I've done a little swing trading, but not much. I've been watching all of the strings here on allstocks for almost a year and have made some interesting observations. One thing I've found is that the few here on swing traders seem to be one's working with real money. Here's what I mean. Over on the penny stock boards they spend a lot of time talking about the "big play" or "huge gains" they made-- when in reality many held a half million shares of a stock trading at .0005--big friggin deal, 250 bucks. The "big play" was turn 250 into 350. Obviously this isn't everybody, but it's a trend I see often.
Anyway i'm curious about what is a realistic number of dollars to swing trade with with the hopes of making some real forward progress? Thoughts? Thanks
Ram
GodFathersTips
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Great question... and good observations on the penny stocks. I'm sure Art will back you up on that as well
I have been swing trading for about 3 years now... I started with just $1000. I learned most of what I know from FST who used to post here. I feel that if you get in with $250 pos. and increase in increments of 1/3 pos. of $250... then you have a great chance to gain 10% and up on most of your trades. I don't like to talk in $$$ just in % increase of net worth. If you trade one stock and gain 10% then great... if you gain 5% that’s good to... and every now and then your going to hit it big and gain 25% - 100%. Keep an eye on this board there are a lot of great picks listed here. ART is a long time trader... and he always has great picks.
I'm now dealing with around $15,000
take baby steps... I try not to hold a stock for more then a week... max 2 weeks. The good trades are 10-20% gains in 2 to 3 days. That’s always my goal.
GodFathersTips
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CMO was one of my picks... and I will probably hold this one until the end of the week. Already up 3% today. I deal with stocks normally .50 - around $15.00 range. Thats what you should expect from me. I also never trade OTCBB stocks... only Nasdaq and NYSE. Thats the first lesson I learned. Stay away from OTCBB... everyone is only talking about the stocks that make them $$$$ on OTC... never the one's they lost big on... remember that.
Ramius
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Thanks for the feedback GodFather. I actually have a few other questions too.
I've just moved and am looking to sign up with a new brokerage firm. In general I hear that everyone is pretty happy with Ameritrade? Also, I'm not trying to be nosy, but were you able to build from $1,000 to $15,000 in the 3 year period or have you added additional outside funds since your original amount. And finally, Have you ever found that commission charges eat up your profits when you trade smaller quantities? Thanks for your help.
GodFathersTips
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More Great questions... yes, I did start with just $1,000 and now invest 15,000 (all profit). I also have taken some funds out so my total profit has been higher.
I use Ameritrade for any non-swing trades. For my swing trades I use www.sharebuilder.com or www.lowtrades.com. They have different options and charge lower fee's for some of their services like limit orders (market orders cost more). You can look into those sites if you want to swring trade. That way you won't take any big hits in fee's.
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