Start trading with 500€?

sdiff

As the title suggests, I want to start trading. I'd like to start with 500€. I'm not looking to make money and indeed I'm willing to lose it. This is to be a learning experience. Are there any websites which would be suitable? Ideally I'd like to be able to invest in individual stocks/companies but I realise this may not be possible.
Are there any websites which would be suitable for this?

Many thanks in advance.

neil.p.b

sdiff wrote: »

As the title suggests, I want to start trading. I'd like to start with 500€. I'm not looking to make money and indeed I'm willing to lose it. This is to be a learning experience. Are there any websites which would be suitable? Ideally I'd like to be able to invest in individual stocks/companies but I realise this may not be possible.
Are there any websites which would be suitable for this?

Many thanks in advance.

€500 is not nearly enough and you don't sound like you know what you'd be doing. Start off with a dummy/fake trading account (zignals.com looks good) whilst saving up more money.

Helpneeded86

Its pretty complicated to get started on the zignals im trying to figure it out.

neil.p.b

Set up an account, you want to manage a private portfolio. Once you're logged in go tools>portfolio manager. In their you'll have an option to trade, just stick in your ticker, no. of shares, price, etc.

freeze4real

sdiff wrote: »

As the title suggests, I want to start trading. I'd like to start with 500€. I'm not looking to make money and indeed I'm willing to lose it. This is to be a learning experience. Are there any websites which would be suitable? Ideally I'd like to be able to invest in individual stocks/companies but I realise this may not be possible.
Are there any websites which would be suitable for this?

Many thanks in advance.

How's it going man, I remember talking to you on the UCD forum about IB banking. What course are you doing now ?


First things first, Do you want to trade or invest as they are both different things.

As regards to is 500 enough, I think its. I started off trading with 100e, and I learnt alot.

2md time trading I started with 300e.

500 for a beginner IMO is too much. With little as 50 - 100 you know you have little to spend, so automatically its already kicked in that you cant over leveraged and trading with that amount requires discipline which many traders lack this is very detrimental.

There are lots of penny stocks within range of .10 - 3euro and with leverage you can hold thousands of this with fraction of 500e.

The sites which you learn from depends on what exactly you want to trade, there are many ( FX ETF Commodities )as of now as you said you are interested in stocks but tomorrow you might want to diversify.

There are of companies, one I started using is plus500. It has lots of stocks options, ETF commodities etc.

Generally, I'd prefer one using a demo account but it lacks an important aspect which is emotions. But if you have no clue about trading or whatsoever then you should use one.


Any more questions, and we'll be willingly to help.

You might want to read some trading books like trading in the zone, its a great book will be reading it myself when I', done with my final exams.

neil.p.b

500e is not enough IMO. Maybe if you wanted to use leverage like CFDs or spread betting it might be but this isn't an advisable way to start your trading life. With a broker fees and stamp duty will eat in any position you have. Use a demo account for a few months. Develop a strategy. Of course this is not exactly the same as you will not have the stress/fear/greed emotions you would usually have to tackle when money is involved but it will give you a good basis to start from and let you learn from the many initial mistakes you are going to make as a beginner.

areyawell

Need to learn options, shorts etc before you even consider trading. Options will make you the money especially on that budget. Just set up a dummy account with a company. Stocktrak is probably the best one at 15 dollars a month.

sdiff

freeze4real wrote: »

How's it going man, I remember talking to you on the UCD forum about IB banking. What course are you doing now ?


First things first, Do you want to trade or invest as they are both different things.

As regards to is 500 enough, I think its. I started off trading with 100e, and I learnt alot.

2md time trading I started with 300e.

500 for a beginner IMO is too much. With little as 50 - 100 you know you have little to spend, so automatically its already kicked in that you cant over leveraged and trading with that amount requires discipline which many traders lack this is very detrimental.

There are lots of penny stocks within range of .10 - 3euro and with leverage you can hold thousands of this with fraction of 500e.

The sites which you learn from depends on what exactly you want to trade, there are many ( FX ETF Commodities )as of now as you said you are interested in stocks but tomorrow you might want to diversify.

