# How did you all start?



## trinity (19 June 2007)

What started you into trading shares?  What got you interested in it?  How long have you been doing it?  How long do you plan to keep doing it?  What's the one thing you wished someone told you when you got started in trading?

Thanks for sharing your insights.


----------



## YELNATS (19 June 2007)

trinity said:


> What started you into trading shares?  What got you interested in it?  How long have you been doing it?  How long do you plan to keep doing it?  What's the one thing you wished someone told you when you got started in trading?
> 
> Thanks for sharing your insights.



Off and on since the late 60's (Poseidon days). Still have some of the original certificates!


----------



## reece55 (19 June 2007)

YELNATS said:


> Off and on since the late 60's (Poseidon days). Still have some of the original certificates!




One of the partners at my firm used to work for Coopers and it was his job to fill out the manual certificates. He told me that every time a company went bust, he put the certificate on a pinboard.

Incidentally, he went through the 70's boom and bust, the pinboard was awfully full......

I got started when I entered the school ASX sharemarket game challenge in high school in 1998. I came second in the state of SA, managed to pick up $500.00. I thought that it might be something that I could make big money from. Turns out it was a lot trickier than I could have ever anticipated. However, much more enjoyable than I ever would have anticipated.

Cheers


----------



## YELNATS (19 June 2007)

Could it ever happen again in this day and age?

QUOTE
The Poseidon bubble was a stock market bubble in which the price of Australian mining shares soared in late 1969, then crashed in early 1970. It was triggered by the Poseidon NL company's discovery of a promising site for nickel mining in September 1969.

In the late 1960s, nickel was in high demand due to the Vietnam War, but there was a shortage of supply due to industrial action against the major Canadian supplier Inco. These factors pushed the price of nickel to record levels, peaking at around £7,000 on the London market early in November 1969. In September 1969, the mining company Poseidon NL made a major nickel discovery at Windarra in the Shire of Laverton, Western Australia. In early September their shares had been trading at $0.80, but as information about the discovery was released, the price rose until it was trading at $12.30 on October 1. After this, very little further information came to light, but the price continued to climb due to speculation; at one point, a UK broker suggested a value of up to $382 a share.

The price of Poseidon shares quickly became too high for many investors, so some investors turned to other nickel stocks, stocks in other mines near Windarra, and eventually other mining stocks in general. As the price of mining shares grew, numerous new companies were listed by promoters looking to cash in. Some of these new listings did not even have any mining leases, let along viable mines. Many investors lost money on these shady listings, and this attracted substantial negative press. Thus the image of mining stocks was tainted, and the prices began to fall. Mining stocks peaked in January 1970, then immediately crashed. Poseidon shares peaked in February 1970, and fell rapidly thereafter.

By the time Poseidon actually started producing nickel, the price of nickel had fallen. Also, the nickel ore was of a lower grade than originally thought, so extraction costs were higher. Profits from the mine were not sufficient to keep Poseidon afloat, and in 1976 it delisted. Western Mining then took over the mine, operating it until 1991.

In 1974, The Rae Committee handed down its report on the Poseidon bubble, in which it documented numerous cases of improper trade practices. It recommended a number of changes to the regulation of stock markets, which ultimately led to Australia's national companies and securities legislation.

UNQUOTE

I wonder. regards YN.


----------



## reece55 (19 June 2007)

YELNATS said:


> Could it ever happen again in this day and age?
> 
> QUOTE
> The Poseidon bubble was a stock market bubble in which the price of Australian mining shares soared in late 1969, then crashed in early 1970. It was triggered by the Poseidon NL company's discovery of a promising site for nickel mining in September 1969.
> ...




Personally, I would highly doubt it. That's not to say it couldn't happen, because greed is a powerful thing, but the Poseidon bubble in this day and age would mean the share would go into trading halt god knows how many times.... LOL.

Cheers


----------



## Seaking (19 June 2007)

Glossy brochure sent to me by Tomato Technologies Star Trader software people in 2003 promising me holidays , sports cars, bikini girls and a life of luxury and I only had to spend 30 minutes a day to get the lot. 
Didn't buy the program which probably explains the absence of all the afore mentioned goodies.


