Who manages your money? If the answer is not "you", then you could be missing out on a big opportunity. Like most people, for more years than we care to think about, we have turned over control of that part of our life to others. We went from mutual funds, to a stock broker and to a portfolio manager - but the all had one thing in common: They were not us!
A few years back we were fortunate enough to be able to take the time required to begin to change this. We started going to seminars and learning about investing. We found that it was not rocket science! But it did take an understanding of markets and how they work. So we took some classes - a lot of classes - and spent a bit of money on our education, but in retrospect it all paid off.
Who knows, what we learned could be good advice for you. If you can benefit from our experience and fast-track your progress, all the better. But what we learned was a bit surprising! And that's what this site is about. We found that there some things that worked for us and others that did not. For you it will be different things that work and don't. But that is the fun of it, and indeed the whole point of it because then you will have taken the first step towards control.
So read on and see what we have learned. We will go through all that here, and from time to time we will post some ideas that we think might work for us or even our own opinions of the markets and trends. But remember, they are just our opinions, so please be sure to refer to our disclaimer below.
Happy investing!
Welcome to our site!
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Are you a Trader or an Investor?
One of the things you need to find out is what works for you. There are traders and there are investors - and there are investors who also trade. The difference is simple: when you invest, you are looking to take a position that you will hold for a longer term. Although debatable, we usually think of a longer term investor as having a time frame of at least 6 months and out from there.
The longer your time frame, the less concerned you should generally be about day to day or even month to month price fluctuations. And, the less attention you need to pay to your positions.
For shorter time frames, of course, these things becomes more important. When you get below the 6 month mark, you are more of a frequent trader and have a need to keep a somewhat closer eye on what is going on.
The most intense end of this scale, of course, is the day trader. Many day traders spend hours in front of multiple screens watching charts and moving in and out of positions. It is intensive work, and there is some belief that at least on average the returns are no better than those for the long term trader. But the truth is that it all comes down to selection and timing. Pick the right position at the right time, and results will be good. The wrong position, or even the right position but at the wrong time all but guarantees poor results.
The longer your time frame, the less concerned you should generally be about day to day or even month to month price fluctuations. And, the less attention you need to pay to your positions.
For shorter time frames, of course, these things becomes more important. When you get below the 6 month mark, you are more of a frequent trader and have a need to keep a somewhat closer eye on what is going on.
The most intense end of this scale, of course, is the day trader. Many day traders spend hours in front of multiple screens watching charts and moving in and out of positions. It is intensive work, and there is some belief that at least on average the returns are no better than those for the long term trader. But the truth is that it all comes down to selection and timing. Pick the right position at the right time, and results will be good. The wrong position, or even the right position but at the wrong time all but guarantees poor results.
Welcome to our site!
Who manages your money? If the answer is not "you", then you could be missing out on a big opportunity. Like most people, for more years than we care to think about, we have turned over control of that part of our life to others. We went from mutual funds, to a stock broker and to a portfolio manager - but the all had one thing in common: They were not us!
A few years back we were fortunate enough to be able to take the time required to begin to change this. We started going to seminars and learning about investing. We found that it was not rocket science! But it did take an understanding of markets and how they work. So we took some classes - a lot of classes - and spent a bit of money on our education, but in retrospect it all paid off.
Who knows, what we learned could be good advice for you. If you can benefit from our experience and fast-track your progress, all the better. But what we learned was a bit surprising! And that's what this site is about. We found that there some things that worked for us and others that did not. For you it will be different things that work and don't. But that is the fun of it, and indeed the whole point of it because then you will have taken the first step towards control.
So read on and see what we have learned. We will go through all that here, and from time to time we will post some ideas that we think might work for us or even our own opinions of the markets and trends. But remember, they are just our opinions, so please be sure to refer to our disclaimer below.
Happy investing!
A few years back we were fortunate enough to be able to take the time required to begin to change this. We started going to seminars and learning about investing. We found that it was not rocket science! But it did take an understanding of markets and how they work. So we took some classes - a lot of classes - and spent a bit of money on our education, but in retrospect it all paid off.
Who knows, what we learned could be good advice for you. If you can benefit from our experience and fast-track your progress, all the better. But what we learned was a bit surprising! And that's what this site is about. We found that there some things that worked for us and others that did not. For you it will be different things that work and don't. But that is the fun of it, and indeed the whole point of it because then you will have taken the first step towards control.
So read on and see what we have learned. We will go through all that here, and from time to time we will post some ideas that we think might work for us or even our own opinions of the markets and trends. But remember, they are just our opinions, so please be sure to refer to our disclaimer below.
Happy investing!
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