There are of companies, one I started using is plus500. It has lots of stocks options, ETF commodities etc.

Generally, I'd prefer one using a demo account but it lacks an important aspect which is emotions. But if you have no clue about trading or whatsoever then you should use one.


Any more questions, and we'll be willingly to help.

You might want to read some trading books like trading in the zone, its a great book will be reading it myself when I', done with my final exams.

Thanks for the post. I'm studying maths atm. I am thinking of trading but I'm aware of the differences between trading and investing - I'm also interested in investing, but that's more a long term way of storing money which I will get around to eventually.

I've read a few books, watched a few documentaries and am also going through baby pips.

Thanks for the website link. I assume it is suitable for small amounts of money?

Edit: Just gave plus500 a go with a demo account, looks awesome so far. But I'm wondering, is it possible to draw trend lines? If not, what do you use to do so?

Just a question though. You obviously have at least a moderate amount of experience at this stage. With that said, what kind of successes are you having in your trades?

Need to learn options, shorts etc before you even consider trading. Options will make you the money especially on that budget. Just set up a dummy account with a company. Stocktrak is probably the best one at 15 dollars a month.

I know what options and shorts are

freeze4real

sdiff wrote: »

Just a question though. You obviously have at least a moderate amount of experience at this stage. With that said, what kind of successes are you having in your trades?

I've done okay, I'm at this at a loss though. Its been 6 - 7 months trading now and I still have over 70% of capital.

IMO A trader successes does not automatically stem from the trades he makes. some will dispute it some will agree with it to some extent.

For me when I place a trade I'm down 4e in commissions while not trying to over leverage my account it means that my I needed to gain more pips to be in a profit, thus letting my trades run longer.

On average it didn't work out well.
So choosing the a broker that suits your needs gives you an advantage or helps in being profitable or leading you to be profitable.

I just found out about plus500 3 and If I traded with them I'd be in profit, a good bit actually.

I am acquiring more information now than I did 2 years, and also trying to learn from my mistakes e.g setting a proper stop loss not to tight not to loose, not closing your profitable trades early and knowing when to accept your profit or loss. And one of the most important bits is keeping your emotions in check.

I'm still a noob, and I have a long way to go.

On the options part I'd say you should stay clear of it for now, you might know but doesn't mean you can trade it or not.

Good luck trading

liammur

I disagree about €500 not being enough. It is. However, the advice about setting up a demo account is very good advice, but just beware these often don't include spreads etc.

It's about learning and consistency with your trading. Be sure to use stop losses.

sdiff

freeze4real wrote: »

I've done okay, I'm at this at a loss though. Its been 6 - 7 months trading now and I still have over 70% of capital.

IMO A trader successes does not automatically stem from the trades he makes. some will dispute it some will agree with it to some extent.

For me when I place a trade I'm down 4e in commissions while not trying to over leverage my account it means that my I needed to gain more pips to be in a profit, thus letting my trades run longer.

On average it didn't work out well.
So choosing the a broker that suits your needs gives you an advantage or helps in being profitable or leading you to be profitable.

I just found out about plus500 3 and If I traded with them I'd be in profit, a good bit actually.

I am acquiring more information now than I did 2 years, and also trying to learn from my mistakes e.g setting a proper stop loss not to tight not to loose, not closing your profitable trades early and knowing when to accept your profit or loss. And one of the most important bits is keeping your emotions in check.

I'm still a noob, and I have a long way to go.

On the options part I'd say you should stay clear of it for now, you might know but doesn't mean you can trade it or not.

Good luck trading

Many thanks for the post. Just a question - "I just found out about plus500 3 and If I traded with them I'd be in profit, a good bit actually." Can you elaborate on this. Surely the broker you use doesn't have a major effect on your profits? Or are you simply saying that since you've started with plus500, your trades have been profitable?

liammur wrote: »

I disagree about €500 not being enough. It is. However, the advice about setting up a demo account is very good advice, but just beware these often don't include spreads etc.

