Things I have learned

[boneil]

I started in the market about 5-6 years ago. In that time I have lost a boat load of money. But I have made plenty. One of the biggest issues that I had were dealing with emotions. And only time and experience will solve that issue. I have become less of an investor and more of a trader. Fortunately I am able to pursue a career as a trader. Although, I wouldn't call myself successful, but close.

But here are a few things I have learned:

When you buy something, understand that there is a seller who believes he is selling you a product that will go down in price. You believe you are smarter than him and that price will rise.
The market is not rigged. Someone is buying and someone is selling. The market does not care about you. It does not care if you go broke or become rich.
Stay off the Yahoo Finance Message Boards. There is no good information that comes from them.
Shorting is risky, especially in a Bull Market.
Paper trading is good practice but it won't help you with the emotions that come with real money
Learn how to read a chart and use it to pick your buy points and sell points
Buy on weakness and sell into strength
You will never go broke by taking profits. And nothing is worse than having profits turn into a loss
Stubbornness will make you go broke
hope is not a strategy. Long term investors who buy and hold and never look at their investments are hoping they retire near the top of a bull market.
When you enter a stop order, that is a sell order, and there are stop hunting algorithms. I see them work on a daily basis.

more to come.........

[Cape Fear]

One of the things I have learned is the market will have big swings both up and down so learn to take it in stride. Knee jerk reactions will do more harm then good. Most, but not all, of my investments are in mutal funds. With diversity there is usually something that will earn even in a bear market. Know your limitations.

[dkibat]

I am in day trading taking a quick profit and not looking at long term only if the price of the stock stays low then i keep it until it goes above the buy price by at least $1. I buy either 500 or 1000 shares of the stock and if i can make 1or2 dollars per share i am happy, I have left a few K's on the table because of selling too quickly but greed is not my thing. I have used a limit order for selling and now am looking on a trailing stop order to see how that works, just not sure how much to set for the drop price yet. It's very confusing on all the terms that are used so i am sticking to the basics and not trying to get rich. I have been doing this for about 2 1/2 yrs and have made over 50k gross. What i have lost has come out of the profit made and not out of the initial investment i started with, the best day was just over 4k in one day but usually 1 or 2 K and that works just fine for me.

[Dando]

I day trade also. But, I ONLY buy stocks that I would buy and hold (for years).
If I think a company is going to be around 20 years from now and continue growing? AND, I'd feel as if I could long term invest in that companies stock? I'll buy and sell the swings without hesitation.
Sometimes I get stuck for a few days. Sometimes a few weeks.
Usually, I can wrangle out a little profit each day though.
And if I don't? I don't worry about it because it's something I would buy and hold for the long haul anyway.

[Painter1]

I have been doing this for about 2 1/2 yrs and have made over 50k gross. What i have lost has come out of the profit made and not out of the initial investment i started with.

I thinking of doing what you are and want to see if I understand correctly. You initial capital investment earned $50K gross profit in 2.5 years. Q: what was the Net Profit (includes all losses and expenses) ? Q: What was the magnitude of the starting capital?

Thanks is for the help