# What Year Did You Start Investing/Trading In The Stockmarket?



## David123

Hi, Just wanted to know what year you guys/gals first invested/traded in stockmarket? I first invested in 2003.. not a bad year to start investing 




Cheers


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## michael_selway

David123 said:
			
		

> Hi, Just wanted to know what year you guys/gals first invested/traded in stockmarket? I first invested in 2003.. not a bad year to start investing
> 
> Cheers




Hehe you lucky bastard!    

You started at the beginning of the Biggest Bull Market in Aussie history, end of the Bear Market (Sars2002), nice.







I started in Mid 2005, too late imo, missed alot of great boats   

thx

MS


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## crackaton

I actually had shares prior to internet banking and the listing of asx. Back in those days it was difficult and expensive to trade. You bought blue chips and held. 

My biggest entrance was telstra one share float. I bought heaps and sold at, from memory, 8.80$. Then amp gave me some freebies which i also sold at 23$. Optus was the best, you could trade this one into the ground with no money. By and sell and there was no three day settlement, made a **** load from all of those.


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## bvbfan

August 21, 2000 bought OXR at 10c


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## tech/a

1994


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## dennisll

Started dipping toes in 1998, but got serious in 2001.  They say you never forget your first.  My first buy was PPX.  Glad I am out of it now


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## Bronte

1987    Learnt a lot since.


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## Porper

Bronte said:
			
		

> 1987    Learnt a lot since.




1986 just before the big crash and stayed well away from the stockmarket until a couple of years ago.Glad I had the experience of a crash though, even though I was only a boy and didn't have a clue what I was doing.


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## crackaton

Porper said:
			
		

> 1986 just before the big crash and stayed well away from the stockmarket until a couple of years ago.Glad I had the experience of a crash though, even though I was only a boy and didn't have a clue what I was doing.



So where do you see us going this time round?


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## Joe Blow

1994. 

Got 1000 shares in the Qantas float.


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## laurie

Mid 80's first share Ampol Exploration bought via smoke signal.. well teletext machine near enough  : 

cheers laurie


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## crackaton

laurie said:
			
		

> Mid 80's first share Ampol Exploration bought via smoke signal.. well teletext machine near enough  :
> 
> cheers laurie




Laurie, well done !!!


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## RodC

1991,  Comm Bank Float.


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## bullmarket

I bought my first parcel of shares back in 1981   and a lot of water has flowed under the 'stockmarket' bridge since then. 

cheers

bullmarket


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## Prospector

We inherited some shares in 1989.  It was very expensive to buy and sell back then and Brokers thought they were God!  Probably still do although online trading should have killed off any delusions by now  

I became serious about trading just around 2 years ago when I saw our SMSF disappearing into the red following a reliable broker's advice - sit and hold!    

So I have been able to adapt to new booms, most recently the resource stocks and of course, GOLD


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## brerwallabi

Think it was 1989 bought and sold Pacific Dunlop through Pont Securities. Both are no longer.


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## Jay-684

I inherited my first shares in 1984 (I was 1 day old). I was given 200 WMC shares @ around $2ea.

As for my first bundle of shares when I was 11 I used my dollarmites money to buy a $3000 bundle of shares through CBA with AMC, BHP, FGL, NAB and WOW.

Once I turned 18 I began to make more trades, and in the 3 years since I've learnt a hell of a lot, and even now I still know very little!

I'm just glad that even though I missed the property boom, I have been able to take full advantage of this current stock boom


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## dingo37

NOVEMBER 1999


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## Broadside

1991 or 1992, I was at University, bought Troy Resources, ERG, Polartechnics and Cloncurry Mining, and Fairfax I think.  Did well.  I was hooked.  My first day of work in 1994 for a broker was a very bad time for the markets, it was April 1994 and a lot of turmoil.   I still remember that but it was a storm in a teacup.


