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I trade and invest for a living. That's what I do. I got my start almost 12 years ago. And in my opinion mate? You need to do something before you proceed any further.
Read aquaswim's post again. Then when you are done re-reading it? Read it again. Print it out. Keep it with you. Read it again. Think about it.
The reason I say that, is I learned all of those lessons the hard way when I first started out. The hard way? Is losing that money that you worked so hard to save. I burned through $15,000.00 and some, precisely because I did not know, think about, or apply what aquaswim talked about in his post. Heck, I lost $2,500.00 once in less time that it took you to read this sentence.
My account size was only $5,000.00.
His first point was a good one. Education. Educate yourself as to the markets. What's a mutual fund? What's an ETF? What are dividends? Educate yourself as to the different styles of investing and making money in the markets. What's the difference between investing, and stock trading? What's a swing trade? What is dividend investing? What is seasonality? What technical analysis? What is fundamental analysis? Why should you engage in both? Read about Chart patterns. And please understand that no matter what you read? Each of those is only a small tool. Not one of those aspects is 'the holy grail' of trading. There is no holy grail of investing and trading - that will make you money 100% of the time. It doesn't exist. However, all of those are great tools to assist you. If you're anything like me? Learning about investing and trading isn't boring however, it's quite fun.
2nd point he brought out? Understand that there is risk. If we understand this, then we can try find ways to mitigate that risk. Which leads to the next point he made.
Above all, learn about money management principles. Aquaswim talked about this in his post. I knew a guy who re-financed his house to put money into Google. Your first thought would be "dumb", and you'd be right.
But why are you right?
It's the old addage. Never put all of your eggs in one basket. Though we would never consider refinancing our homes to invest in the stock market, the same principle could be true of anyone else. In your case as well. Why put all of your $30,000.00 or even a majority towards one thing? Wouldn't that be like gambling, rather than engaging in business?
Most professionals rarely put more than 3% towards any one investment. His advice regarding the company you're really interested in was very sound. To start off, put a very, very small fraction of your investment account towards the company you're interested in. Say 1%. Just to get your feet wet. There will always be further opportunities. Other companies will come along. Just keep your eye out for lower risk, high reward possibilities. Because that is the name of the game. Some of the full-service brokerages he mentioned will offer their brokers to help you out.
Making money investing? Has more to do with spreading your money around and not putting 'your eggs in one basket'. As he mentioned, that even extends to 'sectors' of the market. A sector, is say, like the 'tech sector' - stocks that have to do with I.T. and technology. You could have a few different companies, but if they are all, say, in the Utilities sector? Then if that sector takes a hit, then your entire portfolio takes a hit. It's the old addage regarding diversification.
Hope this helps, and please ask any questions you may have. When it comes to making or losing money, there is no such thing as a dumb question. I hate to see people go through when I first went through, when I got involved in this business.
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