I have never told this part of my story - I guess I was
a little concerned that people would feel that this strategy
was the "RIGHT" strategy - it isn't, but it can really be a
good strategy if you have the right education.
When I started trading for a living in 1997 I borrowed money
to invest in stocks. I started by getting margin loans. I had
used my home equity to buy investments in the past so it wasn't
totally new to me.
First I borrowed $50 000 and then I borrowed another $60 000.
Was this risky? YES - it was, because I was learning what to do
as I went. What I did was I looked at stocks I liked and I went
from trading the stocks to trading leveraged instruments like:
instalments, options and warrants.
At the top my portfolio was worth over $800 000 and a lot of
that was due to the re-investment of profits. I always re-invested
my profits into the next stock or play.
The other aspect which acted as a roller coaster was that I chose
speculative situations. Within three years I had made $700 000
and started to lose money big time in 2000.
Now please don't use this recipe - it is very dangerous to do
any of these things. What would make it less dangerous?
Good question - I'm glad you thought of it! Firstly, you need to
have a system. Your system tells you when to buy and when to sell.
I also suggest you get educated in the market you want to trade and
technical analysis.
To make anything less risky you must be in control. Is it possible?
Well you can try - but there are no guarantees!
1Have a system
Your system rules are so important because they help you keep what
you make.
2Next you need money management rules. One of the reasons I lost
a lot of money was because I was putting too much money in the
trade and not limiting my risk.
This is a brilliant resource to help you prevent bad practices -
it's called Trading Secrets Revealed:
http://tinyurl.com/4xml6
You will get a free audio training course when you visit the site.
I suggest you read this manual carefully and remember that David
Jenyns has also lost money, which is a common lesson for anyone
who decides to trade.
3You can't run a trading business successfully or for very long
without training. It's like, would you want to operate on people
without the qualifications of a doctor?
There are professionals that produce trading methodology and you
MUST have this knowledge and a "system" - I nearly got cleaned
up because I didn't have it. The methodology also helps you learn
to play the market UP, DOWN or SIDEWAYS. Playing the game only
when the market is going "up" is too limiting on your profits.
Get to know your market and use a charting program to study price
movements. Metastock is a well-known charting package, but there
are others.
4Don't borrow unless you can cover the lost money.
Please don't be foolish. If you play with borrowed money you should
have a similar amount in cash sitting in your bank account. Playing
with profits is good and easy, but when it's not your money you become
an emotional player and you will LOSE BIG TIME!
5Following on from that point - get a grip on yourself. You must act
mechanically - not emotionally. You make decisions because your system
tells you to BUY or SELL, not because the rent is due.
Trading for a living is possible when you have no problems paying your
living expenses. I'm talking from experience. I've had to take on a job
just to help me get through my losses. It wasn't an easy time for me,
but I did learn a lot from my experience and I make that available to
anyone who is interested - check the link below in the author's bio.
If you choose to live by trading week to week you may find trading won't
work for you. There are a few things to sort out first and one of them
is peace of mind - then you can make good decisions.
6Know when to quit a trade - before you enter and apply "stop loss" during
the trade. Quit the losing trade. Protect your profit by getting out while in
profit.
7Decide the type of trader you wish to be, but don't try daytrading till
you are successful with your method. You can trade different time intervals:
minutes, days, weeks, months or years.
The shorter the time interval the more you have to be on the ball. You need
to get to know your market very well. Your market could be: stocks, options
or futures. If you choose a currency to trade then gewt to know the chart
of that currency very well.
Well now you know how I made money very quickly by compounding my profits.
Of course the same works in reverse - you can also lose your money very
fast!
I want to thank you for reading this article and would like
to give you a gift. It's a fascinating report
called, "How to Double Your Way to a Million", written
by the legendary multi-millionaire success guru Stuart
Goldsmith.
To obtain your copy, simply go to:
http://www.tutorhelp.com.au/millionaire.html
Regards,
Joseph Sgro
About the Author
Joseph Sgro writes the "THE 10 Simple Rules Ezine" which aims to
present the best trading resources.
Read his trading experiences:
http://www.tutorhelp.com.au/sharemarket.html
Subscribe to past ezine editons:
http://www.tutorhelp.com.au/ezine.html
(C) Copyright 2005 Joseph Sgro