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## jurn

David123 said:
			
		

> Hi, Just wanted to know what year you guys/gals first invested/traded in stockmarket? I first invested in 2003.. not a bad year to start investing
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers




My dad bought me shares a few years ago but its only this year as part of my news years resolution that I've started investing myself.


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## malachii

1993 in a company called Peter Lehmann Wines.  Been trading shares and options ever since.

malachii


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## brty

Hi,

Just came across this old thread doing a search. It is interesting peoples experience.

My first shares as an adult, were in Kemtron and A-Cap Development in 1980/1. Shortly followed by Kern Corp.

I also bought silver in 1980 when the price came down to $A14/oz.

I hope I've learned a bit since then.

Those first shares all went bust, they just took different amounts of time to get there.

bye

brty


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## Buddy

Ahh, emm, 1968. Showing my age now.
Was at University, in a share investing group. We also sold 2nd hand Holden cars into Indonesia.   About the time of Poseidon (no not the current rebirth by Twiggy one). Knew some guys at Uni who made a truck load out of that one (Poseiden), although I missed out.  Went from 80c to $280 in a few months - now that's what I call a ramp, before the bubble broke. In the early 70's there were companies like Haoma, Southern Pacific, Central Pacific, Burma Oil (now Woodside) - made a few bucks out of them. Still waiting for the big one  hope it's BRM.


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## MRC & Co

1995, bought a company called _Gold Mining Australia_, put all my savings into it (as little as they were, about $600 if I remember correctly), and lost the lot!  

The same year, as a gift, I was bought _News Corporation_ around $5.  Back in the days _Woolworthes_ was around $4, remember watching it every day on teletext, too bad I never bought in.


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## Trader Paul

Buddy said:


> Ahh, emm, 1968. Showing my age now.
> Was at University, in a share investing group. We also sold 2nd hand Holden cars into Indonesia.   About the time of Poseidon (no not the current rebirth by Twiggy one). Knew some guys at Uni who made a truck load out of that one (Poseiden), although I missed out.  Went from 80c to $280 in a few months - now that's what I call a ramp, before the bubble broke. In the early 70's there were companies like Haoma, Southern Pacific, Central Pacific, Burma Oil (now Woodside) - made a few bucks out of them. Still waiting for the big one  hope it's BRM.






Hi folks,

It is good to see another stayer posting here, Buddy ... well done ... !~!

On this end:

1969  ... Port Hedland ... working on construction of the railway, from
Port Hedland-to-Mt Newman in WA and met my wife-to-be there, as well.

Everybody was getting excited about the nickel miners ..... Poseidon was the
 "popular delusion", at that time and the market just went crazy over it ... 
but, like all market bubbles, it eventually burst, especially when their market 
darling Poseidon fell out of favour ... !~!

So, bought into DOM at 15 cents - Dominion Mining ... IT is still around on 
the ASX, today and trading at $3.33 ... but, my ex-wife has gone (... thank you, God ... !~!)

Have traded many markets, since then ..... shares, futures, commodities, 
forex, index trading, property, etc ... 

..... and it has been a truly humbling and amazing ride, for me too ... winning 
and losing several small fortunes, along the way ..... lol ..... !~!

It seems that many people bail out of trading, when the going gets tough,
only to realize later, that with a little more perseverance and a better trading plan,
they would have made it through to more profitable times ... 

have a great weekend

   paul



=====


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## grace

As the country was in drought in 1993 at the time of my wedding (parents are farmers) I told Mum and Dad I would buy my wedding dress.  Prior to the wedding I got the IPO on Woolies at $2.45 x 1000 shares and sold for $2.90 or $2900 within 1 or 2 months and bought my wedding dress and a few other things for the wedding (thought I would make a few extra dollors on Woolies, and I was right).  

Those shares would have bought some wedding dress today!  Don't regret it though!


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## prawn_86

Started in 2006  

Im still a newb


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## reece55

2001 - I bought 2x shares I thought could not go wrong - 

MYOB at about 4.40 and Harts Financial at a bit over $1.00.....

