Anyone here have some serious experience with stocks?

BillyWaltersJr+ · Jul 11, 2007

I have been reading quite a lot about stocks and trading and everything the past few days, and have become quite interested in it. I have seen quite a few people trading penny stocks and making about 1% (sometimes even more) every day. Has anyone on these forums tried this before? If so, could you explain how it went, any insight would be great. Thanks.

I know we have a financial section, but people barely post in there and I simply thought posting it in here would get more responses in a short period of time.

pokerpills · Jul 11, 2007

Intrinzik said:
I have been reading quite a lot about stocks and trading and everything the past few days, and have become quite interested in it. I have seen quite a few people trading penny stocks and making about 1% (sometimes even more) every day. Has anyone on these forums tried this before? If so, could you explain how it went, any insight would be great. Thanks.

I know we have a financial section, but people barely post in there and I simply thought posting it in here would get more responses in a short period of time.

If you're new to stocks, I would stay away from pennies. Penny stocks are dangerous unless you're in the know with someone inside the company. There are quite a few pump and dump schemes that involve penny stocks. A basic pump & dump is to amass a few million shares of pennies at under premium, pump it on all the message boards like its the next greatest Google, then unload shares when everyone starts buying. There's many that have made hundreds of millions with these schemes and the innocent stockholders are left with a bunch of junk stocks. Sure there are some legitimate pennies out there that turn into true companies but you have to be very, VERY careful and do your due diligence.

erwinmark · Jul 11, 2007

Penny stocks are tough, you would be better off looking into options on larger companies. Problem with Penny stock is getting in and out, sometimes you have someone running a stock up and down. You put in an order to buy, they bump it up a little on you. You get ready to sell, nobody wants to buy, so they lower price considerably to get your stock sold. I have seen short sqeezes where they won't let you in or out.

You are much better off with a small amount of money, to gamble on options, of good companies. Keep reading....

BillyWaltersJr+ · Jul 11, 2007

What about stocks that are worth, say $1-2 a piece. Are those better to invest in than penny stocks? Couldn't I buy a few thousand at say $1.80 a piece and sell at $2.00 so I make $0.20 per share? Seems too simple..

CookieNBabe · Jul 11, 2007

Traded since '78, and be very wary of anyone claiming free money with penny stocks. This is the stuff infomercials are made of.

Money can be made in the market, and there are countless ways to trade it, unfortunately only you know what will work for you, and it will take some time and exposure/risk to find your own level.

I think the best advice I can offer, is to open an account at an online brokerage, (some you can open with just 500.00), to get their trading software platform on your computer, and DONT invest in a damn thing for weeks, maybe months. But watch the trading every day you can for at least 2 hours. That is the best teacher. The market itself. It has a cadence, and speed at which it reacts to news, commodity prices, and money exchanges, and you need to become fully aware of what the drivers are. For instance, watch the live trading of the US oil fund (symbol "USO" on the AMEX)...and then watch companys connected to oil, like "HAL" (Halliburton), and you will see it trails but shadows the oil almost perfectly, and Ive traded those two for years now, as it is very predictable, and easy to follow. I dont put in the time studying balance sheets and gambling on one company any more. Been burned too many times. Now it is just funds, or indices, as they are much easier to trade.

Lots more can be said, but I would not advise (and neither would any reputable CFP) 1% of your portfolio be involved in pink-sheet stocks or penny stocks that do not have to conform to the regulations of the exchanges.

pokerpills · Jul 11, 2007

Intrinzik said:
What about stocks that are worth, say $1-2 a piece. Are those better to invest in than penny stocks? Couldn't I buy a few thousand at say $1.80 a piece and sell at $2.00 so I make $0.20 per share? Seems too simple..

.

If you want the biggest bang for your buck(but with also greater risk), you should learn about trading options. Options are a fantastic leverage tool but use them wisely. After I learned about options, I've never went back to trading just stocks.

BillyWaltersJr+ · Jul 11, 2007

pokerpills said:
.

If you want the biggest bang for your buck(but with also greater risk), you should learn about trading options. Options are a fantastic leverage tool but use them wisely. After I learned about options, I've never went back to trading just stocks.

I'll read up on those on Investopedia. Seems interesting.

How much ROI should one expect from trading options?

