Correct me if I am wrong about trading?

[Persson121]

Hi. I have heard many many times that buy and sell stock is very hard and it needs much time and training. I have heard form a profesional trader "If you can easily buy shares, then you gonna loose money in few minutes."
Im am a person who only hunt for small potatoes.

We say that i got 1000 USD and one share cost 3.5 USD each. I buy everything untill i connot buy anymore. For 1000 USD i can buy 285 shares. I also pay the commission who is 3.95 USD. OptionsHouse.
Then sunddenly the price of one share went up to 3.65. I decides to sell all my shares for 3.6 each, just to be sure that i can sell them fast.
I sell my shares 285 for 3.6 USD each.
(3.6*285-3.85)-3.5*285-3.85 = 20.8 USD
So in my calculations, my profit is 20.8 USD.

Then is my question. Is it easy as i say or is it harder that i might think? It sounds easy, but if it's easy, would not everybody making money like this? Many traders says No and i beleve them.
It seems so easy to make profit for 20.8 USD. Not so much but it's profit. Next time i take 20.8 and buy shares for them + the other money i have.

So have i miss something or is this right? Do I need to know something like "You don't need to sell for 3.6, you can sell 3.65 and it will be fast enough."

 

[VielGeld]

Yes, trading is that easy. And it's exactly why you'll lose.

-----

Now, what if the price went down instead? 3.4 instead of 3.6? 3.3? When do you get out? How many opportunities do you get like this one in a given day?

The line between profit and loss is razor-thin. You need a substantial edge to really make it.

 

[tomorton]

The mechanics of buying and selling are easy, the principles of buying shares going up and selling shares that go down are very rational, the spread between buy and sell prices does not have to be high and commission costs etc. are low.

(I mention spread becase you forgot to factor this in - when a share is quoted at $3.50, this is commonly the mid-price, between the buy and sell prices: so to buy a share quoted at £3.50, you might have to pay $3.55 and to sell it immediately, you would get $3.45. Smaller companies tend to have bigger spreads.)

My recommendation would be to learn as much as you need to take advantage of the two constant facts about share price charts - prices in a trend tend to keep going in that direction: but prices in a trend also have pull-backs that travel against the trend: the pull-backs give you the signal and a discount at which you cen enter. This is easy stuff.

After that, the hard question - where do you get out? There is no perfect right answer. In any case, there are always two, as suggested above, one for when price continued as you hoped and you make money. And the other is when price does not do what you expected and you are losing money. Sample the techniques used by traders on this site but paper-trade until you are an expert at your chosen most comfortable strategy.

Good luck.

 

[Persson121]

I want just to add this.
Im not a daytrader and i don't want to be it beacuse i have no time for it.
But my goal is to be a swingtrader.

Buy "low" some day and sell "high" next day, or next next day.

 

[lloydbee]

I have heard form a professional trader "If you can easily buy shares, then you gonna loose money in few minutes."

Not necessarily true, but in time a high probability, until you learn to keep the gains and deal with the losers.

Buy "low" some day and sell "high" next day, or next next day.

Is every traders dream but far from consistent reality, and what about selling to the downside? Consider learning to trade to the downside, it is more profitable and happens faster...
Better still why not trade 'Options' rather than 'Shares'?

Most of all have fun with it, and keep it simple.

 

[Enzzo]

Buy "low" some day and sell "high" next day, or next next day.

Sounds very simple Persson121, but it is not that easy, as all the other traders are telling you...
but you know?.....Trading hasn't to be extremely hard either if you start in the right direction, and learn how to trade properly...
The only thing you need is an edge on the market you are gonna play....Call that "edge" solid money management, risk control, and imho the more important thing you need to learn.... to read and interpret price movements and what they are telling you....
All this with an appropriate mindset to accept the unavoidable losers, and there you go...
then.. only clicking the mouse button to buy and sell..... that's is the easiest part
only my 2 cents

 

[neil]

I want just to add this.
Im not a daytrader and i don't want to be it beacuse i have no time for it.
But my goal is to be a swingtrader.

Buy "low" some day and sell "high" next day, or next next day.

Give up dreams of making money by trading. Get a day job;that way you keep your money.