HAHAHAHAHA...... MYOB has never recovered, only about 1.40 - 1.50 now and Harts ended up being the biggest basket case, going bankrupt and is now the subject of many tax cases that I end up reading about when touching up on professional development..... Needless to say that I sold out after blowing half my dough, about 5K which was huge when I was a kid and first starting out......

My, I have improved since then!!!!

Cheers


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## nizar

2005.


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## exberliner1

1979 ..... :-( gosh I am old....although I was only 15 then)

EB


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## trillionaire#1

my first owned stock was ioof limited(IFL) a couple of years ago,sold them at about $10 a share late last year,current price is around $6 ...phew


I really wanted to say I bought FMG shares for a couple of  a share back in 2003


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## explod

1967 in an thing called Exoil, I remember well the ribbons they would leave on trees around central to west Queensland as part of the surveys.  Dont think they ever came to much.  I think about 10 cents each then.

A mate I used to shear with Tim O'mara got me interested.  He used to have an old left hand drive Willeys Jeep and used to go off into the gulf country prospecting.  Lost touch with him but understand he got onto alumina and may have done good.

That old jeep used to vertually float over swollen rivers and would grind its way through the worst of mud.   Struth, wish I knew then what I roughly do now.


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## Mofra

Feb 01, started with a Buy & Write on CWO, then MIM, then NCP. 

Now when I trade stocks, they no longer have to sell or re-structure :


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## charttv

Late '99, just before the tech boom went parabolic and I made my first fortune. Learnt so much so fast and still learning.


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## questionall_42

500 Telstra shares in the IPO in 1997.  Had no idea about the stockmarket or investment... ... began investing in earnest in 2003 with Promina IPO... ... and the amount of time i spend investing/trading since then has varied greatly depending on other adventures in life.


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## RichKid

charttv said:


> Late '99, just before the tech boom went parabolic and I made my first fortune. Learnt so much so fast and still learning.




Nice to have your company again on ASF! Where have you been!!?? I miss all those ideas you used to discuss here.


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## nioka

explod said:


> Struth, wish I knew then what I roughly do now.



Don't we all wish that.
 Bought my first shares in Norfolk and Byron whaling in 1955. Then Hauraki Whaling in 1956. Lost the lot.
 Bought PTL in 1958 and made enough from them in 6 months to put the deposit on a block of land. Found property good ever since. 
 Investing came through Company businesses and since retiring have dabbled a bit. The business of investing has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. One used to invest in a company to get regular dividends and look for security. That all changed with the Bonds, Skaces, Packers, etc. Now it is a game and seems to have a casino atmosphere. Pity, but that is the way it is.
 Glad I concentrated on property earlier on. (But I enjoy the challenge of shares.)


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## Sean K

1994 when I got back from Rwanda with a bag of gold. Little brother was an analyst at the time and told me to put some money into GUD, GIO and LGL. Still holding some of the original LGL, but the $$ might have done better in the bank over that time! LOL


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## BradK

May 2006 - started writing covered calls and naked puts against Oxiana - covered calls still by far my bread and butter. 

Brad


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## Markcoinoz

First bought shares in 1985 with my business partner.

I suppose we both got caught up with the hype.

Sons of Gwalia was a good one.

However, leading to the 87 crash we got hit with Povey Petrolium - Bond Corp
and a couple of others including the infamous Pyrmaid Building Society collapse.

Upto a few years ago my wife and i were still receiving token cheques for that demise.

LOL!!

What a learning curve that was!

I started to really get serious in 2000 when the internet opened up for day traders.  It opened up a whole new world for me.  Had some heavy losses along the way as well as had some excellent gains.

Now, i only trade occasionally with more of a longterm investment view.


Some of us learn the hard way.

