Investing 101

[bbgold]

Hi Bob,
I am not sure that there is not Any board here about Learning the Markets. I think that is primarily what the MKTSS board is all about. It might not be about how to Trade but does offer a good perspective about what to look for when deciding whether to go Long or Short. True it might be more of a TA board but we try and offer some insights into trade entries and executions for some of the index options and some stocks. I hope that you can get some more input for your 101 board. My suggestion to anyone that is just starting to trade would be to Read a Lot and Practice a Lot. There is Nothing wrong with paper trading a stock or the markets until you are Comfortable with All of the different types of situations that might present themselves. It is much easier to have a paper trade loss than a Real loss. You might miss some paper trade gains but if you are truly onto a Good discipline of trading there will Always be opportunities to make some profits. Educating yourself to the different situations that the markets might present and how to trade them will be Much more important in the long run as it will limit the times in which you make Mistakes. Everyone makes Mistakes, the fewer you can make the Better. You do not want those first mistakes to be the ones that take you out of the Markets though. Cut your losses early and Preserve your capital. There will Always be opportunities to trade. You want to make sure that you have the Capital to trade them. I posted this to Matt before, it might be Best to use your Entry as a stop loss limit. If you purchase a stock or option and the price moves in your desired direction then set your stop loss limit at your entry. It is far Safer to exit a position Even than to risk taking a Loss. That can be hard to do but you do not want to get into Hold and Hope with a position. If the stock or option falls below your entry point then perhaps your entry point was not a good one. I don't want to make this post too long. If anyone does not understand some of the topics that I mention in this post then guess What? "You Need to Learn More before you start to Trade!". Otherwise you are trading primarily on Luck. Luck is Good but eventually it will run out and you will need to rely on your Knowledge! I hope this Helps. Sincerely, Bob :^)