Regular readers of Automatic Finances will know well that we advocate long term, buy-and-hold investing.
Overall, for both small and large investors, it remains the most stable and consistent approach to both wealth creation and preservation.
Short-term trading, in comparison, carries considerable risks to an investor’s capital. That’s why it’s important to make that distinction between investing and trading.
I believe wholeheartedly in value investing, but at the same time recognize the faults in human nature. We know that smoking, drinking or eating junk food isn’t great for us, but we do it anyway.
Moderation is the key, of course. Small indulgences in your vices are okay — it’s when they make your life unmanageable that there’s a problem.
I will admit that I actively trade. That and too much coffee are my major vices. Trading is not my sole financial strategy, but it’s certainly the most entertaining one.
Education, Experience are the Only Teachers
If you intend to actively trade, educate yourself. There are plenty of books and online resources on the subject. Just bear in mind Sturgeon’s Law that 80% of them are going to be worthless. (I can’t be the only person who thinks that Day Trading For Dummies is one of the most unfortunate book titles ever.)
Bear in mind that while book-learning is important, your real education is going to come from actually doing it — with your own real money. As the saying goes, you learn more from failure than from success.
If you’re a complete newbie to active trading, there are some small but important details to consider. You may or may not see them spelled out for you all in one place, but knowing them and living by them will save you some expensive lessons.
Volatility Is Key
Don’t expect to make a short-term profit on a stock that moves very little. Stable stocks with a long-term growth capability are what you want for investing, but in the short run, look for stocks that have broad highs and lows in their recent trading history.
Volatility is what you’re looking for as a trader, but it’s not your friend. If you bet wrong, it will cost you. But you already knew that, right?
Trade in Size
Just as important as volatility is the need to trade in large blocks of stock. There are two very good reasons for this.
First, when you buy, the cost of your brokerage fee is added to the book value of your holdings, and when you sell, it’s deducted from your proceeds.
For example, if you buy 5 shares of ABC at $100 and your brokerage fee is $9.95, then your book value is $509.95, for an average price of $101.99. The $2 difference may not seem like a lot, but it means that you’ll need to sell your position at over $519.90 (your book value of $509.95 plus a $9.95 fee for selling) or $103.98 a share in order to break even, never mind make a profit.
Contrast that with buying 1000 shares of CBA at $1 each. Your book value is $1009.95, or $1.01 a share. Now price movements above $1.02 are something you might profit from.
No one who’s honest can guarantee that you will make a fortune trading, but If you actively trade in blocks of less than thousands of shares, I can guarantee that you will lose your shirt.
With that in mind, you need to confine your research to stocks with a low share price. If you can afford to buy thousand or ten-thousand share blocks of Fortune 500 companies, you don’t need to take advice from me.
Note the Bid/Ask Spread
If you don’t know better, selling your shares while looking at the current price might be a rude awakening. The posted price is just the price of the last trade.
The Bid/Ask spread is the difference between what a seller wants and what the buyer wants to pay. When the two agree, a sale occurs, and the price of the trade is listed.
When you sell “at market price” instead of setting a minimum, you sell at the Bid, which can be lower than the last trade price. Don’t get stars in your eyes when you see your stock price has soared. If you’ve already missed the rush, you’ll either make less than you thought or actually lose money on the trade.
Ignore the Peanut Gallery
It’s a point that’s been made before, but when it comes to “financial news” from either the mainstream outlets or the blogosphere, it’s impossible to separate the signal from the noise.
Don’t stay glued to news channels and websites, and never read investing bulletin boards. A smart person can conclude that bulletin boards and anonymous stock tip blogs are all noise, but mainstream media can be seductive.
Remember that news sources will tell you what happened — not what’s going to happen. Don’t rely on their predictions.
Don’t Kid Yourself
It’s human nature to accentuate the positive and downplay the negative, but it’s not conducive to self-improvement. Be totally honest when assessing your trading results.
I won’t lie, in the course of my active trading hobby, I’ve made spectacular picks; some were spectacularly good, others were spectacularly bad.
At the end of the day, I’m just a monkey with a dartboard. I may not be a broke monkey, but I’m a monkey all the same.
Don’t let your wins go to your head, and find lessons to learn from your losses. Both are going to happen, so demonstrate moderation and don’t let trading be a roller coaster ride with awesome highs and terrible lows.
A friend of mine who’s very good with money is fond of pointing out that the average bike messenger makes more money than the average day trader.
I don’t know if he’s right or not, but the lesson here is that you should be diversified, maintain a long-term investing strategy, and don’t look to active trading as a sole financial plan.
About the author: Lee Distad consults with CE integration firms on design, installation and project management processes and Best Practices, and offers provides professional copy writing services for websites, brochures, and marketing initiatives. Visit him at www.leedistad.com.