Cheers markcoinoz


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## happyjack

Oh god I think I am up there with all the old blokes 1966 working in Mount Isa as the 15 level nipper, later flat-backing on Micaf 12 up to 9, I put money into MIM, Theise Brothers and a couple of other contractors around the Isa
Got burnt in 72? at the end of the nickle boom (commodities boom) it all collapsed, I was in Darwin by then just in time for Tracy didn't trust the markets again til early 87 and you guessed it got cleaned out again, 

April 2007 I decided to once again try my luck and this time I had electronic trading and stop losses and CFD's to go short with so on this one I am winning and getting back the money I gave away on the last two tries

It comes around and it goes around 

Happyjack


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## wildkactus

1993 via an AMP managed account thingy.

Than got interested in direct share investing / trading after i got my Amp Shares in 1997 Sold them for $19 (thought this was going to be easy money, Little did i know).
It has been fun ride ever since.


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## charttv

RichKid said:


> Nice to have your company again on ASF! Where have you been!!?? I miss all those ideas you used to discuss here.




Still blogging. Been very quiet on the equities front doing the covered calls thing which has been a great learning experience. 

Currently completing a DFS.


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## prawn_86

charttv said:


> Currently completing a DFS.




Me too. 

If you want to discuss it here is a link:
https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10175


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## yo yo ma

I started off with T3 in 2006 and have just bought my first direct shares 2 weeks ago.


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## Temjin

2006.


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## explod

happyjack said:


> Oh god I think I am up there with all the old blokes 1966 working in Mount Isa as the 15 level nipper, later flat-backing on Micaf 12 up to 9, I put money into MIM, Theise Brothers and a couple of other contractors around the Isa
> Got burnt in 72? at the end of the nickle boom (commodities boom) it all collapsed, I was in Darwin by then just in time for Tracy didn't trust the markets again til early 87 and you guessed it got cleaned out again,
> 
> April 2007 I decided to once again try my luck and this time I had electronic trading and stop losses and CFD's to go short with so on this one I am winning and getting back the money I gave away on the last two tries
> 
> It comes around and it goes around
> 
> Happyjack




Probably walked over your tracks in 66.  A Kiwi (called Trevor the trout) and 
i had a few days off from shearing at Longreach and hit the Isa Pubs, and did a one hour guided tour.   Remember the hot ingots, which we would see passing through Longreach to the coast.  Some of your sweat.


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## pajm

Buddy said:


> Ahh, emm, 1968. Showing my age now.
> Was at University, in a share investing group. We also sold 2nd hand Holden cars into Indonesia.   About the time of Poseidon (no not the current rebirth by Twiggy one). Knew some guys at Uni who made a truck load out of that one (Poseiden), although I missed out.  Went from 80c to $280 in a few months - now that's what I call a ramp, before the bubble broke. In the early 70's there were companies like Haoma, Southern Pacific, Central Pacific, Burma Oil (now Woodside) - made a few bucks out of them. Still waiting for the big one  hope it's BRM.




T2 Float was my first foray in into the market and really got into it from 2002, so have had a good run. Have learnt the usual lessons with some losses through going in blind. Am also on BRM buddy and hope it a big one also. NXS has been my big one up until now, which I have been holding since 2004.


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## Tysonboss1

tech/a said:


> 1994




same,... 1994

Bought $1000 of CBA shares,... I was 12 and it had taken me almost a year of delivering leaflets to get that $1000.

Ahhhhh the memories.


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## Jigalong

My first investment was in Tasminex , in the first nickel boom around 30 years ago . I was working for a Sydney broker and my mates dad , who was a dentist, gave us the tip !

I watched Tasminex go from $1.20 to $90.00 and back down again . I learnt a valuable lesson then , as I held onto them all the way down - well the dentist said they would go up again !!!

That was how crazy the market was in those days .

Jigalong


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## burglar

I invested in my first house in 1978.
Bought my first shares in 1980.
ECM East Coast Minerals 1,000 @ $0.19 plus $25 brokerage

Lil' Johnny Howard was Minister for Housing around that time!


