I need to repost this with all the typos fixed
My story below needs repeating as it made me a better person, better with my money and a way better trader;
from Sept 1999 to March 2000 I had turned my $1,000 trading account into $120,000 like a lot of other fools and thought for sure I would have millions soon as I was a trading demon.
By July 2000 I was flat broke again and out of work also with my recent 6 month severence blown on golf clubs memberships and some bad nights at the casino. But I was still trading - I was gonna get it all back.
But I now realize I gotta get back to a real job so I am in Boston for a job interview but I am trading CGX energy the day before I went to Boston (symbol OYL.U on the TSE.)
I am trading more that I should and I am in for about $8k and near market close I decide to sell for A SMALL LOSS as I will be away the next day. I hit buy instead of Sell DOHHHH I bought more at .90 and it dips to .88 or something and I have ten minutes to correct this mistaken buy. I have no way to cover this extra buy as my account is now negative by that extra $8k plus half of the original position so about $12k in total. So instead of correcting it I get reckless and I just let it ride and worry about the money in 3 days LOLOL
So I'm off to Boston in the morning but I decide to get SMART - I place stop loss orders - but at Scotia the stop loss cannot trigger a market sell it can only trigger a sell with a limit so you must place a sell limit price in addition to the stop. So I place my stop loss at .68c with a limit of .50 - plenty safe. Stock was at .88 so I didnt think they would even be hit and hopefully I would be offered job which had a $20,000 signing bonus.
That day I am in Boston the stock is halted as their offshore drilling rig they plowed every cent into gets towed away by the Suriname Navy off the coast of Guyana.
The stock OPENS so you are saying OH well I am out a lot of that $16k or whatever it was but NOOOOOOOOOOOO MY stops never got executed as my limit was .50. I also had other buys in at .35 which is where it opened - I am now in for something like $35,000 in total and am $31,000 short in paying. All my buys got filled and I still have the original positions.
While in Boston I get back to the airport to go home at noon and no internet terminal or anything just phones - My plane gets delayed 7 hours - I got so stinky drunk at the bar its amazing they let me on the plane. I do not even realize how much I am into this for and panicking bad.
Now I am extremely hung over for the DAY after so what do I do - see below - This is day three of the mess now
The stock goes immediately to .15 so I am in a loss for 30 of my 35 k - so I just do what desperate people do - I buy another 100,000 shares for $15,000 at .15 and a bit more at .20 and have no idea how all these buys are being allowed but they are even though my account balance is red red red
At this point I am assuming I have lost the house and as a direct result my wife and family. The stock gets back to .35 shortly and when it was all said and done I made $1,000. I was overdrawn a few days and the debited my bank account which of course diodnt have the funds either. I think for two day I was $50,000 OD in bank account and made up lies to banker it was a mistake that his own brokerage arm had made. he beleived me.
Investing is for those who don't know how to trade