It's about learning and consistency with your trading. Be sure to use stop losses.

I am working with a demo account, but eventually I will have to just jump in and start trading. Thanks for the post.

freeze4real

sdiff wrote: »

Many thanks for the post. Just a question - "I just found out about plus500 3 and If I traded with them I'd be in profit, a good bit actually." Can you elaborate on this. Surely the broker you use doesn't have a major effect on your profits? Or are you simply saying that since you've started with plus500, your trades have been profitable?

I am working with a demo account, but eventually I will have to just jump in and start trading. Thanks for the post.

I meant to say that I found out about them 3 weeks ago.

I'm not saying that my trades are more profitable, but the level of profits that I would have made with plus500 would be larger that what I've made with my broker, I wouldn't have set my stops tight etc.

My broker is 4e in commission when placing a trade, to cover that sometimes I went over leverage threshold and set tight stops.

With a broker that charges less in commission you might fall less into that scenario but you could face other issues like crap charting tools slow order executions. leggy charts etc.

That's why its important to look for a broker that suits your needs. This is very important.

some brokers like TDwaterhouse sharewatch goodbodys charge a lot for trades so you need a good bit of cash and a definite amount of profit after subtracting your commissions which you think can be attained which is not always the case .

sdiff

freeze4real wrote: »

I meant to say that I found out about them 3 weeks ago.

I'm not saying that my trades are more profitable, but the level of profits that I would have made with plus500 would be larger that what I've made with my broker, I wouldn't have set my stops tight etc.

My broker is 4e in commission when placing a trade, to cover that sometimes I went over leverage threshold and set tight stops.

With a broker that charges less in commission you might fall less into that scenario but you could face other issues like crap charting tools slow order executions. leggy charts etc.

That's why its important to look for a broker that suits your needs. This is very important.

some brokers like TDwaterhouse sharewatch goodbodys charge a lot for trades so you need a good bit of cash and a definite amount of profit after subtracting your commissions which you think can be attained which is not always the case .

Aha I understand now. With my budget I guess I'll need to find a broker with pretty small fees then. Just another question - have you tried day trading?

freeze4real

sdiff wrote: »

Aha I understand now. With my budget I guess I'll need to find a broker with pretty small fees then. Just another question - have you tried day trading?

I have tried day trading, infact I don't like keeping any trades open overnight.

Day trading is difficult, I don't have too much experience doing it but I'm sure some boardsies here do.

sdiff

freeze4real wrote: »

I have tried day trading, infact I don't like keeping any trades open overnight.

Day trading is difficult, I don't have too much experience doing it but I'm sure some boardsies here do.

I see, I just ask because the fast pace appeals to me.

Thanks for all your answers, they have been very helpful!

freeze4real

sdiff wrote: »

I see, I just ask because the fast pace appeals to me.

Thanks for all your answers, they have been very helpful!

You're welcome, and all the best trading.

By june I'll put my my P&L for the year.

arrowloopboy

sdiff wrote: »

I see, I just ask because the fast pace appeals to me.

Thanks for all your answers, they have been very helpful!

5oo quid and the fast pace appealing to you...... STOP..this won't work,answer me this ,would a return of 100 euro get you excited....for the year????
That would be a great return ,20% after trading costs were deducted.

Spend your 500 quid on some books,study,hatch a plan,give yourself some sort of a chance.

Freezer has 70% of his funds left or he's down 30% after 6mts ,which is disasterous,that means he'll have to make 42% or their abouts this year to be back to break even,no offence meant twords anyone,but be carefull where you take your advice from.

freeze4real

arrowloopboy wrote: »

5oo quid and the fast pace appealing to you.

That doesn't mean the OP might participate in day trading..

arrowloopboy wrote: »

Freezer has 70% of his funds left or he's down 30% after 6mts ,which is disasterous,that means he'll have to make 42% or their abouts this year to be back to break even,.

What would you call it if I was down to 45%. I suppose a tragedy.

Its bad being 30% but I'll try to reduce it as slow as possible.

arrowloopboy wrote: »

no offence meant twords anyone,but be carefull where you take your advice from.