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## chiasm

Bought anz, nab, bhp in 2008 after getting my first real job.  Two out if three making a profit


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## Wysiwyg

Bought CBA in 1997 and sold same year for about a $200 gain. Didn't buy shares again until 2006 with Quay Magnesium whom I thought would do well because magnesium is used in automotive parts. Anyway, since then have bought and sold hundreds of different company shares, experienced the CFD phenomenon, traded forex and at one stage had more folding stuff than I ever had in my life. Stupidly (inexperience ) let the market take it + more back (strangely, I didn't think it would ). 

Needless to say, the lessons were painful and pleasurable and the more I learn the more I realise I have only scratched the surface of this large, interesting and diverse subject.

The journey continues .......


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## Sir Osisofliver

Cool thread

Bought property in 1990
First share in 1991
First system in 2004

took me thirteen years to get it right

Cheers

 Sir O


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## Atomic

1993 with an employee share allotement of bhp shares (approx 1000 @ $6)and successive parcels and also became serious once the online trading became more efficient and availiable around 2000 or so


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## toocool

It was 2001 for me

I had played this asx sharemarket game for a few months and just when September 11 happened was around the start of the game I bought my 50k max(game dollars) in QBE at $3 something and won the game.

So I promptly when out and bought  $2000 of QBE @ $5.98
sold them in dec 04 for a house deposit @ almost $15


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## tinhat

2010


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## suhm

First shares were from the T1 float, started accumulating in 2004 but only really had a system or enough money for it to make a difference in 2009.


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## newbie trader

03/02/2010 - 1650 BSL shares at 2.73 which I sold on the 1st of April (2010) for 2.97.


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## inq

2010.

Indices down from my entry this year, portfolio currently up 20% from buy in, looking at hitting 30% by end of next week barring no surprises.

Blue chip holdings push my percentage down of the huge gains from small cap holdings.


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## benjamind2010

100 x ProShares Short S&P500 (NYSE:SH)
I know it isn't much, but it's a start.
Taking notice of an opportunity to profit at least partially from what is likely to be a moderately strong downward trend in the market. Did this in early November, initially I saw a small gain over a couple of weeks, but since then it's been struggling below break even. I'm sure that is temporary though, as I'll discuss below.

Compared to the overproof rum that is put options on SPY this SH ETF looks more like a dessert wine, not nearly as potent in terms of what you may profit out of it, but likewise not nearly as brutal as options if the market does turn against you, as it has done to me in the past 2 months.

Fortunately, it looks as though this so-called "bull" market is about to change, with China advertising the fact that she's increased her interest rates another 0.25% within a short 3 months for a total increase of 0.5% over that period. This should put a bit of pain on the longs. In spite of China's previous 0.25% hike, commodity prices still kept soaring, so that should be kept in mind. An interest rate hike is a sure sign of inflationary pressure, so perhaps going long on commodities would be a gamble worth taking, provided you have iron clad stop losses.

That, along with more revelations by Wikileaks about some large US banks, I'd say this is just about as good as the "bull" market is going to get before we get another downturn. At least in stocks. Commodities, except for oil, have been cooling off somewhat, but may resume an uptrend if investors are not too spooked by China's latest movements.

Overall, going by what the contrarians say (my favorites are Prechter, Shepherd, and Kaplan), I expect that 2011 will be like 2008. It may seem rosy during the 1st half, with huge currency FX volatility, ESPECIALLY with the AUD and EUR, but once the 2nd half comes along, watch out!


