I gues I'll wade in on the discussion bare in mind I lean toward investing as opposed to trading. I also trade in the sim on short term stuff as well as on long term stuff. My best portfolio in the sim returned over 60% in the last year. the core stocks are still there from the start. They are stocks that will be there for the long haul not all of these stocks have shown good growth but they are there to generate income as well as growth. 7% in dividends and 5% growth is still 12% gain. ( due to a glitch in the sim no Canadian stocks have received a div since last yr)I also use my margin to go after short to mid range trades. Like d8 says I learned to take advantage of stops and such to limit losses and to help maintain/take profits.
Another thing I will do to help increase my returns and limit my losses is to keep some of the profits from a trade in stock. I bought 39k shares of c.cll at $2.22 I sold off 29k at 3.82 at a profit of $24200 plus I still had 10k shares worth $38.2k. I later sold 9k more shares for 3.92 or about $35k I still hold 1k shares and they are worth around $5k. I would still have the 9k shares but I sold them to buy another stock that is up 74% now. This strategy fits well with the investor side of me. I hate to sell anything
I try not to get stuck on anyone thing or strategy I like to look for opportunities through fundamental analysis I then take advantage of those opportunities by what ever strategy will work.
Thats my 10 cents worth.
Joe