Absolutely that's why I said

freeze4real wrote: »

Day trading is difficult, I don't have too much experience doing it but I'm sure some boardsies here do.

And I still stand by what I say 500 for a beginner is too much, the odds of being profitable as a beginner is slow less than 5%.
500 can be used for day trading but I wont recommend at all, but saying so I know some who've done well with it.

sdiff

arrowloopboy wrote: »

5oo quid and the fast pace appealing to you...... STOP..this won't work,answer me this ,would a return of 100 euro get you excited....for the year????
That would be a great return ,20% after trading costs were deducted.

Spend your 500 quid on some books,study,hatch a plan,give yourself some sort of a chance.

Freezer has 70% of his funds left or he's down 30% after 6mts ,which is disasterous,that means he'll have to make 42% or their abouts this year to be back to break even,no offence meant twords anyone,but be carefull where you take your advice from.

If I lose all 500 euros it's no big deal, I've allocated that amount of money and am willing to use it to learn. I have already read books, studied and so on, so please don't be so condescending and stop making assumptions. I could spend another 500 euro and probably learn nothing more than what I have learned already/can learn on the internet, or I could risk 500 euros at most and actually gain experience of the stock market. I know which option is more appealing to me.

arrowloopboy

freeze4real wrote: »

That doesn't mean the OP might participate in day trading..



What would you call it if I was down to 45%. I suppose a tragedy.

Its bad being 30% but I'll try to reduce it as slow as possible.



Absolutely that's why I said


And I still stand by what I say 500 for a beginner is too much, the odds of being profitable as a beginner is slow less than 5%.
500 can be used for day trading but I wont recommend at all, but saying so I know some who've done well with it.

45% after 6mts would be a tragedy........of Greek proportions:D
This wasn't meant to be a personal attack on you Freezer,but you know as well as i do how this would play out.

arrowloopboy

sdiff wrote: »

If I lose all 500 euros it's no big deal, I've allocated that amount of money and am willing to use it to learn. I have already read books, studied and so on, so please don't be so condescending and stop making assumptions. I could spend another 500 euro and probably learn nothing more than what I have learned already/can learn on the internet, or I could risk 500 euros at most and actually gain experience of the stock market. I know which option is more appealing to me.

I'm sorry if i'm coming across unhelpfull sdiff,but you say your willing to risk 500 quid,so lets say we go a little wild and risk 3% per trade(i like 2),thats 15 quid a trade not includeing spread/trading costs,how long will you be able to keep your risk to dealing in pennys a pip ?
If you'd do your homework their should be very little if any risk,you should be able to forecast with reasonable accuracy what return to expect.

You also didn't answer my question regarding weather 100 quid would make you happy after a year,well would it ??

If i wanted to be condescending i'd tell you to put your 500 quid on black or red on a roulette table (single 0),that would give you a 47.7% chance of doubeling your money,it would be alot quicker and alot less painfull.

What do you want to trade and why ?

sdiff

arrowloopboy wrote: »

I'm sorry if i'm coming across unhelpfull sdiff,but you say your willing to risk 500 quid,so lets say we go a little wild and risk 3% per trade(i like 2),thats 15 quid a trade not includeing spread/trading costs,how long will you be able to keep your risk to dealing in pennys a pip ?
If you'd do your homework their should be very little if any risk,you should be able to forecast with reasonable accuracy what return to expect.

Right, so you're telling me there's very little risk, whereas I am willing to accept a large amount of risk while still learning. What's the problem?

You also didn't answer my question regarding weather 100 quid would make you happy after a year,well would it ??

Yes, of course I would be happy with 100 euros. I've already said I'm willing to risk everything for the learning experience, so gaining 100 euros would be great.

If i wanted to be condescending i'd tell you to put your 500 quid on black or red on a roulette table (single 0),that would give you a 47.7% chance of doubeling your money,it would be alot quicker and alot less painfull.

Telling me to do nothing/spend 500 euros on books is equally condescending.

What do you want to trade and why ?