----------



## YELNATS (19 June 2007)

YELNATS said:


> Off and on since the late 60's (Poseidon days). Still have some of the original certificates!




I actually started fresh out of school in that era with the Commonwealth Bank working in their share registry in their head office at Collins Street, Melbourne. Their registry looked after about 20+ companies, as I recall. Everything was done totally manually, no computer-processing in those days. Sigh!:


----------



## legs (19 June 2007)

ARF super fund let me dabble with 50% of my balance in the ASX200 stocks. I have tripled my fund balance in 2 years thanks to OXR, ASX, NFD, TOE,  Etc.


----------



## prawn_86 (19 June 2007)

like reece i too participated in the share game, but not at school, just on my own.
I came 9th in the state, so i decided to put my savings on the line and see if i could back it up. Have done so far, the problem i have is distinct lack of capital. 
how do you try and spread 6k across so many good stocks???without getting slugged too much CGT. 
I prefer to try to hold mid - long term, but i just keep coming across so many good opportunites and have to sell some to put into others.
anyone care to offer a loan?? 
lol


----------



## nizar (19 June 2007)

I wish i read Van Tharp's, Elder's, And Stan Weinstein's books before i started.
Would have given me a much better start.
But hey its a bullmarket -- anything works.

Market interest starting at the beginning of 2005 with managed funds and about $7k. Geared blue chips, made 70% first year. Then got to individual stocks. First one was PBD back in November 2005.

In January 2006 became a bit more serious about it all.

Wow Prawn 9th in the state, good effort. I did have a go a that game a few years back, cant remember my place, it wasnt that great lol.

As for lack of capital, you gotta start somewhere. Key is to try and not chop and change too much. Rather, try to ride longer term trends. In my opinion.


----------



## questionall_42 (19 June 2007)

_When I started _- 1997 with TLS; but in earnest in 2003 when I put my meagre savings to use in the likes of PMN, BHP, COH... Getting progressively more speccy with time.

_What I wish I had done _- had a clearer plan of how to gradually enter the market when I had a good job with super good excess cash flow.  Starting with small trades ($2K) was a necessary learning curve, but the time spent researching and then monitoring was not worth the payout.  

Something I am still struggling with is time vs payout for my investments.  If I can earn $50/hour plying my trade, is it worth it to trade/invest (from a purely financial perspective?)

Thoughts?


----------



## prawn_86 (19 June 2007)

questionall_42 said:


> _ with super good excess cash flow.
> 
> Something I am still struggling with is time vs payout for my investments.  If I can earn $50/hour plying my trade, is it worth it to trade/invest (from a purely financial perspective?)_



_

i want a job with super good excess cash flow also lol! studying isnt the best paid job out there.

economic perspective: good old 'opportunity cost'. Do you make $400 nett a day trading, as that is what you can make from your job? otherwise you are forgoeing the opporunity to make a greater hourly rate. And if you dont you are better of investing longer term than trading, so not as much detailed attention is needed.
then comes the other factors, happiness, enjoyment etc etc which economics conveniently leaves out, or gets you to place a $ value on. 
tell me, what price do you value your enjoyment at? lol_


----------



## questionall_42 (20 June 2007)

> tell me, what price do you value your enjoyment at? lol




It is all relative to how much my portfolio has increased (or decreased... ...)For the last 18 months of travelling and volunteering, I have valued my enjoyment at equal to exactly the increase in my portfolio   Nice to know you can live off the passive cream of your labour (albeit for a limited time).

Enjoying work makes it valuable... ...  and if you can find that, the rest is a moot point and falls into place.  

Happy trading/investing/value seeking.


----------



## jammin (20 June 2007)

questionall_42 said:


> Something I am still struggling with is time vs payout for my investments.  If I can earn $50/hour plying my trade, is it worth it to trade/invest (from a purely financial perspective?)Thoughts?



