Stocks Seem So Simple... Is It?

[Kenji4861]

So I'm about to invest $10k into something.

It seems like etrade is simple.. if I see a company fluctuating from $20 - $30 continously.. can I just put in $10,000 when it's $20.. and sell it right away when it goes back up to $30?

Is it that simple? What other companies are there like etrade where I can do everything online? What is the catch?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Short-term investing. Easy. LMAO!

I'm a Finance Major, it's anything but simple. There are all sorts of things to consider, and nothing continuously fluctuates between two points, there will be a lot of short-term volitility.

ZV

 

[richardycc]

the catch is "Past performance not true indicator of future results."

 

[UglyCasanova]

That's a lot of money to play around with if you don't know what you are doing.

 

[boi]

Don't do it. Too risky. Try it with a lower amount of money and see what happens.

 

[Cyberian]

Stocks Seem So Simple... Is It?

Yup!!

Buy low, sell high.

That's all there is to it.

 

[samurai20]

short term investing = dumb. First, the transaction costs will hurt, secondly the taxes will hurt even more, and that's if you're lucky enough to come out with a profit in the first place. Risk don't equal reward.

 

[prvteye2003]

don't you think if it was that easy that there would be alot more wealthy people around. I tell you what, I'll be your broker. JUst send me your 10k and I'll take care of it for you

edit: A doctor friend of mine invested and did the daytrader/etrade thing and had invested 50k which in 6 months he was up to over 220k but lost it all in less than 3 months. It's a tough game. If you have no idea what you are doing, stay away!

 

[Pliablemoose]

What are you buying?

I just made $500 with ~2500 on Friday, playing Pixar...

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Easy? Hell no.

If you really want to play the game, at least have someone else (broker) invest at least half for you, then go "play" with the rest.

 

[Orsorum]

Don't buy anything until you've done at least some reading. Morningstar and The Motley Fool have awesome sections for people who are new to investing.

You can make lots of money in the short run, but in the long run you are more likely to lose.

 

[SammyBoy]

Yes, do that now. Great plan.

lol, you = not worthy of 10k

 

[Hector13]

Originally posted by: Kenji4861
So I'm about to invest $10k into something.

It seems like etrade is simple.. if I see a company fluctuating from $20 - $30 continously.. can I just put in $10,000 when it's $20.. and sell it right away when it goes back up to $30?

Is it that simple? What other companies are there like etrade where I can do everything online? What is the catch?

I work with people who do full time "technical" trading for a living (ie, "swing" or "momentum" trading). Even they can't beat the market consistently and they have access to much better tools and information then you even will (not to mention they get paid a lot to do this and they are not even investing their own money).

As others in this thread have said, I would not invest any necessary savings like this. Perhaps you can invest 9K (out of the 10K) in some "safe" investments (some index funds or other mutual funds) and play (ie, gamble which is what you would be doing) with the other 1K.

 

[Hector13]

Originally posted by: SammyBoy
Yes, do that now. Great plan.

lol, you = not worthy of 10k

hey, you never know, he may "win" big. There are people out there who "invest" their money on the 5 horse in the third race or on the jets to cover the spread. Why should stock be any different? If you want to use them to gamble go ahead (your only helping the rest of us in the market by supplying liquidity). Just don't think that your money will be safe.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Originally posted by: Hector13

Originally posted by: SammyBoy
Yes, do that now. Great plan.

lol, you = not worthy of 10k

hey, you never know, he may "win" big. There are people out there who "invest" their money on the 5 horse in the third race or on the jets to cover the spread. Why should stock be any different? If you want to use them to gamble go ahead (your only helping the rest of us in the market by supplying liquidity). Just don't think that your money will be safe.

The odds are highly stacked against him, however. Especially for a clueless newb like Kenji

 

[m2kewl]

hehe. i did this with $8k in 2000 - and lost nearly 50%, and my risk wasn't even that high. much smarter now, holding for the long term and taking advice from the pros.

like everyone says, it ain't as simple as it sounds...n00bs will eventually get pwned by the market!!

 

[Hector13]

Originally posted by: Angrymarshmello

Originally posted by: Hector13

Originally posted by: SammyBoy
Yes, do that now. Great plan.

lol, you = not worthy of 10k

hey, you never know, he may "win" big. There are people out there who "invest" their money on the 5 horse in the third race or on the jets to cover the spread. Why should stock be any different? If you want to use them to gamble go ahead (your only helping the rest of us in the market by supplying liquidity). Just don't think that your money will be safe.

The odds are highly stacked against him, however. Especially for a clueless newb like Kenji

not really. If you just randomly put $10K on a stock (or on SPY or some other ETF), chances are pretty much 50/50 that it will go up vs. go down (actually, you probably have a better chance of the name going up). It just like betting on red or black at the roullette table!

Now, if you want some big payoffs... lever up!