Keep this by your keyboard...
I wrote this (with the help of others) back in 1995 when I owned the website pennyrocket.com. I still read it as a reminder every few days...
PATIENCE - If there is one thing a penny stock investor must learn, it's patience. Good things come to those who wait, be it low buy prices or high sell prices. Sometimes if you had only waited, you could have sold higher or bought lower. Have patience, it's without a doubt one of the best ways to make money in penny stocks.
REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY - Trade opposite from the rest of the market. You want to buy when the average investor is selling and driving the price down. And when wonderful news is driving a stocks price higher, you want to sell your shares at the over inflated price. Buying when stocks are falling and selling when they are moving into higher ground is one of the hardest things to learn [and do] when you first start trading. We don't have the luxury of holding our stocks for years to help iron out the little highs and lows. We live off the little highs and lows. Buy when there is blood in the streets!
EMOTIONS - The stock market is very good at playing on your emotions. In order to be a good trader, you must look at the market in a cold, hard way. When the masses are selling in a panic, you must stand fast or step up and buy. Remember that the market is made up of emotional sheep buying and selling in waves - you must be the cold, cunning and calculating wolf looking over the herd for your kill. Don't panic sell and don't buy on hysteria.
BID/ASK - If you aren't aware that stocks are sold to you at one price and bought back at a slightly lower price, the difference being the spread, then you may be in for a very big surprise when you go to make your first trade! Trade on stocks with small relative spreads, and spreads that are well controlled.
MARKET ORDERS - Don't use them unless you have to, and DON'T EVER place a market order for a stock at the opening of the market, or when a stock is making new ground fast (such as during a positive mention on CNBC). Putting in a market order in the first 10 minutes of the market is a sure way of paying the highest possible price for your stock, because as all the built up orders from the previous day go through, it lifts the stock prices for a few minutes. You can be pretty sure that you order will go off at the high of the day this way (but keep in mind it's sometimes handy to sell during this time).
STOP LOSSES - These are almost as bad as market orders. Stop losses are a sure way of selling at a loss. We only recommend using them when you are "in the money" and would normally sell your stock, but want to retain a slight possibility that it might continue to go higher. Stops can also be used to sell your stock a little quicker in volatile markets, as stops seem to taken a little more seriously than market and limit orders when bid prices are being changed rapidly.
BUYING LOW - Sometimes the best way to buy low is to put in a limit order for a stock at "a price you'd love to own the stock at". Let's assume for a moment that the stock you want is trading at .25 cents, try putting in an order at .23 cents and wait it out, what do you have to lose? You never know when you might hit the low for the day that way. It's far better than putting your limit order at .2475, only to find it crashed past that, filled your order and continued down to .22 cents. You'd be surprised what an effective way this can be to both buy and sell. When you get your "dream" price, it's a great feeling.
SELLING - Selling is actually harder than buying in many ways. If you are trading a stock, then decide what price you want to sell your stock at as soon as you buy it, so when that price does come along, you'll be ready to move. Using a GTC order ( good till cancel) is also a good way to sell stocks once you own them, since many times a stock will move up for just seconds - not even enough time to get to the phone, let alone place your order. But if it's "on the books" when the stock makes a quick run up, you'll be right there selling it. A good way to calculate your sale price is based on how much you'd like to make for the day. $500, $1000, $5000, etc. Then calculate back the price you need to sell at and stick to it.
PROTECT YOUR CAPITOL - If you miss out on some profits, that's okay, you can always find another stock to buy. However, if you lose a big chunk of your trading money then the game is over. Protecting your trading capital is your number one mission, followed, of course by increasing it.
DON'T GET GREEDY - Greed and fear drive the markets and for the most part drive the average investor to making mistakes. Sell with good profits, but don't get too greedy. Remember: "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered".
BIG SWINGS - Big moves up are sometimes followed by big moves down and visa versa. Sell on abnormally large moves to the upside and buy on abnormally moves to the down side. They are generally out of character of the stock and can many times be followed by a "snap back" on the stock. Knowing your stock's trading habits can be very helpful.
HOT STOCKS - Stocks that are hot move great, but nothing lasts for ever. If you buy a stock for a big, quick gain and find that the stock has "lost its heat", don't allow your money to be dead (unless you are looking for an investment). Sell and move on, don't justify your mistakes - it tends to be a costly justification process in the long run. Others in the stock for the hot ride will start to bail out when as the stock cools off and looks like it's not capable of making "hot moves".
NO EXCUSES - Don't hold a losing stock to justify your original purchase. If you make an incorrect buy or end up with a stock that is falling when you thought it would climb, handle those mistakes quickly - do not be tolerant of stocks that are costing you time and money - get rid of them!
SUDDEN MOVES UP - Be very careful buying stocks that have just made sudden moves up. Many times they are following very closely with sudden profit taking.
TIME TO BUY - One of the best times to buy is when a stock is going down on low volume (with no news) as compared to recent increases on higher volume. This suggests that the selling is lighter and that the holders of the stock that are going to sell have finished selling and the rest are holding. The sellers of the stocks then may come back into the market when they see the price stabilize. It's also not a bad idea to sell on high volume on the way up, as this usually creates abnormally high prices that cannot be maintained very long.
SIDELINES - Remember, you can't take advantage of market dips if you are already in the market. It's better to be out of the market more for day trading than in the market. This will allow you to get in and out with profits fast and be on the sidelines should dips occur. Try to be out of the market more with your trades and in the market more with your investments (as long as they are good ones).
OPENING BELL - One decision every day-trader has to make is whether or not to trade on the opening bell. Many day-traders establish positions on the opening for two reasons. First, the open usually is a heavy volume period. Second, the open usually is one of the most volatile periods, as the market seeks to establish a trend or stable price level. The opening often will introduce a short-term trend that may either indicate the direction for the day, or give a false signal, in which case the day-trader can "fade" the early trend, that is, buy or sell against it in anticipation of a reversal. Remember: One extreme of the day's range usually is contained in the first 30 minutes of trading.
DAILY VOLUME - DO NOT day trade on stocks that have very low volume. You may find you can't get out of the market as timely as you think. Many penny stocks with low volume stay at idle for months.
AI