I suppose you have to go with doing what you have to...to get you where you can do what you want to. Whilst you do what you have to, you can be learning and refining your trading plan thus improving the return you can make from trading so hopefully bringing forward the day you can go full time trading.
Ignore that!! Thats for wimps.
Put your life on the line and trade now. Feel alive.
and if it all goes pear shaped go back to your trade.


----------



## The Snorkler (20 June 2007)

My Dad was a stockbroker and worked in New York during the 87 crash so he had some good stories about the action and he got me interested.

My first experience of trading was in the lead-up to the dotcom bust. I thought it was a game. Just put some money in and watch the money triple. Then I was annihilated during the bust. Glad I had that experience early on when my stakes were small. There are plenty of parallels with some sectors of todays market.

Best lesson was simply - "sell your losers and hold onto your winners". That means if the dam stock is going down cut your losses and get rid of it! Sounds simple but some posters seem to think they should never sell and thus never take a loss.

Curiously I admit I seem to have done the best out of speculative stocks, despite all my attempts to research and understand the market. Have a good day.


----------



## theasxgorilla (20 June 2007)

questionall_42 said:


> _
> Something I am still struggling with is time vs payout for my investments.  If I can earn $50/hour plying my trade, is it worth it to trade/invest (from a purely financial perspective?)_



_

What about the satisfaction of a 50k payrise next year without having to convince some a-hole that you're worth it???_


----------



## BradK (20 June 2007)

YELNATS said:


> Off and on since the late 60's (Poseidon days). Still have some of the original certificates!




Can you explain the Poseidon thing? Seems to be folklore. Excuse my ignorance...

Also, does your name come from Holes? the book? 

Cheers
Brad


----------



## son of baglimit (20 June 2007)

poseidon could NEVER happen these days - not with quality government overseers like ASIC keeping watch - those guys are really quite good at spotting rouges and shutting them down..................

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

sorry couldnt help myself


----------



## rowes (20 June 2007)

Seaking said:


> Glossy brochure sent to me by Tomato Technologies Star Trader software people in 2003 promising me holidays , sports cars, bikini girls and a life of luxury and I only had to spend 30 minutes a day to get the lot.
> Didn't buy the program which probably explains the absence of all the afore mentioned goodies.




Same here although they where marketing under MCI Technologies on the goldcoast and that was sometime in 2004. couldnt afford the 8K at the time but still wanted the sports cars, bikini girls and yacht so decided to educate myself instead. glad i didnt part with any money as it was one of the so called blackbox systems. 

Well my wife sometimes wears a bikini and i drive a holden stationwagon to cart the kids around and one of my mates has got a little dingy


----------



## >Apocalypto< (20 June 2007)

Back in July 05, I called a mate and he told me he would be able to retire by the time he was 24 and that intrigued me a alot so I asked him how. He told me he was going to start options trading as a mate of his was doing very well.

i did not know what a stock option was so I went over and he gave me a run though.

From that day onwards I was fasinated by the market and how to make money from it.

Now I just trade CFD's and mainly focus on Index trading.

Trading has changed my life and taught me things about my self I never knew, It has been the best challenge I have ever taken and it's far from ever finishing.(If it ever does)

Sad part, my mate quit after the first 3 months. He did not like all the study involved!


----------



## questionall_42 (20 June 2007)

theasxgorilla said:


> What about the satisfaction of a 50k payrise next year without having to convince some a-hole that you're worth it???




Fortunately working for myself now and _almost_ got that magical work-life-happiness-contentness balance right.  So no a-hole bosses to convince; just dependent on how much I want to work.  

And, I am in the midst of exploring if my heart (and mind) can handle being a trader.  A few dabbles is different from being a full-time trader. You have a point ASX:G - but what I am finding hard is the loneliness of trading; have a few mates who are in the same boat and ASF is great, but for me, just not the same as actively working with people.  So maybe we need those a-holes?