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## explod

happyjack said:


> Oh god I think I am up there with all the old blokes 1966 working in Mount Isa as the 15 level nipper, later flat-backing on Micaf 12 up to 9, I put money into MIM, Theise Brothers and a couple of other contractors around the Isa
> Got burnt in 72? at the end of the nickle boom (commodities boom) it all collapsed, I was in Darwin by then just in time for Tracy didn't trust the markets again til early 87 and you guessed it got cleaned out again,
> 
> April 2007 I decided to once again try my luck and this time I had electronic trading and stop losses and CFD's to go short with so on this one I am winning and getting back the money I gave away on the last two tries
> 
> It comes around and it goes around
> 
> Happyjack




Interesting, 

my first shares were in Exoil and at the time was in Queensland shearing at Longreach.   We would sometimes do a weekend at Mt Isa to do the pubs.  Went down the mines on a guided tour, was impressed by the shiny ingots being loaded onto trucks that were railed through Longreach.  I think it was about 1968.  Went to Longreach from 1962 till 70.  Drought hit late 60's and they trucked most of the sheep south.

My Father's nickname was Happyjack and in full was referred to as happy jack the hearse driver.

as you aver, "what goes around"


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## Liar's Poker

2006. 

After working at the local food market whilst studying at Uni, I managed to save then invest $1000 into Oxiana (OXR), sold out a 15 months later for a 18.5% profit.

A huge $185. 

-Liar-


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## chiasm

2008, bought some NAB shares around the $32 mark and now wondering if they will ever get back to those levels again  At least they are paying a dividend


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## nukz

Got some BHP around $8 in 05 or whatever it was also got quite a large amount of ADY(Admirally limited).

Also had another small cap copper stock back around 04. 

First got into stock trading because a teacher at my school was into it so much so that he would not teach very much rather trade lol but myself and a few others learnt something much more valuable than Australian history.


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## tryin hard

Good thread

I played the asx game for a few times in 06 07 and 08 and then got real.

In the middle of 2008. 

Anz $19 then they fell again bought again $15 and then the same in Jan of 09 $12.50. There was a problem with them something called opus prime i think. 

At least the div covers the bank fees every year and some. This what keeps me holding them atm.

Tryin hard.


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## AussieBoy

My first exposure to the ASX was back in 2002.  I was in year 9 at high school and in my Commerce elective, we had to do the ASX sharemarket game in that class.  Had a lot of fun over that three month period.  My parents had been in the sharemarket for about a couple of years around that time, so I learnt a bit from them on this aspect during 2002.

However, it was MANY years before I gained an active interest in the share market.  It was after I completed my Bachelors in Commerce (Finance/Business Economics) in December 2010 that I had a lot of time to knuckle down and start putting knowledge into practise.  My first shares that I bought was HOG (Hawkley Oil and Gas) in January 2011 (during my summer holidays between after I completed my Bachelor's Degree and when I commenced my Masters the following month).  I got in when they hit their peak of $0.56/share and thank God that I got out a month later because its been a downward spiral for that stock since then.  The lesson I learnt from that is to not believe everything you read and hear in the media (regarding promotion).  Also, another lesson is that you can read all the books you want and all the advise given to you but at that end of the day, it is nothing compared to actually buying shares with your own money.  When you buy yourself, you learn to take responsibility for your actions and go through the psychology and all the ups and downs that go with owning shares.  Now that I completed my Masters degree at the beginning of this month and am on holidays until my ceremony at the end of next month, I've got a fair bit more time on my hands to spend.

Question I want to ask though: I assume online trading in Australia began in the late '90s due to the popularity/expansion of the internet during the dot.com boom.  However, all you folk who bought shares pre-late '90s: how did you buy shares back in those days before the internet/online trading? Did you have to make a phone call? Also, how did you actively monitor the share price of whatever companies you bought? I assume because of no internet, it would've been a lot harder to buy/sell the stocks with smaller prices (e.g. $0.05/share) and also, there were greating price fluctuations as well


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## matty77

Good question, I think maybe around 2007, first purchase was ANZ.


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## McLovin

1996. I was in year 9. First company I bought, Oil Search. Logically, people need oil, and that was about all the reasoning involved. Didn't start doing it with any sort of plan until about 2000, when I went to uni. Then I had a few years of not really paying much attention because I was too focussed on work.


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