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Expect to lose your $2000. I'm not trying to dissuade you -- investing is a skill, and if it only costs $2000 to learn it, you've done great. If you're not af
by ctkrohn 18y ago
Expect to lose your $2000. I'm not trying to dissuade you -- investing is a skill, and if it only costs $2000 to learn it, you've done great. If you're not afraid to lose your capital, you'll be much better positioned to take calculated risks.
Be aware of commissions. If you have only $2000, you will have to engage in fewer, more profitable trades -- otherwise commissions will completely erode your profits. Let's say it costs $10 to make a round-trip buy/sell trade. That's already 0.5% of your capital right there. If you do 10 trades a year, you're starting off with an annual return of -5%.
Traditional stock picking really isn't my thing. It's nearly impossible to have an informational advantage. The professionals can barely beat their benchmark on a regular basis. It just doesn't make sense to play the stock picking game unless you have a credible reason to believe that you have an edge over the competition.
A great place to hang out is www.nuclearphynance.com. It's the best message board for quant finance. Lurk there for a while and learn about the computational and quantitative side of finance. Traditional stock picking isn't really related to hacking, but there are sides of finance that are.
- kyro 18y agoWell, as far as informational advantage, all company related information seems to be public - balance sheets, conference calls, etc. Are you referring to information that deals with the second to second fluctuations of stock prices due to sell-offs and fund activity? Are there any services that help to narrow the informational gap between common investors and professional managers?
- aswanson 18y agoIf there are, everyone has access to the information, neutralizing it's utility to you. A few things you might want to read: http://www.wallstreetselfdefensemanual.com/the_wall_street_selfdefen/2007/02/7_meet_your_com.html http://www.wallstreetselfdefensemanual.com/the_wall_street_s... http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/best-investment-advice-youll-never-get http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/best-investment-advice-youll...
- Retric 18y agoThe only real advantage open to you is a better understanding of the industry than most investors. EX: Buying dell in 1995, the market is booming and they have a good reputation so you do the math and think they are undervalued.
- Shamiq 18y agoAbout the commissions, Zecco is an online broker which gives the first 10 trades (one way) every month for free.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- gravitycop 18y agoZecco is an online broker which gives the first 10 trades (one way) every month for free. Zecco (Zero Cost) sounds like a good brokerage option for low-cost ($4.50 for trades that are not free) stock-trading, as long as customer service is not a priority. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zecco.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zecco.com Another poster also mentioned Zecco in this thread. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=441256 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=441256