How did you all start?

[trinity]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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<]

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!