----------



## nizar (20 June 2007)

questionall_42 said:


> Fortunately working for myself now and _almost_ got that magical work-life-happiness-contentness balance right.  So no a-hole bosses to convince; just dependent on how much I want to work.
> 
> And, I am in the midst of exploring if my heart (and mind) can handle being a trader.  A few dabbles is different from being a full-time trader. You have a point ASX:G - but what I am finding hard is the loneliness of trading; have a few mates who are in the same boat and ASF is great, but for me, just not the same as actively working with people.  So maybe we need those a-holes?




Thats a great point.
I think its quite lonely as well.

So my aim is not to trade for a living, i could not think of anything more boring, but rather, have a mechanical end of day or end of week system, where i spend a few hours a nite and let it trade in the background.

That way i can still work on my own (other) businesses, and do whatever i want in my time, instead of sitting in front of a screen.

That way i get the rewards of trading, without having the boredom/loneliness.

And there are some longterm trend traders, that trade purely mechanically, and they really clean up. No reason why i cant join them in the future.


----------



## the barry (20 June 2007)

nizar said:


> Thats a great point.
> I think its quite lonely as well.
> 
> So my aim is not to trade for a living, i could not think of anything more boring, but rather, have a mechanical end of day or end of week system, where i spend a few hours a nite and let it trade in the background.
> ...





I'm in the same boat, worked 7 years as an electrician and saved up enough cash doing that to trade full time. The problem i find is you have to be watching the screen from start to finish. 10 minutes away from the screen can and often is the difference between a gain and a loss. Best way to get around it is to socilalise at night. Otherwise you quietly go nuts.


----------



## nizar (20 June 2007)

the barry said:


> 10 minutes away from the screen can and often is the difference between a gain and a loss.




Learn to trade End of Day. Or better still, End of Week.


----------



## professor_frink (20 June 2007)

nizar said:


> Thats a great point.
> I think its quite lonely as well.
> 
> So my aim is not to trade for a living, i could not think of anything more boring, but rather, have a mechanical end of day or end of week system, where i spend a few hours a nite and let it trade in the background.
> ...




Obviously it will vary for different people, some people need the social interaction with work colleagues. I don't like dealing with people all day long, so trading is a great way to spend my day.

No commute
No customers
No boss
No set hours
No office politics
No ceiling on potential income

In regards to sitting in front of the screen all day- I put a trade on not long after the open this morning- order management software is currently taking care of it for me- either targets are hit or the trailing stop takes me out. I don't actually have to be in front of the computer right now, and after I post this, I'm gunna go make myself a coffee, and relax for awhile before HK opens


----------



## BlingBling (20 June 2007)

My first into to shares was through the ASX school game. I didn't place but came very close to the top 10 in the state and was first in our school.
My first investment in the crown casino through my uncle who was a mate of Llyod Williams (then the CEO?). That went very well, cashed out and went off to Indonesia and surfed my brains out on the profits for a few years! (I was 19 at the time).
Accumulated some more money to start a biz in Japan and found BBG float. Spent half my biz money on that ($20k). Still holding and have bought when prices were down. Been in on a few other floats like LWB and have done pretty well just buy holding.

I guess I've been lucky with my picks so far, I did research them but not like I am these days (and my earlier investments are killing my recent ones! over analysis?)


----------



## insider (20 June 2007)

trinity said:


> What started you into trading shares?  What got you interested in it?  How long have you been doing it?  How long do you plan to keep doing it?  What's the one thing you wished someone told you when you got started in trading?
> 
> Thanks for sharing your insights.




Ok... I started trading in shares because I was trying to find alternatives to making money... Why was I doing this? Because I help my parents with their business and I go to school more than full time so I had no time for a real job...
So out of frustration with money got me here. I picked up a copy of Rich Dad poor dad and that changed my train of thought and got me motivated... 

I've been doing this for a year and 7 months and I plan to keep doing this until I die... I'm talking about investing in general not just the share market... My short term goals is to get as much money as possible (simple)

The one thing I wish somebody told me was to just hold on to stocks a little bit longer... I always sold too early in the first year...


----------



## >Apocalypto< (20 June 2007)

professor_frink said:


> Obviously it will vary for different people, some people need the social interaction with work colleagues. I don't like dealing with people all day long, so trading is a great way to spend my day.
> 
> No commute
> No customers
> ...




