Beginners - Introduce yourselves!

Hi, I found this forum through google and after browsing through HotCopper (haven't registered with them yet). ASF looks really good. I am open to the idea of doing this fulltime as I am getting fed up with working for someone. 2007 was a bad year for my day job in IT and I am facing the prospect of losing my current job. I am intelligent and well educated so this year I am going to read and read and read and in 3-6mths time, I will start trading slowly to get into the swing of things. Looking forward to sharing posts with you all.

Hi all,

It's great to see there's this forum. I've been looking for something like this.
I'm pretty new to it all. In fact, I've been using an 'investment advisor' for the last year as I felt uneducated. However, having recently sustained 20% losses on my initial investment, I'm feeling like maybe I should take matters into my own hands??

Does anyone have any advice for how much loss is too much (ie is 20% considered normal for the last three months or so?)

Also, how does one go about investing money without an advisor?? I don't want to lose even more.

Thanks,
Alli

Gday all,

Just moved here from another forum after a time of lurking. Sick of the blatant ramping on other forums. Investing for about a year, just learning, getting the feet wet. heaps to learn, hope I can contribute in time.

Thanks,
Russ

Hi everyone,

I have just started looking at shares as a form of investment (phew, what a lot to learn).

I have already have gained a lot of information from this site, but no doubt I have just started to scratch the surface.

I haven't invested any money yet, I figure I need to learn a lot more before I get my feet wet.

Regards

John

Hi All

Ive been trading just a few months ... and probably just the worst few months to choose to start but hey .. im thinking its good to experience the rough times too - character building !. I started off smallish so losses have been minimal

I spotted ASF on google search and have really enjoyed reading and occasionally posting. Im an accountant but probably spend more time looking at the markets all day and should be working harder ! Must concur with others that HC is the generally biggest load of crap ive ever read ! but always good to see what stocks are being discussed

Right now I like speccy risk with low cash outlay and currently on short term JMS KAL EXM and my long termer OXR ( all struggling but will hang in there)

Bought NSL today at .023 .. thought id jump on for the ride

Thanks to all regular posters .. keep up the good work and enjoy

Hi everybody, just to share some thoughts among stocks market newbies'.

Below are some conclusion i made after i join stock & futures for years.

Trading System

Majority of the traders in the market are adopting strategy such as “buy low sell high” or picking high volatility penny stocks for blindly speculation on price differences. However, this strategy is more depends on luck compared to a proper trading system. I was traded stocks market & futures market for the past seven years, and I had made many mistakes as well. However, after study on these mistakes, finally I realize that most of the mistakes are avoidable. Below are 3 common mistakes which often made by investors such as;

1. Lack of Self-Discipline

· Emotional effect is the strongest enemy in our trading. It is hard to be controlled especially when we are losing money. Hence, it sometimes causes further losses due to our late decision made when trend is starting to against our position. This is the time where most people will not follow their trading plan and finally cause a failure trade.

2. Improper Trading System

Trade against trend is the most common mistake made by investors. We should never forget that “Trend is your friend” as people always say.

· Averaging a loss will only let the losses grow like a rolling snow ball especially when you are against the trend.

· Never set cut loss point after enter market.

· Do not have a good exit plan for profit taking.

· Enter or exit market randomly without finding out the entry or exit signal.

3. Inefficiency Money Management

· Lose money more than affordable. To chasing big money, some people like to take loan from others or financial institutes and put it in the markets that finally will cause them bankrupt when they lose out all the money.

· Futures is a high leveraging products. Without proper money management, people will easily meet a margin call and forced to close the position.

· Let the losses run or take the profit too early.


Due to 3 mistakes stated above, I have adopted few strategies in my trading.

1. Discipline – Key to success. In portfolio management or any trading transaction, every decision should not be revoked after made. We must stick closely to the “RULES” and our own trading system no matter what happen.

2. Management – Key to reduce the risk exposure. This is a solid & defensive operation strategy because we are looking at a long term performance. Always set a protective stop to avoid huge drop in capital.

3. Trading system – Key to generate a huge profit. A good trading systems is a kind of “Mechanical” trading system where no emotional effects will related on decision making for any entry & exit timing. With a mechanical trading system a trader does not have to understand much about the market, trading conditions, etc. since what is needed is only to follow exact rules of the system. Some good trading system even can be a step ahead of others when entry or exit market.