SENDITIN · Jul 11, 2007

Penny stocks is a fools game. You are swimming with the sharks and will get your ass handed to you. Most stocks under $5 are garbage and are more likely to go to zero than make you any money. Options trading is also extremely risky. If you want to trade, than do it around a core position...i.e. a stock you don't mind holding for a longer term in your portfolio. Buy a little more if it falls X%....sell some if it grows Y%

Hitman26 · Jul 11, 2007

There is no way to get rich quick unless you have inside info.

THEHITMAN · Jul 11, 2007

Have many many years experiene with stocks. What I don't have right now is the time to post a lengthy response.

In short, Pennies are not the way to go. They are pennies for a reason! For every one that is successful, dozens flop. This is truth, my man.
Options are an intricate game...........get your feet wet in straight trading first.

I really don't mean to be offensive, but you are new and seem to want some easy quick profits. As in gambling, there are none. (unless you get lucky).

I would read as much as I can for awhile, especially a "Stock Trading for Dummies" book or the like. Watch Bloomberg or leave CNBC on the TV on in the background all day & evening. Watch some Cramer on CNBC.

Generally, avoid hot tips.............by the time you get one, so have thousands of others. Or, if not, it is insider info, which is illegal.

Set your self up with a "make believe" portfolio. Easy to do online. Buy your stocks in $1000 blocks so they all remain constant for tracking purposes. (Instead of 50 or 100 share blocks whre the amounts of investment will vary greatly and more difficult to track). See how things go............you will learn how easy it is to lose some cash this way.

I know this is not what you want to hear at this point, but
this is not a game for the faint of heart or weak of wallet. Like sports gambling, it is a marathon, not a sprint. Have knowledge and possess patience and caution.
There is no easy way to get rich quickly here...........unless, like I said, you are very lucky or have a great tout.

GL2U, let us know how you do.

THEHITMAN · Jul 11, 2007

To reiterate, ..............try to get those penny stocks out of your mind. Look for some stuff with some substance and cred.

PercocetThreat · Jul 11, 2007

Lots of good advice in this thread and there is not too much more I can add but I will add this:

Learn how to read SEC filings, practically everything you need to know about a company is located in the filings. Read, analyze, & interpret. If you are able to successfully read and interpret what a company is telling you then you have a much better chance of being successful. And yes, stay away from the pennies. You will lose, period.

Investing/trading is a lot of fun if you do it the right way, good luck!!

hellah10 · Jul 11, 2007

speak to dawoofdaddy

TOK · Jul 11, 2007

is a $0.50 cent stock considered a penny stock? should you stay away from stocks under a dollar?

PercocetThreat · Jul 11, 2007

TOK said:
is a $0.50 cent stock considered a penny stock? should you stay away from stocks under a dollar?

It depends, most stocks that trade under $1 are no good. However, there are companies whos stock trade under a $1 that are good companies that are just going through a bad spell. Or they are just very small/start-up companies

The term "penny stock" has more to do with the company's activities then the price of their stock per se. Penny Stocks are representative of companies who do not have any hope of achieving real revenues or income, have no business plan, and whos existance is simply to flood the market with shares. There is definiately a difference between a penny stock and a micro cap company.

gbogo · Jul 11, 2007

ive been in financial markets longer than most here

traded all the markets - personally I find stocks the hardest

commodities and fx are more lucrative

also you want to be earning a rebate every time you trade- that will add up at month end

trading for the beginner starts with a steep learning curve so if you intend to day trade then start small till you learn the ins and the outs - otherwise you end up with an expensive education

THEHITMAN · Jul 11, 2007

Good advice, Percocet. Anyone who thinks this is an easy game for the uninitiated is mistaken. Hell, I've been doing it for 25-30 years, ever since high school, and still run into pitfalls.

Hard work will be rewarded in the long run.

THEHITMAN · Jul 11, 2007

Intrinzik said:
What about stocks that are worth, say $1-2 a piece. Are those better to invest in than penny stocks? Couldn't I buy a few thousand at say $1.80 a piece and sell at $2.00 so I make $0.20 per share? Seems too simple..

It is. Apply the same ratio (.20/2.00) to 2.00/20.00 or 4.00/40.00 or 8.00/80.00. Same thing, but better companies with some cred and a past performance record you can track easily.

shiz · Jul 11, 2007

Stocks under 3 dollars are at that price for a reason...

Dubpoet · Jul 11, 2007

When everyone is high on stocks, Buy bonds! and vice versa.

Anyone here have some serious experience with stocks?

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