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Mzattitude

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Hi everyone,

Does anyone here invest in stock? If so, how is it working out for you. Are there any particular analysts that you favor over others. I'm going to start investing in stock and was wondering. Any other helpful info would be great as well.

Thanks
 

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Yes, I have a cousin who is a Stock Broker. He used to handle N.Y. corporate securities, but opened his own brokerage firm on Walnut St. in Philly, my hometown.

He used to do the "StockWatch" news segment for the Tri-State area. He is amazing and has helped me grow an impressive well diversified portfolio.


ETA: Buy stocks like Warren Buffet, with the idea of never selling. Ever.

Arrange your financial model in the form of a wedding cake...

1 months supply of money in your bank account at the top; 6 months supply insured money in the middle layer, and 10 years supply in your foundation, which consists of real estate and equities. Put all the money you make into the middle, and distribute it from there.
 

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who do u bank with?

most advisors can help! what is your Investment Risk Tolerance?
 

Mzattitude

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Yes, I have a cousin who is a Stock Broker. He used to handle N.Y. corporate securities, but opened his own brokerage firm on Walnut St. in Philly, my hometown.

He used to do the "StockWatch" news segment for the Tri-State area. He is amazing and has helped me grow an impressive well diversified portfolio.


ETA: Buy stocks like Warren Buffet, with the idea of never selling. Ever.

Arrange your financial model in the form of a wedding cake...

1 months supply of money in your bank account at the top; 6 months supply insured money in the middle layer, and 10 years supply in your foundation, which consists of real estate and equities. Put all the money you make into the middle, and distribute it from there.
Thanks! That is really great information. I had never heard of the wedding cake format until now. That's a great idea that I'm going to start doing. I'm going to have to research Warren Buffet's logic. I don't understand how you can make money of you never sell the stock.
 

Mzattitude

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who do u bank with?

most advisors can help! what is your Investment Risk Tolerance?
I bank with Wells Fargo and a credit union. I set up an account with Trade King. I have also been chatting with people at work who have been investing for years. It's always great to get a variety of advice from different people.
 

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It's going well. I don't follow many of the analysts, because...well, there is no surefire way to predict with unpredictable stocks. Anyone can buy Apple and Coke and prosper, but when it comes to the non-blue chip stocks, it's difficult to assess how specific stocks will perform. Industry, yes, specific picks, no. I read an article last year that compared how different analysts' stock picks had performed over the year and they were practically as hit or miss as I was, so I do my own research, consider current trends and buy what I like. So far, I'm lucky enough that I stay above the average rate of return. I have started working with a financial advisor, but she hasn't advised me with regard to specific stocks, so I still do that on my own and that's my preference.

Are you already investing in things like mutual funds, index funds, ETFs? I think that's an ideal way to ensure diversity. If you are and just really want a taste of picking your own single stocks, then I'd say start with something big and safe, and then after you build confidence,start researching to decide on something less conservative. You can find good info on The Motley Fool and Morningstar. Good luck!
 

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Thanks! That is really great information. I had never heard of the wedding cake format until now. That's a great idea that I'm going to start doing. I'm going to have to research Warren Buffet's logic. I don't understand how you can make money of you never sell the stock.

I rarely sell anything either. It's money in the bank. While you cannot technically realize the gain without selling, it's there, just the same as the money in a 401K, for example. Anyway, it's not that you never sell, it's that you buy without the intent to sell.
 

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From my own research and reading A sh!t LOAD of books I have decided not to invest in Apple and I like warren buffets logic

Apple is good now but longterm IDK plus I watch msnbc and a lot of financial channels
especially closing bell

and also what may be great for you IDK your age but you should look into a self- directed IRA (BEST DECISION I MADE) (investment wise)

ETA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Directed_IRA

just incase you were wondering
 

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It's going well. I don't follow many of the analysts, because...well, there is no surefire way to predict with unpredictable stocks. Anyone can buy Apple and Coke and prosper, but when it comes to the non-blue chip stocks, it's difficult to assess how specific stocks will perform. Industry, yes, specific picks, no. I read an article last year that compared how different analysts' stock picks had performed over the year and they were practically as hit or miss as I was, so I do my own research, consider current trends and buy what I like. So far, I'm lucky enough that I stay above the average rate of return. I have started working with a financial advisor, but she hasn't advised me with regard to specific stocks, so I still do that on my own and that's my preference.