I want to trade everything, starting with less complicated stuff like shares and currencies. Why? In the long run to make a profit doing something I enjoy (based on my experience with demo accounts)

arrowloopboy

sdiff wrote: »

Right, so you're telling me there's very little risk, whereas I am willing to accept a large amount of risk while still learning. What's the problem?

Yes, of course I would be happy with 100 euros. I've already said I'm willing to risk everything for the learning experience, so gaining 100 euros would be great.

Telling me to do nothing/spend 500 euros on books is equally condescending.

I want to trade everything, starting with less complicated stuff like shares and currencies. Why? In the long run to make a profit doing something I enjoy (based on my experience with demo accounts)

This could esculate into a bun fight:D:D:D.

You just want to learn,well to paraphrase the great Jesse Livermore,

The market will teach you the game,and it won't spare the whip on you either.

delux

My advice is to use the €500 to open a spreadbetting account and trade only UK stocks. They don't move fast and the spread is small so you can easily risk just €10-20 per trade giving you 25 to 50 trades(assuming you lose every one, which you won't )
Great experience in my view!:)

You will notice most of the people who complain and lose money are those trading currencies and commodities. This is because they're more volatile and you need to risk more per trade which is the opposite of what i mentioned with the Uk stock above. So I'd advise against them for the moment.

I think you'll find the UK stocks are nice to work with.

arrowloopboy

delux wrote: »

My advice is to use the €500 to open a spreadbetting account and trade only UK stocks. They don't move fast and the spread is small so you can easily risk just €10-20 per trade giving you 25 to 50 trades(assuming you lose every one, which you won't )
Great experience in my view!:)

You will notice most of the people who complain and lose money are those trading currencies and commodities. This is because they're more volatile and you need to risk more per trade which is the opposite of what i mentioned with the Uk stock above. So I'd advise against them for the moment.

I think you'll find the UK stocks are nice to work with.

Now theirs some good advice OP,i migh also add to stick to the main market and leave the AIM alone for the time being.
I trade the FTSE with IG Index,i know they have a minimum of 5-10% stop loss on alot of their equities,and a minimum of 1 pound a point,so their out .
I have no experience with any other spread firm but maybe some of them allow you to trade micro lots.
If you decide to go this route ,a subscription to Investors Chronicle would be money very well spent.
While the volatility/action of FX/metals/oil may seem very attractive ,its very easy to blow up an acc trying to trade them whilst under funded.

sdiff

delux wrote: »

My advice is to use the €500 to open a spreadbetting account and trade only UK stocks. They don't move fast and the spread is small so you can easily risk just €10-20 per trade giving you 25 to 50 trades(assuming you lose every one, which you won't )
Great experience in my view!:)

You will notice most of the people who complain and lose money are those trading currencies and commodities. This is because they're more volatile and you need to risk more per trade which is the opposite of what i mentioned with the Uk stock above. So I'd advise against them for the moment.

I think you'll find the UK stocks are nice to work with.

arrowloopboy wrote: »

Now theirs some good advice OP,i migh also add to stick to the main market and leave the AIM alone for the time being.
I trade the FTSE with IG Index,i know they have a minimum of 5-10% stop loss on alot of their equities,and a minimum of 1 pound a point,so their out .
I have no experience with any other spread firm but maybe some of them allow you to trade micro lots.
If you decide to go this route ,a subscription to Investors Chronicle would be money very well spent.
While the volatility/action of FX/metals/oil may seem very attractive ,its very easy to blow up an acc trying to trade them whilst under funded.

Thanks, but can I ask how spread betting differs from regular trading? Are similar techniques (fundamental and technical analysis) used?

liammur

sdiff wrote: »

Thanks, but can I ask how spread betting differs from regular trading? Are similar techniques (fundamental and technical analysis) used?

They differ in that you don't pay stamp duty, or commission or CGT. You can use leverage - this is the thing to be wary of though.

delux

They differ in that you don't pay stamp duty, or commission or CGT. You can use leverage - this is the thing to be wary of though.

