Stox

I promised to stop talking about economics, but I have a good reason for returning briefly to the topic.

Okay, two good reasons.

The first is that a sometimes-commenter on this blog, Matthew C., has started his own blog on day trading. It's called Quiet Trader, and it documents his impressive success at day trading S&P futures using a simulation program. The dollars aren't real, but the profits have been in the triple digits. He started with $100,000 in virtual money back in October and now has $262,503.

Matthew is looking for an investor who might want to use his skills. He has a business proposal on the site.

Be aware that day trading carries risks, and in general you should not day trade with money you cannot afford to lose. That said, some day traders - a talented and savvy minority - can do very well.

The second reason for reopening this topic is simply full disclosure. After sticking stubbornly to my buy-and-hold philosophy for longer than I should have, I finally semi-capitulated and sold some of my equity holdings. (Naturally this means the stock market will immediately go up; it's a law of nature that whenever I sell any investment, it instantly increases in value.)

I still think buy-and-hold is a valid approach over the long run, but as Keynes famously said, "In the long run we are all dead." More seriously, I think buy-and-hold is probably the right approach for part of your equities, but it needs to be balanced by other approaches to offset the sometimes precipitous market drops that can occur.

Roger Knights and Matthew C. (among others) were right in advising me to sell stocks back when the DJIA was hovering around 9000. The subsequent decline has not been good for my digestion.

Live and learn.

Comments

[MarkL]

The stock market was supposed to be a method for companies to raise money by giving investors a stake in the company. Now, with the corruption, lying about net worth, self-dealing and milking of company assets by management it is really a casino (with fixed games) where the company management, with the help of stock brokers, steals money from the small investor.

My advice? Michael, get out while you can.

[1236214356]

Sorry for my post, [url=" http://en.justin.tv/huzkolra/profile "]desnudo mujeres[/url], vmca,

[Matthew C.]

Thanks very much Michael for the link and nice writeup.

I didn't have a very good day yesterday, but today was a great opportunity with the short squeeze and I was able to take advantage nicely -- up +$16,000 before expenses. I'll put more details on my blog tonight.

[Matthew C.]

Michael,

I took a look at the link you posted to the SEC website on daytrading.

Most of it is apropos. But this part doesn't apply to the kind of trading I am doing:

Day traders must watch the market continuously during the day at their computer terminals. It's extremely difficult and demands great concentration to watch dozens of ticker quotes and price fluctuations to spot market trends. Day traders also have high expenses, paying their firms large amounts in commissions, for training, and for computers. Any day trader should know up front how much they need to make to cover expenses and break even.

I only watch one ticker and I only monitor it in the corner of my screen 90% of the time. It's really not very difficult. That is the huge advantage of only trading one market instead of the world of thousands of stocks. The trading I am doing does not require anything more sophisticated than a cheap PC with a standard high-speed internet connection.

[Ting]

Well, I hope the stock market is aware that you sold some of your investments so that it can adequately prepare for the monstrous gains it will surely acquire tomorrow. I will be waiting in the wings to capitalize on this fascinating new developement.

Thanks for the heads up on Matthew's day trading, which I will be checking out immediately. I started out last October too, and I'm no where near the gains that he has. We'll just say that gains shouldn't even be in the sentence when describing my investment portfolio.....

[hypotheek aflossingsvrij]

It is good to know that Stox returns to talk about economics now.I found his come back reasons are interesting.

[forex forum]

daytrading can get you so crazy. There is a lot of money to be made with it.

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