Rules of Thumb

To make trading easy, we introduce 3 easy steps (please refer “futures market”) and 3 mandatory “RULES” as below for investors to follow.

RULES

1. Always holding position on one stocks or futures product unless for some unavoidable reason.

2. "NEVER" invest > 50% out of our capital (Ideally is 30% or below). Balance of modal must ready as backup for margin requirement. This is for futures product only.

3. "INCREASE" position gradually only when realized profits are added to the capital.

Hope you guys can learn something from here.

Cheers!!!

Hello Ladies and Gents,
I'm James Hartley, I found ASF after reading Motley Fool, searching their site for 'australia' which turned up centro, and Centro in google leading me here =]. I'm fresh out of uni, looking for somewhere to make my spare salary into millions =P. I've had about 10k blindly invested in Westfield group (WDC) for the last few years but it's not even keeping up with inflation, so I'm looking for somewhere to move that money too.

Hope we can help each other (in the long run, I cant offer much yet =P)!

Regards,
-Hartley

Hi,
Just wanted to introduce myself. I have been wanting to trade for a while now. I opened my trading account 3 years ago and probably have done about 15 trades in that time. Very poor, I know but I was always too busy. I have now drastically changed my life, left London and moved to Brisbane. I am currently getting my head back into trading or rather getting my head into trading. I did a course a year ago and am currently going through Guy Bower Options trading book and learning the optionxpress environment again. I don't find Guy Bower very clear sometimes. I am sure it will click at some point.
Anyway, I look forward to going through this forum in order to learn as much as possible.
"The winner is not the one with the highest IQ. The winner can simply be the one who persists and does not discourage in the early stages of learning"
Sadly, after 3 years of wanting to trade, I am still in the early stages but not discouraged.

Hello i'm a new bear to the market. I;ve been trading causiously for 2 years and my my time has come.

3rd stage bull market has passed.

Happy new year

G'day all.

I've had some shares for over 30 years on a "set and forget" basis. But now at 56 and semi-retired, I'm looking to increase the return on my SMSF investments.

My Ozzie share market holdings were increased in '07, and I am still looking to buy further with a conservative strategy as opportunities arise.

Look forward to sharing some ideas.

- Gullible

Hi 'beginners'!

Certainly that is not really the case with a few of you. Welcome to ASF!!

I'm still learning the business myself and have found ASF a great source of quality well balanced analysis, without the ramping, which Joe Blow has done his best to control with some reasonable posting policies.

Look forward to hearing more from you.

kennas

hi im a nub and i have been reading over past week about shares n stuff. i got cash in bankwest earning 6.9%pa but i think that sux , when the market went down on the 22nd i signed up with etrade and my fake portfolio raised 33% in a few days so now i want some of the action

Hi guys!

My name is Eric and at the age of 23. Just finished a Business Degree last year and im new to the stockmarket. I've been trying to do some research the last few months but still very confused with it all and not sure where and how to begin. Been to the Hometrader seminar but i think its too expensive for the course. Anyone know any good books for beginners?

Glad I came across this forum, I think it will be in handy.

Eric.

EricBasar said:

Hi guys!

My name is Eric and at the age of 23. Just finished a Business Degree last year and im new to the stockmarket. I've been trying to do some research the last few months but still very confused with it all and not sure where and how to begin. Been to the Hometrader seminar but i think its too expensive for the course. Anyone know any good books for beginners?

Glad I came across this forum, I think it will be in handy.

Eric.

Click to expand...

Eric

You might wanna get your hands on this book. "Top Resource Stocks 2008" (assuming you are interested in Resource Stocks). The authors are Dr Allen Trench, Don Pridmore, and Leonard Lau. It is very accessible to the average Joe Blow (oppps, sorry Joe), and you don't need to be an accountant to understand it. It gives very easy acceess to key financial data that you might otherwise have to read a 100 page Annual Report for, all in one single page. It lists the top 100 companies from the last 12 months and explains what they do, how they make money, and where they could go from here.

Who knows?.... perhaps you may recognise trends and patterns in this book to allow you to become a gun stockpicking ASF guru yourself, this book will be a great start for you.

jman

I'm a newbie here!
I watch stock market for few weeks and don't know where to start!
I'm learning. Your posting is very good stuffs. Thanks for sharing.

ecfutures said:

Hi everybody, just to share some thoughts among stocks market newbies'.

