# Newbies Start Here



## dutchie (14 February 2008)

G'day all

I would like to start this thread for the benefit of all newbies starting off on the fascinating and mesmerizing world of trading/investing.

I would encourage all experienced traders/investors to add *one* piece of advice/tip to this thread.

I will start the ball rolling with the following:

Don't buy any course/software etc until you know from your own research what you want - this should take at least one year of researching the internet using free sources of education - forums like this one etc.

Then don't buy any courses!!!(other than the 1% good ones).

Good luck newbies!

Cheers 

Dutchie


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## sam76 (14 February 2008)

Never blindly trust what is written on a forum.

DYOR = Do Your Own Research

However, saying that, Aussie Stock Forums is *the *most reliable forum on the net.


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## prawn_86 (14 February 2008)

Ask as many questions as you can. Which comes back to DYOR.

Take it slowly, and *dont start off investing what you cannot afford to lose*


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## MichaelD (14 February 2008)

Learn to simply accept that you will be WRONG about trades a lot of the time and just get out when you're wrong.

"I never met a large loss that wasn't a small loss to begin with" - innumerable successful traders.


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## doctorj (14 February 2008)

This thread is going to quickly become cliche city   Just remember that often, cliches are cliches for a good reason.

My piece of advice is to never confuse bulls for brains and realise that beyond a point, the profitability of any single trade comes down to pure chance.  To become (or stay) profitable over the sum of many trades/markets/years you will need to have the proper risk management framework in place.  *Being profitable early on, alone, does not vindicate your strategy* and the idea that 'massive losses won't happen to me' is foolish and you will be found out sooner or later.  Extreme profits can never come without commensurate risk - no matter the reputation of some supposed sages here at ASF and elsewhere.


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## julius (14 February 2008)

*Worry is not a sickness but a sign of health.
If you are not worried, you are not risking enough.*


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## marklar (14 February 2008)

Don't enter a trade until you know at what points or which signals are your exits.

m.


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## disarray (14 February 2008)

there is more to investing than just stocks. there are options and warrants, commodity warrants, foreign exchange, cash (becoming worthwhile as interest rates rise) and others. all have different risk/reward ratios and ways to use them. 

as daunting as it all is, searching this board will provide threads which outline where and how to invest in these which takes away a lot of the mystery and fear surrounding it.


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## cuttlefish (14 February 2008)

your emotions will be your worst enemy in trading/investing succesfully.  Make decisions objectively based on hard factual data (fundamental or technical), and also try to understand how emotion impacts your own and others trading decisions.  As a beginner, emotions will invariablly get you into a stock at the wrong time and stop you getting out of a stock at the right time.


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## ithatheekret (14 February 2008)

He who hesitates loses .


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## Wysiwyg (14 February 2008)

ithatheekret said:


> He who hesitates loses .




All good things come to those who wait.


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## PhoenixXx (14 February 2008)

If a taxi driver can offer you some stock tips, better stay away from the market, the bull would hit the wall.


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## Awesomandy (14 February 2008)

PhoenixXx said:


> If a taxi driver can offer you some stock tips, better stay away from the market, the bull would hit the wall.




It was the other way around for me last time. He asked me for tips.


One of the points some people seem to forget is that, it doesn't matter if you are wrong most of the times, you can still make money. When you've got a good stock, let the profits run, and re-adjust your profit stops appropriately. If you are wrong, cut your losses quickly. The other day, I was telling my friend that less than 50% of my stock picks had gone up, but I'm still making money.


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## Buffettology (14 February 2008)

Dont listen to broker price targets!  

Learn a bit of both fundamental and technical analysis.  

Remember to stocks, there are HUGE risks (people seem to think stocks are the safest "option").  Whereas if you use options/futures (for hedging), you can dramatically decrease risk.  

Take a look at CCP for an example of HUGE losses even for pure fundamentalists who are usually the "safest" of all investors.


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## ROE (14 February 2008)

I only have 2 Rules

1. Invest what you can afford to lose...so if 100% of your capital gone
you still have a decent life style 

2. Dont lose capital


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## nioka (14 February 2008)

ithatheekret said:


> He who hesitates loses .




Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.


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## wanky (15 February 2008)

is dow is asx


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## Gullible (15 February 2008)

Financial planner is code for financial product salesperson.


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## Timmy (16 February 2008)

Persevere


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## Wysiwyg (20 February 2008)

Let the trade come to you!


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## chrisee (20 February 2008)

Don't trade because you just have a good "feeling" about a company.

Do some good research before making a decision.


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## korrupt_1 (20 February 2008)

trend is your friend. go with the flow. don't fight it.


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## Birdster (20 February 2008)

"The most valuable commodity I know of is information." Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) - Movie: Wall Street - (1987)


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