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Hi sirk,

I was probably in a similar situation as you a few years ago. I'm now 23 and have been in the market for 3 years. Starting out with around 5K, my portfolio is now 6-digits (with help from a graduate-sort-of salary) so I've done quite well over that period.

I hold medium-long term fundamental positions in small cap companies. My portfolio is concentrated and are picked bottom-up (ie more based on micro than macro). But that's enough of what I do.

Everyone is different and is suited for different ways of trading/investing. You have to determine how serious you are with it, how much time you can dedicate to it, and what strategies suit you best. I recommend reading books to get a better understanding. There are plenty of great books out there and I would have read 30-odd investment related books in the past 3 years.

After all this reading I discovered that although the ultra-successful traders/investors have what seems to be hugely different methods, most have a few characteristics in common. Just from observations, most:

• Seek concentration rather than diversification (although some struggle due to the massive capital they manage)
• Have capital perservation very high on their list (ie. risk adverse)

Which leads me onto your plans... I personally don't think leveraging is a good idea starting out. The sharemarket has done extremely well recently and has done well over the long term but it's no neverending pyramid scheme. A portfolio with 10K borrowings on 5K capital is a very highly leveraged one. If the market has a little correction and you're in 300% long, it's going to be extremely painful and a position that is hard to recover from.

Time is on your side... best of luck!