Questions on stock trading and the urge to sell. ?

Question

Hello,

Yesterday was my first day trading online, ever. I decided to take advantage of the unstable stock market and some low prices. I bought some stocks that were pretty low in comparison to how they usually do. Today, they are even lower. I am kicking myself in the *** right now, considering I lost couple of points already. I know it's hit or miss with trading. I know if I wait at least couple of days there is a possibility I can make at least 15% of what I have invested.
My question is: how can I stop looking at the same stocks every minute? How can I stop the urge of selling everything I bought, as my amateur self says ‘you should have just left the money alone in your account at 3.5% yield rate’? How can I stop my self from pushing that button? Those of you that trade, know what I am talking about.
I would appreciate any advice.

Answer 1

Buying some shares of a stock is like going down a deep hole in the ground to get some gold that you see there.



The hole quite often is deep. And there is always some danger that you might not be able to get out of it. Which means that you shouldn't go in there, unless you have a good rope and a good plan how to get out of that hole with the gold.



The rope is your hope. And it has to be a good hope based on extensive knowledge and reasonable assumptions.



And your plan is a way to get out of that hole if your rope turns out to be too short.



Before you go into any trade, you must have a plan for virtually everything that can happen. The price can go up, it can go down, or it can stay the same for a long time. And when you have a plan that you believe in, then you will have the courage to keep going down that hole even when the daylight temporarily disappears, and for a while you don't see your way out of it.

Answer 2

Ugh! You entered the market at one of the worst times. We are in a bear market, you happened to buy on a day when the market rallied. How did you pick your stock? Buy and hope? You need a strategy to trade. You could have helped yourself, if you stated which stock you bought. Do you have a strategy? What rate of return are you expecting? (not hoping) Do you have at least 5 active web sites to do your strategy check. I liked the strategy of short term trading, vs day trading. Short term trading I would execute 1 trade every 5-8 trading days. I set up to make a profit of 8-15% every trade. I developed my strategy over years of trading then found out that Wade Cooke used a similar but refined strategy. He invests in rolling stocks. Finding a stock that rolls 8-12% over a short period of time, alway repeating the highs and lows. I would average 40 -55% a year in good trading years. Stocks are volatile, but in a bear market right now, and that is good and bad for this strategy. I suggest buying the book on Amazon.com "Wallstreet Money Machine" by Wade Cooke. The work comes in finding the stocks that roll. YOu can buy a hard cover for less than $1.00 used. If you don't have a strategy, I recommend buying that book. BTW, you should own more than one stock, you have all your eggs in one basket. Wish I could help you more. Good luck.

Answer 3

Success can not be achieved on emotion. You must have a firm technical understanding of what is a purchasable (buy) stock and when to sell.



People who trade/invest on emotion (and fads) are doomed to fail and are guaranteed to underperform the market.



Based on you statements you should not be trading. Make sure you keep good records of everything you do. Its a fact that traders can't beat the market over the long-term because not only can they not predict the future, they are punished with trading fees and taxes. I guarantee you that you will not be able to consistently beat the S&P 500 index (something you can buy in a low cost index fund).

Answer 4

OIH??!! HAHAHA can someone say falling knife, GL with that.



I trade ETF's exclusively, so I have almost no worry of things going to zero. Therefore, the lower they go the more I buy. Bought 9000 on today's dip looking to place another 6000 in play soon. You have to focus on long term compounding not quick cash. Dont try to daytrade unless you have a solid strategy (its sortof sounds like you dont) because thats pretty much guaranteed failure. You are lucky to start now since the markets are low. If you really want a sure thing just buy SPY and leave it for a year or two. If you want to learn how to trade prepare for a long road, bumpy road, no easy answers there.

Answer 5

It's probably a good idea to learn something about the stock market

before you take the plunge

otherwise you are just throwing your money away

we are in a bear market

those low prices you saw yesterday

will look high a few months from now

you need to learn how to short stock

in order to make money in a bear market

I would recommend that you read some books on technical analysis

and elliot wave theory

Answer 6

U HAVE to have timimg skills like i have to trade these markets. Now do yourself a favor and buy the stocks i buy and sell when i sell. Buy symbol

OIH i am holding the sept 150 calls I paid 9.90 per share i will buy more if this goes lower

Stock price is 157.47 BUY the stock or call options NOW

Answer 7

This is why I leave it up to the professionals and put the vast majority of my money in mutual funds.