Trading Tips

[Highway Man]

There seems to be a fair few financially clued up people on this forum, does anyone on here actually do any trading or have any real insight into it? My idea is to learn trading as I have no real knowledge of it and wondered if it is something you can actually learn as a complete novice?

 

[JohnD]

Not me.

But I have made very handsome gains as a private investor.

If you want a good laugh, Google "what proportion of day traders lose money."

 

[Highway Man]

I suspected that would be the norm.

 

[blup]

If I had money to invest now I would invest it in property not shares. Like shares you get a dividend (rent) and an increase in capital value. And physical bricks and mortar for which there always be a demand. Unlike a share certificate.

 

[JohnD]

If I had money to invest now I would invest it in property not shares. Like shares you get a dividend (rent) and an increase in capital value. And physical bricks and mortar for which there always be a demand. Unlike a share certificate.

If I add up the number of minutes I have spent in the last 30 years from my investments dealing with burst pipes, leaking roofs, condensation, grasping agents and unpaid rent, it totals....


Zero.

The same as the amount I have spent on maintenance and modernisation.

 

[James Carmichael]

I day trade but just for fun. I keep my investment at no more than £100k, which means I am fine with there being good days and bad days.

I am not sure I'd do it with serious money.

 

[Highway Man]

I day trade but just for fun. I keep my investment at no more than £100k, which means I am fine with there being good days and bad days.

I am not sure I'd do it with serious money.

I would consider £100k serious money tbh. Trading is probably not for me in this case.

 

[James Carmichael]

Yes, in that case I'd proceed with caution.

 

[Highway Man]

Yes, in that case I'd proceed with caution.

On that basis, I won't be proceeding, I would kill myself losing £100k. Not the sort of numbers I would play with as that would be my lifes savings.

 

[JohnD]

On that basis, I won't be proceeding, I would kill myself losing £100k. Not the sort of numbers I would play with as that would be my lifes savings.

As a private investor, I have, over time, seen some peaks and troughs.

Here is an example with a couple of big troughs. The blue line is a broad-based international fund in a pension scheme, that would normally be expected to be unadventurous and low risk. The other lines are major indices, which are also generally considered suitable fir unadventurous investors,

I chose the dates to show the worst periods I have seen in my life.

You might look at this graph and be glad you were not an investor.

 

[JohnD]

And here is a chart of the same items, but with performance running up today.

You might look at this and be sorry you were not an investor. The losses now look insignificant.

You can just see the 12-month performance figure of the pension fund near the top.

Pensions are a good example of a long-term investment. You might be contributing over a working life of 40 years or more.

 

[Highway Man]

I couldn't cope with the losses hoping that it goes up again. My luck would see them continuing the downward spiral until nothing was left. Seems more like gambling than an art.

 

[JohnD]

I'm told there is no 10 year period when the FTSE ended up lower than it started.