Question: Online Stock Tradesany horror stories?
Never done this before - and they always make it look SO EASY to get involved in it.... Any really weird things to look out for?
Answer:
Yes entering trades on-line is very simple any one with an IQ around the current temperature can do it. However.
There's more to trading/investing than entering orders. There's more to trading than making a profit, many times trading is used to protect what you have rather than generate profits.
In trading/investing, whether it's in person or on-line, it's imperative that you know what you're doing, why you're doing it, how to do it, and the rules governing what you're doing. Most non-professional traders loose their money simply because they don't know what they're doing.
Yes there are horror stories out there, just read some of the questions here on Y.A., most of the problems are caused by the individual not know what they're doing.
Order entry is very easy, trading/investing is not.
Nowadays everybody who uses computer manages their portfolio Online, while I never should say never, it is very safe as I have never heard of any horror stories. It is of course up to you yourself to only go online with a secure computer and network.
Oh, it looks much easier than it is.
That is, it is extremely hard to do consistently for long periods of time.
I can tell you that I have been doing this professionally for 30 years and the pros (!) fail in regular cycles. The amateurs crash and burn with beach wave-like regularity.
Here are my lessons:
(1) Read the book You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits by Joel Greenblatt. If that doesn't excite you, you aren't likely to be successful as a trader, long term.
(2) Read the book The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing by Paul B. Farrell. That tells you everything else you need to know (if you aren't a trader).
(3) Start with the right amount of money. You need at least $100,000 to trade in directly in the stock market. Less than $25,000 is suicide. Day trading requires a minimum portfolio of at least $1 million for long term success.
(4) Never close the day with margin in excess of 25% of equity and never, ever, ever use a nickel of margin unless you have cash in the bank to cover it (somewhere else).
(5) Never trade your retirement account(s).
(6) Don't put money in anything other than your best ideas.
Item number 6 probably seems the most obvious, but it is the most difficult to follow (after raising the minimums to trade). The problem boils down to patience and timing. The very best speculators have a dozen good ideas at a time with only one or two that will ever pan out. Keep in mind this is in an environment in which THOUSANDS of ideas circulate every day. Waiting for the right price or the right corporate action (neither of which may ever, actually, happen) can be nerve racking. Most traders end up "tasting" a second or third rate idea because they want to "do something" rather than just sit there.
Just sit there.