Are you already investing in things like mutual funds, index funds, ETFs? I think that's an ideal way to ensure diversity. If you are and just really want a taste of picking your own single stocks, then I'd say start with something big and safe, and then after you build confidence,start researching to decide on something less conservative. You can find good info on The Motley Fool and Morningstar. Good luck!
No, not yet. I have only been out of school a year so I have been focusing on paying my private student loans off. I am looking into investing in a mutual fund as well. I was actually thinking about investing in Apple. Lol
 

Mzattitude

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From my own research and reading A sh!t LOAD of books I have decided not to invest in Apple and I like warren buffets logic

Apple is good now but longterm IDK plus I watch msnbc and a lot of financial channels
especially closing bell

and also what may be great for you IDK your age but you should look into a self- directed IRA (BEST DECISION I MADE) (investment wise)

ETA: Self-Directed IRA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

just incase you were wondering
Thanks for the info and the link. I was thinking about getting an IRA as well...Like I told the other poster, I was thinking about investing in Apple. It's projected to get up to $1650 by 2015...
 

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i think (i checked yesterday) to buy apple stock its less than 500$

ETA: how old are you? if you can you should start your IRA to prepare yourself for retirement.

do u have kids?
 

Mzattitude

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i think (i checked yesterday) to buy apple stock its less than 500$

ETA: how old are you? if you can you should start your IRA to prepare yourself for retirement.

do u have kids?
Yep. I have been watching it as well. I was told to wait until drops a little before I purchase some shares..
 

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Yep. I have been watching it as well. I was told to wait until drops a little before I purchase some shares..

have u read any books?

I dont know exactly what are your long term goals but u should try these books

think and grow rich
the conspiracy of the rich
Bonds
Stocks
last chance millionaire
the millionaire next door

you will be surprise at some of the stuff you read

oh yeah I also just got into currency trading and I AM LOVING IT SO FAR
 

mollflanders

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IRA first, then after you are maxing your IRA annually, then move on to mutual funds, then individual stocks. Trust me!
 

Mzattitude

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have u read any books?

I dont know exactly what are your long term goals but u should try these books

think and grow rich
the conspiracy of the rich
Bonds
Stocks
last chance millionaire
the millionaire next door

you will be surprise at some of the stuff you read

oh yeah I also just got into currency trading and I AM LOVING IT SO FAR
I'm going to check them out. Did those books help you out alot?
 

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I'm going to check them out. Did those books help you out alot?

yes ma'am

ETA: I dont know if you are into luxury items but alot of people with REAL MONEY (millionaires and etc) really dont live a luxurious life just a regular honda and a modest home
 

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IRA first, then after you are maxing your IRA annually, then move on to mutual funds, then individual stocks. Trust me!

I tend to disagree with that . Stay away from mutual funds. Seriously . It is like giving a financial advisor money with no incentive to make money for you.
 

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Here are a few words from an active investor. If you are new to investing or the stock market. Read as much as you in regards to investor books, stock forums, bloomberg, and other financial . Learn to how to interpret and read stock charts and the various technical indicators analysis tools out there to break down a single individual stock. Like RSI, DMA, MACD, SMA, Volume, and so on as there are tons of them. Learn at least 3-5 of them real well. Know what a limit order vs a market order is. Learn about stop losses and the various types of stops and how it affects you if a certain event was to happen in the stock price. Learn about level 2 . Pickup the Wallstreet journal and IBD from time to time to look at how the overall market is doing and review the sections that cover stock quotes( notice drops /increase in sectors ). There are also different areas you can invest in forex, commodities, ETFs, currency, eminis, regular market NASDAQ/NYSE and so on . Find out which one you want to do.

