| When I first started trading the stock market, there | | | | yourself out of trouble. |
| was not the wealth of information available online like | | | | 6. Don't worry if you think you just missed the |
| there is today. I read a lot of books and learned the | | | | biggest trade of the year. Never chase a stock trying |
| terms and thought I knew everything necessary to | | | | to get on board, if you wait 30 minutes, another |
| make my fortune trading the market. I found a | | | | trade will come along that is just as lucrative. (This |
| discount broker and started plugging away, and | | | | one tip would have saved me a fortune) |
| immediately lost my shirt. | | | | 7. Learn how to use a trailing stop. Immediately after |
| Even though I had read these same tips in numerous | | | | buying a stock, put in a stop loss order, and keep |
| places, I really didn't understand the importance of | | | | raising the stop limit. This will preserve your gains, but |
| them until I had learned them the hard way. As they | | | | more importantly will preserve your capital. |
| say, experience is the best teacher, if you survive | | | | 8. Never buy until you have determined when you |
| the lesson. | | | | are going to sell. You need to know what point you |
| These are things that I wish I had really used when I | | | | will accept a small loss and move on. Then when you |
| first started trading. | | | | buy, keep that stop loss point; never change this |
| 1. Never invest money you can't afford to lose. | | | | point in the heat of the battle, because this is |
| 2. Never invest money you are afraid to lose. If you | | | | guaranteed to cost you money. |
| are too uptight, you are guaranteed to make bad | | | | 9. Never get greedy. The old market saying is Bears |
| decisions. | | | | make money, Bulls make money, Hogs get |
| 3. Never buy a stock you receive in an unsolicited | | | | slaughtered is very true. |
| email or in a mass mailing. Many times, these turn out | | | | 10. Don't treat the stock market like it is your private |
| to be low cost, thinly traded penny stocks that some | | | | Las Vegas gambling casino. It's ok for a small portion |
| one is trying to pump up the price and dump them. | | | | of your portfolio to gamble, but it's called investing |
| 4. Most of them time, you should not buy stocks at | | | | for a reason. |
| the open of the market. The first hour of the trading | | | | If you follow these simple tips, they will save you |
| day typically has a lot of volatility. Stocks tend to | | | | some of the misery that I went through early in my |
| stabilize after the first hour; you could end up paying | | | | trading career. Try not to get bogged down in all of |
| too much trying to get a stock, only to have it settle | | | | the information overload that is coming at you from |
| down in price 30 minutes later. | | | | all directions. Slow down, there will plenty of good |
| 5. As a new investor, never buy stocks on margin. It | | | | trades available to you tomorrow, if your trading |
| is ok to have a margin account; just don't use the | | | | capital is still available. |
| margin until you have enough knowledge to keep | | | | |