I love your style Frink!

everything that I read from you is innovative and well researched hats off to you buddy!


----------



## trinity (20 June 2007)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.  

My turn to share 

What started you into trading shares? 
I just started trading this week on the ASX.  I moved to Sydney just 3 years ago, previously, I had bought a couple of stocks from my country of origin.  Moving here, my savings was divided by 40.  Hence, I had to save up a bit before getting into ASX.

What got you interested in it? 
Picked up rich dad book 4 years ago, am 33 now, decided that I wanted to do something about my financial circumstances.  

How long have you been doing it? 
On the ASX, barely a week.

How long do you plan to keep doing it? 
I am enjoying it so far.  I work in IT and I sit in front of the PC at least 8 hours a day.  Now that I have actually bought some stocks, I come home and I spend 1/2 hour or more reading and learning about the stockmarket.

What's the one thing you wished someone told you when you got started in trading?

Start young.  The power of compounded interest.


----------



## vishalt (20 June 2007)

Sat on my butt with no job for 6 months, so Dad comes up to me and he teaches me the way of the Stock Market. 

He's a true warrior that guy, he managed to survive tech bubble somehow so he has a lot of wisdom. 

I had $4000 saved up and I went suicidal on my first trade, bought 2000 shares of BEN (Bendigo Bank) and I didn't even know what a report was, and it reported the next day and surged to $14 within a week, was a very lucky first trade (lol if it was a bad report I would've margin called).

What I wish I did during my trading journey so far is I wish I was more patient, less exposed, and used stops. 

Stops are like the most important thing in the world, and never expose heaps of your capital in the one company at the one share price are the main things I've learnt.


----------



## UPKA (20 June 2007)

my story can be simple or complicated depending on how u see it. I started with few thousand dollars couple of yrs ago while i was still in Uni, studied economics. stumbled crossed a company called Monax Mining, seeing its SP soar on issue, i decided to jump on to the wave, thought I made a bad mistake, seeing the SP going south with no sign or U turn, so js left my holding there n never cared abt it. 8 mths later, decided to check out if the company went bust, surprised me it soared up to $1.20, folded multiple times compared to my entry price of 30c . I had no idea how or why it went up, bt never the less, its good pocket money! 

THEN, after Uni end of last yr, parents bought me a Honda S2000, my first car and first maual car. after 3mths of the "high life" ,on a wet spring evening, after driving the gf home, i decided to launch the car at a set of light, and went sideways and into a wall...  ANYWAYS, got my insurance payout, since i catch train to work everyday there is no need for another car, so i invested the pay out into shares, and never looked back! now im thinking if i should go back to uni n study a quick geology course, gotta love the mining boom! Still learning atm, and this forum certainly helped me heaps!


----------



## CanOz (20 June 2007)

professor_frink said:


> Obviously it will vary for different people, some people need the social interaction with work colleagues. I don't like dealing with people all day long, so trading is a great way to spend my day.




This is a classic statement, and to me it sums up trading in that, its a personal thing.

I spend my career working with large crews of employees..i long for this lifestyle, solitary and peaceful, in charge of my own destiny.

But while i learn and practice, and establish my systems, i have my career as support for my eventual destination.

Cheers, and thanks Prof for summing it up for me.


----------



## wayneL (20 June 2007)

professor_frink said:


> Obviously it will vary for different people, some people need the social interaction with work colleagues. I don't like dealing with people all day long, so trading is a great way to spend my day.
> 
> No commute
> No customers
> ...



Yup,

Some love the cut and thrust of business/colleagues etc. Some don't. 

Comes back to that personality test someone posted some time ago. Most full time traders will start with I (e.g. INTJ or whatever) which stands for Introvert. Introvert does not mean shy and extrovert does not mean outrageous. As someone at the time pointed out at the time and introvert is someone who becomes drained by people; an extrovert is someone who is drained by being alone. (hat tip to whoever said that)

There is this view that traders have this sort of setup: (hat tip to Joe Blow)




Of course you can do it that way as an above poster mentioned. But you don't have to as Frinky has pointed out. (Front ends rule  )

You don't have to day trade either. You can do this on a more leisurely time frame if that suits. I only day trade if I like the setup or I just pass.