Also pay attention to what is going on in the news as well as it does affect specific industries at specific times of the year. Learn how to short stocks (Making money on stocks going down in value).
Nothing is the best teacher like hands on. If you don't have the money yet. Play around with simulator stock accounts. Trademonster has these and there are many others only. That is where you get pretend money and you can buy stocks and see how well you do with to test what you learned.

Learn how to manage/ invest your own money because no one has your best interested at heart with your $$$ but you. Do your own research and do not base your investments ever on hearsay from Stock Analysis / These so call experts - CNBC. Never invest money that you cannot afford to lose.


I am a swing trader and sometimes a day trader if opportunity is presents itself at the right moment. Swing trader meaning I only hold stocks for about 1-3 weeks or if the profit presents itself sooner I sell it. I am not a buy and hold person in this stock market. In my opinion the market is too Volatile for that right now.

Also in terms of e-brokerage there are many online find one that fits you and take notice of the fees to buy and sell stocks and other fees they charge to wire in and out. If you use margin to invest do not over extend yourself when buying stocks and never but all your money into one stock spread it out.

This is basically a snapshot of what I have traded so far since the beginning of this year.

stc.jpg
 

mollflanders

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I tend to disagree with that . Stay away from mutual funds. Seriously . It is like giving a financial advisor money with no incentive to make money for you.

I buy no load mutual funds from Vanguard and hold long enough to avoid redemption fees. So, yeah, I stand by the recommendation.

No shade, but we're already in May and you're up less than 2%. The Dow cracked 15K today. The right selection of mutual funds would outperform this easily.
 

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Here are a few words from an active investor. If you are new to investing or the stock market. Read as much as you in regards to investor books, stock forums, bloomberg, and other financial . Learn to how to interpret and read stock charts and the various technical indicators analysis tools out there to break down a single individual stock. Like RSI, DMA, MACD, SMA, Volume, and so on as there are tons of them. Learn at least 3-5 of them real well. Know what a limit order vs a market order is. Learn about stop losses and the various types of stops and how it affects you if a certain event was to happen in the stock price. Learn about level 2 . Pickup the Wallstreet journal and IBD from time to time to look at how the overall market is doing and review the sections that cover stock quotes( notice drops /increase in sectors ). There are also different areas you can invest in forex, commodities, ETFs, currency, eminis, regular market NASDAQ/NYSE and so on . Find out which one you want to do.

Also pay attention to what is going on in the news as well as it does affect specific industries at specific times of the year. Learn how to short stocks (Making money on stocks going down in value).
Nothing is the best teacher like hands on. If you don't have the money yet. Play around with simulator stock accounts. Trademonster has these and there are many others only. That is where you get pretend money and you can buy stocks and see how well you do with to test what you learned.

Learn how to manage/ invest your own money because no one has your best interested at heart with your $$$ but you. Do your own research and do not base your investments ever on hearsay from Stock Analysis / These so call experts - CNBC. Never invest money that you cannot afford to lose.


I am a swing trader and sometimes a day trader if opportunity is presents itself at the right moment. Swing trader meaning I only hold stocks for about 1-3 weeks or if the profit presents itself sooner I sell it. I am not a buy and hold person in this stock market. In my opinion the market is too Volatile for that right now.

Also in terms of e-brokerage there are many online find one that fits you and take notice of the fees to buy and sell stocks and other fees they charge to wire in and out. If you use margin to invest do not over extend yourself when buying stocks and never but all your money into one stock spread it out.

This is basically a snapshot of what I have traded so far since the beginning of this year.

stc.jpg

I am surprised at some of the stocks you choose

what made you pick apple and dollar general
 

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I tend to disagree with that . Stay away from mutual funds. Seriously . It is like giving a financial advisor money with no incentive to make money for you.