Also if you pick an Irish Spreadbetting firm where you can trade everything in Euro then you've no currency risk. This is important as currency changes can impact your investments quite a bit and most people forget it. They'll say I bought Apple at $500 and sold at $600, but they won't mention what €/$ exchange rate was used in both transactions

arrowloopboy

sdiff wrote: »

Thanks, but can I ask how spread betting differs from regular trading? Are similar techniques (fundamental and technical analysis) used?

Without being condiscending:),this is another reason that you should do some more homework before you start,with that budget,spread betting is the only way your going to get in the game.
Its the very same as trading with a broker as regards method,the no tax is the big plus ,you won't earn dividents via spread betting,which i suspect wont matter to you.

freeze4real

With an account capital of 500 I would not want to risk 10 - 20e per trade.

The rule of thumb is don't risk 2% of capital per trade

I don't know much about spread betting, so cant comment on it.

But in regards to paying taxes must you pay taxes if you use a foreign broker.

This is a grey area to me.

neil.p.b

freeze4real wrote: »

But in regards to paying taxes must you pay taxes if you use a foreign broker.

This is a grey area to me.

Yes, you must.

Though spreadbetting is tax free.

Just on the point of starting capital again. The only way he could start off trading with 500e is to use a spread betting account IMO (though i still think starting off with a dummy account for the first few months is the most sensible thing to do). Trading through a broker is going to eat too much of your 500e with fees and stamp duty. If you open an account with IG Index you can start trading at just 10p per point for the first 2 weeks, 20p for weeks 3-4 weeks and 50p for weeks 5-6. If you have a trading plan, keep to your targets and stops, DON'T over-leverage yourself, you shouldn't wipe out much of your your starting capital in this initial 6 week period.

OP, can i ask what books you have read and what your trading style will be? Day trading is difficult and usually when a beginner says the fast pace appeals to them it usually signals an adrenaline junkie, be careful not to fall into this trap, especially if you start day-trading forex or indices, many turn to scalping and get burnt very very quickly.

quirkster

I studied finance in TCD and started trading 2 months out of college. Have learnt more in the 5 months since then than the 4 years I spent in college. I trade with Zecco (recently merged with TradeKing, $4.95 flat rate per trade) and I trade biotech stocks.

They move A LOT compared to your average blue-chip S & P 500 companies. Great experience to be gained from a industry that is pretty well insulated and unaffected by the macro factors that are plaguing the overall markets at the minute. I started with $900, with each investment worth $200.

500e is plenty to get going with, my only regret is that I didn't start trading sooner

arrowloopboy

quirkster wrote: »

I studied finance in TCD and started trading 2 months out of college. Have learnt more in the 5 months since then than the 4 years I spent in college. I trade with Zecco (recently merged with TradeKing, $4.95 flat rate per trade) and I trade biotech stocks.

They move A LOT compared to your average blue-chip S & P 500 companies. Great experience to be gained from a industry that is pretty well insulated and unaffected by the macro factors that are plaguing the overall markets at the minute. I started with $900, with each investment worth $200.

500e is plenty to get going with, my only regret is that I didn't start trading sooner

Glad your doing well Quirkster,but i'm sure you picked up something in TCDin 4 years,if not it was quite an expensive waste of time .

No offence but i probably wouldn't reccomend a novice to start trading biotec stocks risking 22.5% of his bankroll per trade.

As i said previously OP,carefull where you take your advice from.

quirkster

Well what I like about biotech is that once your playing with money you can afford to lose, you might as well take on the risk associated with huge reward. I'm at a point in my life where my earning power is at a maximum. I've no mortgage/bills/car/children to support or pay for. I'm lucky in that I can afford to essentially 'play' with stocks and I've learned so much since I started.

If you only have a small amount of money as I did and as the OP does, I don't see the point sitting into a stock for 12 months hoping to get a 10% rise, you'll learn nothing that way, it's not worth it.

You're much better off picking out stocks with major catalysts approaching in the coming months and looking to catch the inevitable run up to them and if you have the belief, through them. I bought SRPT the day before they released their 48 week data (check out the rise in one day).

