Share Trading...

[FCSimmo]

How long has it taken you to double your money SG?

Good call on the simulators, I should have a play with them first...

[sasguru]

How long has it taken you to double your money SG?

Good call on the simulators, I should have a play with them first...

Over a year. I reckon it's mostly luck though. I think they did an experiment where a monkey threw darts at a dartboard papered over with stocks - they selected the stocks the the dart landed on and compared them with professional traders. The monkey beat all the traders.
I am that monkey for all I know.

[FCSimmo]

Hmmm.. I wonder if Jocky Wilson would have been any more accurate with this system?

[beaker]

[QUOTE=FCSimmo;304378]... how often on a daily or even weekly basis are price swings significant enough to create such a scenario?
QUOTE]

Very often! Just look at some of the lending institutions now. Up 7% one day, down 7% the next, down 30% the next etc... If you are leveraged, you only need very small swings to generate very large profits (or losses).

The trick is predicting when the price will go up and when it will go down. This is the tricky part. You need to be right more often than wrong, to be overly simple about it.

[sasguru]

Oh forgot to say I haven't factored in costs. So it's not as good as it sounds

[shaunbhoy]

I am that monkey for all I know.

Never had you pegged for being that far up the food chain sg. Mind you, from my exalted position at the front it is difficult to see that far back. If I borrow Einstein's binos and look back I can just make out some squirrels, an aardvark, then Milan's beergut sticking out. Behind that there is what looks like a halibut and a jellyfish. Is that you just behind them with the wide lapels? Oh yes, and Churchill just behind you with that gormless whimsical look of his. Marvellous!

[King Cnvt]

Never had you pegged for being that far up the food chain sg. Mind you, from my exalted position at the front it is difficult to see that far back. If I borrow Einstein's binos and look back I can just make out some squirrels, an aardvark, then Milan's beergut sticking out. Behind that there is what looks like a halibut and a jellyfish. Is that you just behind them with the wide lapels? Oh yes, and Churchill just behind you with that gormless whimsical look of his. Marvellous!

[lukemg]

Excellent advice being offered here e.g. use small sum you can afford to lose, simulate what you would do in real life (over a decent time period). It will be mostly down to luck, by the time you find out certain information it will already be reflected by the market price. People with hundreds of researchers and access to every possible source of info are often unable to predict the market accurately (just aiming at more times correctly than wrongly).
If you have a gambling streak/history, I suggest you don't start. Saw a good quote from a day-trader along the lines of - before starting day-trading, take £10,000 in notes into your back garden and set fire to it, this will prepare you for what a bad day can be like.
Also - people are often happy to talk about success in this area, making everyone else feel like they are missing out on easy money (witness endless people talking about cash made on dot-coms but very few mentioning the losses incurred after the crash - funny that)
Suggest you consider shares ISA invested in tracker or other general fund and try to get rich slowly. It only takes missing out on the odd excellent day to lower overall returns, so you need to let the money stay around a while to get a few of these (5-10 years !). Dabble a small amount in individual shares for a hobby and if you build up a pot, then you won't lose much by re-investing it.
Good luck either way !

[Moscow Mule]

If you're considering a tracker, also consider a long term 'up' spread bet on your index of choice.

[Andy2]

Day trading is the easiest way to lose your shirt
I am wiser after losing £10k