I am 50/50 about mutual funds. I do know that most people think that when you go to a bank and start a brokerage account and you give them (example: 1k ) that it will just sit there and make them a million

People should research mutual funds instead of believing urban myths
 

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I buy no load mutual funds from Vanguard and hold long enough to avoid redemption fees. So, yeah, I stand by the recommendation.

No shade, but we're already in May and you're up less than 2%. The Dow cracked 15K today. The right selection of mutual funds would outperform this easily.

how do u like vanguard?

I was considering them but I chose Charles Schwab because of the currency trading that I invest in
 

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also how many banks do yall use?

I have been reading A sh!t LOAD of books about personal finance, real estate investing, and etc. (dont judge me)

and in ALMOST every book not one millionaire or etc use just 1 or two banks.

A young professional that I know we were discussing money and etc and she told me that she banks with 4 bank (1 or 2 was a credit union) and her Family's net worth is well over a million dollars
 

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how do u like vanguard?

I was considering them but I chose Charles Schwab because of the currency trading that I invest in

I love Vanguard. I've been with them for a long time. Their site is user-friendly and informative and their customer service is helpful. I also like the selection of funds. They have made one mistake (although it was a big one, mailed a check, it was deposited in another person's account :stop:...I usually do electronic funding but occasionally I do send checks, so that really threw me for a loop), but it was quickly corrected and I like how they followed up with me.

Regarding your other question, I actively use 2 brick and mortar banks. I also have an online only account connected to a different investment account...this setup is really just something I did a long time ago and never bothered to consolidate it.
 

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I am surprised at some of the stocks you choose

what made you pick apple and dollar general

Dollar general, I chose this stock because it was at a low price coming into the new year trading off their highs from last year. Another reason cause we are in a recession everybody and their momma are shopping at these stores and they are practically building them everywhere. They also said they will be selling cigarettes soon and bring other necessity products into their stores. I picked them up earlier in the year before dropping them. It was trading side ways so cut out of it with a small loss. If I had remained in it I would have made a profit. In one word I got very impatient waiting with this one . :disapointed:
I also was looking at Family Dollar at the same time but ended up getting dollar general because their shares were at a lower price and I could get more of them compared to FD at then time I bought in.


Apple stock . I am having a love- hate relationship with that one right now as I still own it :struggle:

Reason why I bought into this one, As long as they keep releasing new products that people want to buy and are in demand I think as a company they will be ok. Also they have tons of cash sitting in the bank (billions) . Then they have IPAD / IPhone new releases and iwatch . As for their stock chart it has been terrible since last Sept. If you shorted along the way till now, you made helluva money. It is very volatile stock right now.
 

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and also OP I have learned thru research that ALL CD's are not created equal

at most banks you can put 25k in a CD and it will just sit there and gain maybe 1 percent interest depending on the maturity date.

With some financial institutions you have to purchase and sell your cd at the maturity date and you may lose OR gain money and also I have a subscription to IBD it $330 a year for print and $250 a year for online

I dont know your Financial situation but I just wanted to point that out
 

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Dollar general, I chose this stock because it was at a low price coming into the new year trading off their highs from last year. Another reason cause we are in a recession everybody and their momma are shopping at these stores and they are practically building them everywhere. They also said they will be selling cigarettes soon and bring other necessity products into their stores. I picked them up earlier in the year before dropping them. It was trading side ways so cut out of it with a small loss. If I had remained in it I would have made a profit. In one word I got very impatient waiting with this one . :disapointed:
I also was looking at Family Dollar at the same time but ended up getting dollar general because their shares were at a lower price and I could get more of them compared to FD at then time I bought in.


Apple stock . I am having a love- hate relationship with that one right now as I still own it :struggle:

Reason why I bought into this one, As long as they keep releasing new products that people want to buy and are in demand I think as a company they will be ok. Also they have tons of cash sitting in the bank (billions) . Then they have IPAD / IPhone new releases and iwatch . As for their stock chart it has been terrible since last Sept. If you shorted along the way till now, you made helluva money. It is very volatile stock right now.