Just my two cents, if you can afford to take on the risk and go after the reward, you'll learn a lot more especially when you're coming from a point of only knowing theory, like I did before I started.

neil.p.b

quirkster wrote: »

I bought SRPT the day before they released their 48 week data (check out the rise in one day).

Are you not essentially just gambling on news?

liammur

arrowloopboy wrote: »

Without being condiscending:),this is another reason that you should do some more homework before you start,with that budget,spread betting is the only way your going to get in the game.
Its the very same as trading with a broker as regards method,the no tax is the big plus ,you won't earn dividents via spread betting,which i suspect wont matter to you.

This is not the case. You will get the divi if you are long, and pay the divi if you are short.

arrowloopboy

quirkster wrote: »

Well what I like about biotech is that once your playing with money you can afford to lose, you might as well take on the risk associated with huge reward. I'm at a point in my life where my earning power is at a maximum. I've no mortgage/bills/car/children to support or pay for. I'm lucky in that I can afford to essentially 'play' with stocks and I've learned so much since I started.

If you only have a small amount of money as I did and as the OP does, I don't see the point sitting into a stock for 12 months hoping to get a 10% rise, you'll learn nothing that way, it's not worth it.

You're much better off picking out stocks with major catalysts approaching in the coming months and looking to catch the inevitable run up to them and if you have the belief, through them. I bought SRPT the day before they released their 48 week data (check out the rise in one day).

Just my two cents, if you can afford to take on the risk and go after the reward, you'll learn a lot more especially when you're coming from a point of only knowing theory, like I did before I started.

Sorry Quirkster,i took you for a young buck:D

Take what you like from this,

There was a young bull and an ould bull standing at the top of a brow(small hill) one day,the young bull said to the ould bull ''lets run down their and ride one of them heifers'',the ould bull said NO ''lets walk down and ride em all''.

The OP wants to learn how to trade ,not how to have a flutter,if you can earn 10% on anything in 12 mts,if leveraged correctly ,and with the right odds ,this could lead to a very successfull career :D;).

By all means be the young bull,if it wasn't for them how would ould bulls make any money:pac::pac::pac:.

arrowloopboy

liammur wrote: »

This is not the case. You will get the divi if you are long, and pay the divi if you are short.

Didn't know this Liam,never factored it into a s/b trade,is their a spred bettable divi captrure stratage that you use ?

liammur

arrowloopboy wrote: »

Didn't know this Liam,never factored it into a s/b trade,is their a spred bettable divi captrure stratage that you use ?

You have to keep the bet open over night.
I can tell you I've got hit hard paying divis on shorts. I've a £100 short open on the FTSE for sometime, and the amount of divis I pay is shocking, (as well as a big loss on it) when I close it, that's it - won't be shorting again. I have got divis when long, some websites do provide a list of when the divis are due, it's something I may look at for 2013.

delux

You're much better off picking out stocks with major catalysts approaching in the coming months and looking to catch the inevitable run up to them and if you have the belief, through them. I bought SRPT the day before they released their 48 week data (check out the rise in one day).

that's interesting.. is it basically like the approach to small oilers, where the one big win will cover all of the small losses kind of thing?
How do you find what shares have upcoming events like the data release?

quirkster

delux wrote: »

that's interesting.. is it basically like the approach to small oilers, where the one big win will cover all of the small losses kind of thing?
How do you find what shares have upcoming events like the data release?

biorunup.com have a free FDA calender of dates of approval that is very handy.
There's a trend in biotech at the minute where in the months preceding a biotech catalyst like the appoval/denial of a new drug or results from the companies tests, the volume of that company soars and more often than not, the stock rises with it. Most traders get out before the release of the news, leading to a 'sell the news' scenario where even if the company does well and gets their drug approved, investors take profits and sell, moving onto the next catalyst and so on.