Well put Professor. I like my cave too. If I want some interaction (which is becoming rare as Oz society becomes more Americanized) I just go down to the pub. Though I have a day job waiting for me in UK, it is in the same field and very little outside of cave activity.

A convoluted way of saying "Horses for Courses".


----------



## nizar (21 June 2007)

nizar said:


> Thats a great point.
> I think its quite lonely as well.
> 
> So my aim is not to trade for a living, i could not think of anything more boring, but rather, have a mechanical end of day or end of week system, where i spend a few hours a nite and let it trade in the background.
> ...




So looks like nobody agrees with me! 

Oh well -- each to his own.


----------



## >Apocalypto< (21 June 2007)

nizar said:


> So looks like nobody agrees with me!
> 
> Oh well -- each to his own.




I agree with you and belive you can do it Niz. if you work hard enough you can do anything!

Good trading


----------



## questionall_42 (21 June 2007)

nizar said:


> So looks like nobody agrees with me!
> 
> Oh well -- each to his own.




Well, I agree too Nizar.  All about balance...


----------



## larry123 (24 June 2007)

Hi,

I think I started trading shares because there was a huge potential to make money quickly. I quickly learnt that this was not the case. I plan to keep investing for as long as I can. I wished someone could have told me to be patient and let profits run.


----------



## PETA 23 (25 June 2007)

Hi - This is my first post as a very novice beginner. I have spent hours over the past few weeks reading what everyone has to say on this site and find it all fascinating (except a lot goes way over my headas I am a 40ish yr old housewife who left school ???yrs ago). I have had a couple of good successes so far that have me hooked, but also more losses and have come to the conclusion that I need to learn from what I read and try to become *more patient *- thankyou for those words of wisdom.
Cheers


----------



## Caliente (25 June 2007)

lets see...pretty linear timeline.

- first started paper trading at 14
- won the sharemarket game in my school at 15 
- certificate of distinction in economics at 17 9 (its a WA thing)
- Started at 18/19 (cant remember now!)
- much wiser investor now at 22. I trade a mix of DT and LT, although am moving in the way of LT as shortterm trading places too many demands on my course!


----------



## Broadside (25 June 2007)

PETA 23 said:


> Hi - This is my first post as a very novice beginner. I have spent hours over the past few weeks reading what everyone has to say on this site and find it all fascinating (except a lot goes way over my headas I am a 40ish yr old housewife who left school ???yrs ago). I have had a couple of good successes so far that have me hooked, but also more losses and have come to the conclusion that I need to learn from what I read and try to become *more patient *- thankyou for those words of wisdom.
> Cheers




Welcome.  I have made so many mistakes, it's all part of the fun...if you already know to try and become more patient your learning curve is years ahead of me.  I finally twigged the best gains came from holding shares for longer.  Good luck.

I should add, providing they're the right shares of course!


----------



## beerwm (28 November 2008)

*How did you start?*

Hey everyone

new to the whole sharemarket, im only 18

Im interested to know how you got started in learning how to trade, and what would work for me.

eg,
read books, paper trading, etc

thanks


----------



## Craton (12 July 2014)

I'm not a trader, per se, dunno if that's my bag really although it does appeal somewhat. Always been interested in shares ever since I found a newspaper with stock data at the pub mid/late '70s, BHP $1.00! One thing I've learnt is that the s/market is not a place for the faint hearted.

Personally got into investing via NMH and AMP floats late '90's, knew bugga all about share ownership but knew it was important. Still know bugga all about it but have learnt a heck of a lot about money and myself..., still so much to learn. 

First trades were costing $100 per trade up to $10K with J B Were?, then joined Australian Stockbrokers (I think they were called) then they got taken over, and the cycle repeated a couple more times and have ended up with Comsec.


----------