Please dont take offense BUT THAT WAS A MISTAKE instead of looking at the price IMO you should have research the company as a whole and looked at their profit margins, the employee's, the product they sell, and etc. you have to think of it as investing into a business and not the cheapest stock

do you see a profit with DG?

also with Apple because it is a technological stock its too unpredictable for me years ago apple was soaring now its just okay The CEO has died and the new dude is lost their sells are not as good as they use to be and because of the constant NEW STUFF many people are flocking to other brands because EVERY YEAR they are reissuing the same thing

DO u watch fox business channel?
 

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Please dont take offense BUT THAT WAS A MISTAKE instead of looking at the price IMO you should have research the company as a whole and looked at their profit margins, the employee's, the product they sell, and etc. you have to think of it as investing into a business and not the cheapest stock

do you see a profit with DG?

also with Apple because it is a technological stock its too unpredictable for me years ago apple was soaring now its just okay The CEO has died and the new dude is lost their sells are not as good as they use to be and because of the constant NEW STUFF many people are flocking to other brands because EVERY YEAR they are reissuing the same thing

DO u watch fox business channel?

Since I am a short-term swing trader, profit margins are not important to me (As long as they are not Enron) I am good:pwink: and on that note too many companies are cooking /padding the books to be 100 % sure. Remember Bear Stearns. A companies Employees is a non factor for me as well.
However, Products they sell / industry / Price /Volume in relation to (Accumulation/Distribution) / News is very important to me as a short-term swing trader.

Are you referring to long-term or short-term? Profit with DG
Pretty much the whole dollar store sector is pretty strong and good to be invested in.

No I do not watch fox business channel. When I do look at those channels CNBC/ Fox it is usually for the ticker quotes only. Other than that the TV stays on mute when on these channels most of the time.
 

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[MENTION=6556]mollflanders[/MENTION]

ok because I just revisited their site i like their cd rates
 

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Since I am a short-term swing trader, profit margins are not important to me (As long as they are not Enron) I am good:pwink: and on that note too many companies are cooking /padding the books to be 100 % sure. Remember Bear Stearns. A companies Employees is a non factor for me as well.
However, Products they sell / industry / Price /Volume in relation to (Accumulation/Distribution) / News is very important to me as a short-term swing trader.

Are you referring to long-term or short-term? Profit with DG
Pretty much the whole dollar store sector is pretty strong and good to be invested in.

No I do not watch fox business channel. When I do look at those channels CNBC/ Fox it is usually for the ticker quotes only. Other than that the TV stays on mute when on these channels most of the time.

ok do you do currency trading?

who do you bank with?
 

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Here are a few words from an active investor. If you are new to investing or the stock market. Read as much as you in regards to investor books, stock forums, bloomberg, and other financial . Learn to how to interpret and read stock charts and the various technical indicators analysis tools out there to break down a single individual stock. Like RSI, DMA, MACD, SMA, Volume, and so on as there are tons of them. Learn at least 3-5 of them real well. Know what a limit order vs a market order is. Learn about stop losses and the various types of stops and how it affects you if a certain event was to happen in the stock price. Learn about level 2 . Pickup the Wallstreet journal and IBD from time to time to look at how the overall market is doing and review the sections that cover stock quotes( notice drops /increase in sectors ). There are also different areas you can invest in forex, commodities, ETFs, currency, eminis, regular market NASDAQ/NYSE and so on . Find out which one you want to do.

Also pay attention to what is going on in the news as well as it does affect specific industries at specific times of the year. Learn how to short stocks (Making money on stocks going down in value).
Nothing is the best teacher like hands on. If you don't have the money yet. Play around with simulator stock accounts. Trademonster has these and there are many others only. That is where you get pretend money and you can buy stocks and see how well you do with to test what you learned.

Learn how to manage/ invest your own money because no one has your best interested at heart with your $$$ but you. Do your own research and do not base your investments ever on hearsay from Stock Analysis / These so call experts - CNBC. Never invest money that you cannot afford to lose.