Below are some conclusion i made after i join stock & futures for years.

Trading System

Majority of the traders in the market are adopting strategy such as “buy low sell high” or picking high volatility penny stocks for blindly speculation on price differences. However, this strategy is more depends on luck compared to a proper trading system. I was traded stocks market & futures market for the past seven years, and I had made many mistakes as well. However, after study on these mistakes, finally I realize that most of the mistakes are avoidable. Below are 3 common mistakes which often made by investors such as;

1. Lack of Self-Discipline

· Emotional effect is the strongest enemy in our trading. It is hard to be controlled especially when we are losing money. Hence, it sometimes causes further losses due to our late decision made when trend is starting to against our position. This is the time where most people will not follow their trading plan and finally cause a failure trade.

Cheers!!!

Click to expand...

EricBasar said:

Anyone know any good books for beginners?

Click to expand...

G'day Eric. There are many approaches.

I don't use technical analysis, but instead look at the underlying fundamentals of the world, US and Oz economy (macroeconomics), and that of the individual public companies/ stock.

The business pages of the daily newspaper, financial reports in the evening news, the weekend Financial Review, and Fin Review's "smartinvestor" monthly magazine are all worthwhile.

Presently with talk of US recession and a bearish market, it's easy to lose money. Check out higher yielding stocks, and evaluate the outlook of these companies (go to the companies web sites, and check out annual reports etc) ...

I bought Transurban (TCL) today - paying a dividend of 8.4% thanks to money rolling in from Melbourne's CityLink and other toll roads, with every likelihood that this should continue (it seems unlikely that traffic will desert Melbourne's CityLink).

The resource sector should continue to be strong by supplying primary materials to China. I'm watching several stocks (eg. Zinifex) which presently are showing high yields and good production levels from their mines - the only present hesitation being some weakness in their commodity prices. But keep your finger on the pulse of these.

Shares in ASX itself seems a safe haven for investment due to its monopoly market position.

In retailing, I like JB HiFi - their stores (with a further 20 stores scheduled to open in '08) are packed with kids buying iPods and electrical gizmo's without a care in the world about mortgage rates or macro-economics.

Anyway, this is a glimpse of how I look at the underlying fundamentals of stocks, rather than looking at charts, curves, waves and technical formulas. But there are many approaches, and many books sold claiming to reveal the secret of success.

Good luck.

- Gullible

Hi everyone

I have been using this forum for good reads and moral support for a while now and thought it time I introduced myself.

I've been using Sharefinder system "SPA" for 12months now and it has certainly worked well as an intro toll into the market.
After reading Alan Hull and Louise Bedford I found it too slow and pains taking to set up my own system so i tried SPA.
It was going very well until the fall but even so I am slightly ahead.

Sharefinder doesn't have an end of day trading system and I was wondering if anyone knew a good one.

I have noticed that there is a lot of money to be made trading end of day spec shares as the prices go up and down.
I would appreciate any advise on this or anything else that you may offer.

I do enjoy trading but it is very intense hobby with so much to learn.

Keeping on keeping on
Cheers Transporable

Hello Everyone!

I just saw this site today and completely clueless on stocks.
I want to learn how to trade online, am looking forward to learn all here.

Best Regards,
Tero

tero said:

Hello Everyone!

I just saw this site today and completely clueless on stocks.
I want to learn how to trade online, am looking forward to learn all here.

Best Regards,
Tero

Click to expand...

Me too!

I just created a free account from ASX and learning and reading Teach Yourself about Shares of Roger Kinsky.

Want to buy some shares and learning from it but still not sure where should I contact and how much I have to pay for broker.

Hello,

Scored my first full time job about one and a half years ago, but not yet making average Aussie wage of $50,000. Paid off HECS and now unencumbered. Have started investing in CFS Global Resources Managed Fund but find from reading your archives that some of your contributors think managed funds are a very BAD idea. My parents, who were migrants, believed there was no substitute for hard work if you wanted to get ahead. Now that they have reached the end of their working lives they own a modest house, but have little else to show for all their hard work. My knowledge of stocks and shares has so far come from Money Magazine. I really hope that I will be able to learn from the investors on your forum, so that I can do a bit better for myself.