I was checking my email just now and approved a pingback on my post regarding the basics behind Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Well, it seems that the person I answered the question for, a blogging colleague of mine known as Clever Dude has successfully made his first ever trade online! The funny part is, he typed in the wrong symbol, whoops!
"So I pop over to eTrade where I have my Roth IRA. Mind you, I’ve
only ever purchased mutual funds, so I don’t know the “ins-and-outs†of
buying stocks. I went through the interface and plugged in the ticker
symbol. I bought 80 shares at $17.97 each (with a stinkin $12.99
commission!).
But I bought 80 shares of PWB, not PBW!!!
I wondered why the stock was $3 lower than when I looked yesterday,
but I figured now was just the time to buy, so I did. I got 80 shares
of PowerShares Dynamic Lg.Cap Growth ETF instead."
Regardless of the mistake (we've all done it at least once right?) I dedicate my next "cold one" which will come tomorrow night at a poker and bonfire party I am hosting to Clever Dude for his success. Nice work CD, next time just double check that ticker before placing the trade online 
. Cheers.
Yeah, I'm stoopid.
I did it once where I hit buy instead of sell when I was first selling naked puts and wasn't used to it. Now I still find myself charting the wrong stock when Ameritrade has a previous stock stuck in my cache and pulls up something I charted yesterday. I always catch it before trading though.
Beginner or experienced, everyone will make that mistake more than once in their life time.