I am a swing trader and sometimes a day trader if opportunity is presents itself at the right moment. Swing trader meaning I only hold stocks for about 1-3 weeks or if the profit presents itself sooner I sell it. I am not a buy and hold person in this stock market. In my opinion the market is too Volatile for that right now.

Also in terms of e-brokerage there are many online find one that fits you and take notice of the fees to buy and sell stocks and other fees they charge to wire in and out. If you use margin to invest do not over extend yourself when buying stocks and never but all your money into one stock spread it out.

This is basically a snapshot of what I have traded so far since the beginning of this year.

stc.jpg
Very useful info! I also hear that the best time to buy stock is when its really low! I was also advised not to buy when its really high unless you predict it will nearly double.
 

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High Frequency Trading: Wall Street’s Doomsday Machine?

By Christopher Matthews

Aug. 08, 2012

http://business.time.com/2012/08/08/high-frequency-trading-wall-streets-doomsday-machine/#comments
Another week, another Wall Street scandal, and another opportunity for pundits to bemoan the incompetence and venality of America’s financial professionals. Last Wednesday’s near collapse of Knight Capital Partners – in which a bug in one of its high-frequency trading algorithms caused the firm too loose $440 million – has raised concerns about high frequency trading and what the practice means for the safety and trustworthiness of our financial markets. But what is high-frequency trading, and is it really all that dangerous?

High frequency trading is a catch-all term that describes the practice of firms using high-powered computers to execute trades at very fast speeds – sometimes thousands or millions of trades per second. These systems have developed over the past ten years, and began to really dominate Wall Street over the last five. For example, a high-frequency trader might try to take advantage of miniscule differences in prices between securities offered on different exchanges: ABC stock could be offered for one price in New York and for a slightly higher price in London. With a high-powered computer and an “algorithm,” a trader could buy the cheap stock and sell the expensive one almost simultaneously, making an almost risk-free profit for himself.
At first blush, it appears high-frequency traders have done what market observers generally like, which is increase the amount of trading going on at any given time (what traders call volume) and the ease with which someone can buy or sell a given security (commonly known as liquidity). Basically high-speed traders add to the overall action in a market, which, at least theoretically, is supposed to make markets more accurate and efficient.
But not everyone agrees that the thousands of extra trades per second that some computer algorithms are executing are actually all that good for the market. In a recent paper titled, “The Dark Side of Trading,” Emory University accounting professor Ilia D. Dichev argues that while some high-frequency trading can be beneficial, the scope of high-frequency activity in the market today — which accounts for up to 70% of all trades by some estimates — has drowned out the input from more traditional investors who partake in good-old-fashioned “fundamental” analysis of companies, i.e. the analysis of financial statements and business plans.
When only a small minority of market participants are trading on actual information about the companies they are buying and selling, and the rest are trading on what computer programs think about those participants actions, the market can become unmoored from fundamentals, more volatile and less efficient.
Perhaps even more problematic, high-speed trading systems may also pose risks to the stability of the overall financial system. The Knight Capital incident last week showed how the speed and power of the computers can amplify a small glitch to disastrous effect. The details of what exactly went wrong with one of Knight Capital’s computer programs are as yet unknown, but whatever the problem was, it only took 30 minutes for the problem to cause more hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and put the firm at risk of bankruptcy.
As you can imagine, this kind of stuff leads to systemic dangers. If a similar incident were to fell a systemically important financial institution, it could theoretically put the entire economy at risk. The so-called “flash crash” of 2010, when the Dow Jones lost more than 1,000 points in a matter of minutes, was caused by glitches in high-frequency trading systems — and since that time issues with the Facebook and BATS IPOs have shown that these sorts of bugs are all too common on Wall Street. Dave Cliff, a computer science professor at the University of Bristol and one-time pioneer of high-frequency trading systems, is worried about just this sort of danger. In an interview with HFT Review, in December, he warned of the systemic issues that the increased computerization of our financial system poses:
“One of the things that we have focused on . . . for the last five years is the extent on which the global financial markets are now essentially a single, planetary-wide, ultra-large scale complex IT system . . . The 6th May Flash Crash was the first real sign that actually our concern was justified, that events could happen at an unprecedented scale, in terms of the magnitude of the drop and the speed at which it happened.”
While issues of financial market efficiency and fairness are important, the idea that one of these computer programs could bring down the entire financial system is much more frightening for the average citizen. The SEC has already begun looking into new rules to prevent these sorts of problems from spreading to the broader market. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal:
“The SEC expects to push forward with rules that will require exchanges and other market platforms to regularly test for software glitches and inform regulators of computer problems . . . At the same time, the agency also is weighing whether to require tighter rules for trading firms such as Knight, including whether a senior official at each firm should certify that the company’s technology systems are up to snuff.”
We are increasingly dependent on computers for all that we do, and the government won’t always be able to prevent their malfunctioning from causing serious problems. But the many glitches that have plagued financial markets in the past couple of years should serve as a sobering reminder that financial markets have evolved much more quickly in the past decade than regulators have.
As Scott Patterson, author of Dark Pools, a book about high-frequency trading, said to Yahoo Finance Monday, “We have seen a massive revolution in how exchanges work. It’s been put in place extremely fast . . . the problem is that the race for profits at the exchanges and at the high-frequency firms has outpaced their ability to manage risk.”