Interesting to be a part of and to see it happening!

quirkster

For ****s and giggles watch Celsion (CLSN) this month. They have huge release of Phase III data coming in Jan sometime. Look at their chart over the past 6 months. Nothing different has happened to the company other than it has experienced massive volume increases and analyst coverage. The run up is on!

quirkster

neil.p.b wrote: »

Are you not essentially just gambling on news?

I was extremely bullish on the data but wasn't sure when it was to be released so got lucky with my entry. I'm still in SRPT for the long haul. Hoping for accelerated approval with the FDA in the coming months.

freeze4real

Everyone has their own way of trading, but I wouldn't encourage anyone to use your or mine or anyone else.

Trading before the news/release date of stocks is dangerous but I'm sure you knew that.

IMHO worth 2cents,I don't think is trading, its more of speculating.

Look Google and Facebook, there was a massive movement of the stock prices after their earnings report came out. If you placed the wrong trade you wouldn't like the result but I suppose we should all trade with the amount we're prepared to loose.

arrowloopboy

freeze4real wrote: »

Everyone has their own way of trading, but I wouldn't encourage anyone to use your or mine or anyone else.

Trading before the news/release date of stocks is dangerous but I'm sure you knew that.

IMHO worth 2cents,I don't think is trading, its more of speculating.

Look Google and Facebook, there was a massive movement of the stock prices after their earnings report came out. If you placed the wrong trade you wouldn't like the result but I suppose we should all trade with the amount we're prepared to loose.

When i was young and reckless;),i used to straddle trade eur/usd on NFP Friday,you'd usually make a quick few bob,but it was more calculated gambling than investing,and usually good fun.
That approach might work for some of ye young adrenaline junkies if your trying to trade news,and the like.

freeze4real

arrowloopboy wrote: »

calculated gambling than investing,

I'm not sure if calculated would be the term, on average guesses will be right and wrong.

I have done it but now not anymore.

Do you trade much ?

arrowloopboy

freeze4real wrote: »

I'm not sure if calculated would be the term, on average guesses will be right and wrong.

I have done it but now not anymore.

Do you trade much ?

Yes guesses will be right and wrong but lets say eur/usd is at 1.3150 prior to NFP results ,you put in 2 orders ,a short " 1.3100 and a buy @ 1.3200,if the figures released are well off prediction,you could have a 100 pipp move in 10 minutes and you'll at least trading in the right direction.

Yes i trade a bit,main ftse only, studying options at the moment to compliment this ,as a hedging stratagy.Corn and Soya are also high on my to study list.
You still trading those duster.com start ups ?:p.

DavidForde

Have you checked out Betonmarkets.com? I have had an account with them for a few months- pretty straightforward site and offers some decent markets. I usually trade forex markets and tend to do alright.

sdiff

So I've been making consistent profitable trades with a demo account using technical analysis, but the question in the OP has not been answered. What is the best broker to start trading with, given my low budget? I'm trading forex mostly, on an OANDA and plus500 demo account but I've heard some bad reviews about them when it comes to real money (withdrawing funds etc.)

What is a good broker with which I can trade forex and stocks with a low budget who are not scammers?

quirkster

Stocks - Tradeking. $4.95 flat rate per order is unbeatable

Have yet to trade Forex so don't know about best broker for that

freeze4real

sdiff wrote: »

So I've been making consistent profitable trades with a demo account using technical analysis, but the question in the OP has not been answered. What is the best broker to start trading with, given my low budget? I'm trading forex mostly, on an OANDA and plus500 demo account but I've heard some bad reviews about them when it comes to real money (withdrawing funds etc.)

What is a good broker with which I can trade forex and stocks with a low budget who are not scammers?

For a beginner you're better off sticking to one either Forex or stocks. Trading both has familiarities but totally different.

quirkster wrote: »

Stocks - Tradeking. $4.95 flat rate per order is unbeatable

Have yet to trade Forex so don't know about best broker for that

I think this is for stocks only but 4.95 to open a trade and another 4.95 to close a trade is a bit steep. This mean's before you close a trade you must be be profitable by at least $10.

That's more pressure in itself and can affect you psychologically.

A way to avoid the fee's is to use a market maker.