have already learned a ton from GOTS chatroom over the last few days. Keep up the good work everyone!
Good post, salleman. Keep up that good attitude and keep learning and you will do well.
-Reaper
Thans for the chance to post. I am also ew to daytrading but have some years experience following the markets for long-term investing. I find myself out manned and out-gunned wuite often in the GOS so this might help new folks get up to speed. Help with interpreting the GOS Important Posts would be great (when the topics come up) and also discussion about the "art" of trading; the gut feel.
I gotta' say, the newbie perspective is a great idea. I think it'll nip a lot of problems in the bud. Good luck!
Awesome post! Love this perspective. And I love the GOS chatroom. I'm learning more there every day I go in.
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