biz_knight_0807.jpg

Brendan McDermid / ReutersTraders work at the Knight Capital kiosk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Aug. 3, 2012.


 

hernanday

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I use to work at a top venture capital firm before most people even knew what it was. I was an analyst and my job was to analyze and valuate companies and basically pick stocks that were to increase significantly.

I still play the stock market and I am basically tying the market right now; which isn't too bad given that its up about 19% in the last year.

My advise is to find an index fund and invest in it. Wilshire 500, the vanguard fund is a good one with low fees, the nasdaq, dow jones, nyse etc.

No investor can consistently beat the market according to portfolio theory, or at least that is what they taught when I was doing my business degree. You might beat the market 5 years in a row, but it only takes 1 year to be wiped out entirely. Luckily the market averages 11% a year and pays dividends unlike the housing market. You rent a $500k house (adjust for where you live new york more idaho less) for 25 years, and if you miss a few payments because you get sick or in a car accident then there goes your entire investment and if the market is bad and you need to sell well you can't move.

If you put a down payment of 50 grand on the index and toss on 2 grand a month at 25 for 40 years, by the time your 65 or ready to retire you'll have $17.2 million. Now some people might say ah, well who has 50 grand at 25. If you save from when you graduate at 21 or 22 10 or 15 grand a year you'll have it. Live below your means, don't buy a new car every few years make due with a used one, don't buy a mansion, rent a reasonably small size place. Try to live in a place where you won't need a car. If you can't pay it up when your 25, by the time your 30 or 40 you should be able to dump some real cash in there. And if you have a spouse then you can cut down to 1 grand per person.

I look for stocks that look like they have strong growth records and invest, if they lose more than 10% I dump and keep. Its a pretty good strategy. You might lose money at first, mostly on fees but it just takes 1 stock to double to erase those small losses.
 

hernanday

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Here are a few words from an active investor. If you are new to investing or the stock market. Read as much as you in regards to investor books, stock forums, bloomberg, and other financial . Learn to how to interpret and read stock charts and the various technical indicators analysis tools out there to break down a single individual stock. Like RSI, DMA, MACD, SMA, Volume, and so on as there are tons of them. Learn at least 3-5 of them real well. Know what a limit order vs a market order is. Learn about stop losses and the various types of stops and how it affects you if a certain event was to happen in the stock price. Learn about level 2 . Pickup the Wallstreet journal and IBD from time to time to look at how the overall market is doing and review the sections that cover stock quotes( notice drops /increase in sectors ). There are also different areas you can invest in forex, commodities, ETFs, currency, eminis, regular market NASDAQ/NYSE and so on . Find out which one you want to do.

