wuts the point of rebuying in a week though?isnt t gonna be the same price or about the same?
I have enough shares that half a dollar or a dollar drop will make me a substantial amount. If you don't have as much it's probably better to hold it so you don't incur short-term capital gains tax. I'm kicking myself for not holding / selling later in the day now though since BAC went up in the 14.70s now. At the same time, I made money and locked in profits and you should never scoff at that so I'm thankful... I just hope I can buy back in next week. I expect a drop after this crazy rally barring some substantial announcement.
@phantomoffunk howd you get into stocks.family?school?shit load of reading?
All of the above. My parents invested right and due to this they can afford college for me and my two younger brothers. I have some scholarships.
In high school I took some finance classes focusing solely on stocks. We played the stock simulators which I feel were a huge help at that time. At the end of HS I had pretty much quit smoking weed / drinking then and just grinded hard, saving up money in some legit and illegit ways. Besides education I pay all the other bills as I will do for my children if and when I do that. Because of this I have a pretty solid work ethic and I'm frugal with money. Then I got in some trouble and decided to focus on making $$$ totally legit. I had some stocks already but at that point and still I focus on distressed stocks that I think will eventually rebuild.
There's no secret to making money but like in any part of life KNOWLEDGE is incredibly important. Patience also, because the institutional investors will try to shake off small-timers by scaring them with price drops. You have to be rational about the situation but trust your own instincts ultimately. I don't watch TV about stocks as it seems pointless. I like Marketwatch and Investopedia because they contain hard data and the collective opinions of many, many people. One of the secrets to investing is to hold onto money when you make it and invest it so it grows into more money. Seems simple but lots of fools seem unable to do this.
And you asked how much I would recommend starting with... I think $500-$1000 as the first deposit is good, because a new investor can make mistakes. This is a good amount IMO because you can get a pretty safe stock and just hold it rather than buy something and try to flip stocks (more worth it with more $$$) which can be a dangerous thing to try.
You can really start with any amount. Just carve out part of your paycheck and when you have X amount of dollars (say 500) make a deposit. Keep adding to your positions.
And read unbiased / data-based financial news & a good paper e.g. The NY Times or WSJ
Don't ask people what stocks you should buy. That's how you lose. Ask about what techniques people use for picking stocks. What formulas for reading balance sheets, debt ratios, etc
Great advice
