Originally posted by: robothouse77
lessons i've learned thus far:
1. Never, ever, ever listen to financial analysts. They are quite often wrong.
2. Buy low, sell high. Look for indicators. For example, if you were to chart a stock, one indicator is the parabolic SAR. Simply chart a stock for say 3 months w/ the parabolic SAR. When the line for SAR crosses the actual price on a downturn, buy. on an upturn, sell.
3. Set stop limits for both losses against principal and profits. For example, if you have $1000 in a particular stock, and you are willing to lose $100, set that up as a stop loss. Or, if you've suddenly make a $25 percent profit, and don't want to not have that even as the stock keeps climbing, set that as a stop loss.
4. Use scottrade.com. $7 commissions, anytime. Sharebuilder i believe you can only trade for $4 on tuesdays or some crap.
5. Be aware of headlines. Even if a stock is climbing, in one after hour, you can lose %12. Be sure to sell the next morning...
6. Good luck!