Also pay attention to what is going on in the news as well as it does affect specific industries at specific times of the year. Learn how to short stocks (Making money on stocks going down in value).
Nothing is the best teacher like hands on. If you don't have the money yet. Play around with simulator stock accounts. Trademonster has these and there are many others only. That is where you get pretend money and you can buy stocks and see how well you do with to test what you learned.

Learn how to manage/ invest your own money because no one has your best interested at heart with your $$$ but you. Do your own research and do not base your investments ever on hearsay from Stock Analysis / These so call experts - CNBC. Never invest money that you cannot afford to lose.


I am a swing trader and sometimes a day trader if opportunity is presents itself at the right moment. Swing trader meaning I only hold stocks for about 1-3 weeks or if the profit presents itself sooner I sell it. I am not a buy and hold person in this stock market. In my opinion the market is too Volatile for that right now.

Also in terms of e-brokerage there are many online find one that fits you and take notice of the fees to buy and sell stocks and other fees they charge to wire in and out. If you use margin to invest do not over extend yourself when buying stocks and never but all your money into one stock spread it out.

This is basically a snapshot of what I have traded so far since the beginning of this year.

stc.jpg

There is some good info in here, but I think the average person should just focus on one thing. Most people won't be able to ever day trade and make a profit, Most day traders don't make profits in the long run which is why they are being replaced with algorithimic traders aka computers. Some exceptional traders can make money over the long term. My first degree was in finance and I worked in VC firm, and I never dear day traded with my own money. WAY TOO RISKY. The trading fees alone would kill you. Maybe in USA the fees are lower but where I am...PSH.

Conventional portfolio theory says to diversify but your far more likely to earn a good return off a single stock like an amazon or netflix or an apple than you are to correctly pick 6-7 stocks. And dependng on how much money we are talking, buying and selling 6-7 stocks could destroy the profitability.

The behaviour of the market in relation to the news can be unpredictable, for instance when the positive economic job numbers came out a week ago, the market went DOWN, BUT THEN went up several days later. Who the hell would predict that?

Its better for someone to just invest in a major long term bullish stock part of a long term change like apple or amazon or netflix than to try to become a arm chair expert. Because the real experts with ph.d's in finance are struggling to make returns on multi million dollar portfolios never mind 10 grand with $25 or $50 a trade fees.
 

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I am going to check in one more time before year end and show a new update. I think when I gave ya'll my last update I was around 1600 bucks for year training part-time as a swing /day trader. Here is my Nov update training stocks part-time for the year and I am now up over 11k. If you can control your emotions and not let greed get in the way there is money to be made. I wish I knew this mess a long time ago, I would have been getting paid. Well better now than never. Again I only do this part-time for about 10 hours a week.

My number one rule is take your money off the table no matter how small it is every day you get it because each small amount does add up.



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hernanday

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I am going to check in one more time before year end and show a new update. I think when I gave ya'll my last update I was around 1600 bucks for year training part-time as a swing /day trader. Here is my Nov update training stocks part-time for the year and I am now up over 11k. If you can control your emotions and not let greed get in the way there is money to be made. I wish I knew this mess a long time ago, I would have been getting paid. Well better now than never. Again I only do this part-time for about 10 hours a week.

My number one rule is take your money off the table no matter how small it is every day you get it because each small amount does add up.



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t93.png

what are your stocks. what is your trading strategy?
 

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Anyone still in, seriously needs to cash out today. Convert paper into hard assets asap. :fing02:
 

tt00

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Anyone still in, seriously needs to cash out today. Convert paper into hard assets asap. :fing02:

Nah Im still in & not going out the market anytime soon. Planning on going hard this year again. Right now I have been playing alot with Twitter / Fresh Market / Airline Internet providers. Scoping through some other potentials that got hit hard during the winter quarter because I do believe most of these will make a comeback later on this year.
 

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