I've held (firstly Unit Trusts and Investment Trusts) various investments over a 20 year period.
Nowadays I hold only shares through spread betting, a lot more work but far more rewarding.
When I first got a broker (circa 1993) I remember buying 'this share and that' usually with information taken from 'tip sheets' and newspaper stories.
I would religiously read articles and follow prices - I saw individual shares go up and down (but mostly up) over a period of months only to find some five or six months later a massive drop back to square one, sometimes because of trading statements, often for no apparent reason at all.
I became more interested in charting, less in fundamentals and changed tactics.
I'm not trying to become a millionaire though it would be nice but as I'm early retired and living in France all this is more of a hobby that makes enough to live on and I haven't yet taken my private pension nor do I yet receive a state pension.
I now have a 'trading system' using software (sorry to those of you who are purists) and it serves me well however for the last few months I've limited myself to short-term spread betting trades.
Secondly, why not keep going? I have no idea on market direction, I know this because my quarterly earnings were far worse than they should be.
As the saying goes, 'if in doubt, get out and stay out'.
This is where I am at present, I have no idea on general market direction enough to feel comfortable trading it, this would lead only to irrational behaviour and bad trading decisions.
Many traders I know are short at these levels, including a few friends who I know are running some large short positions, holding up the fundamental economic flag which basically says we have built a house of cards, but this is irrelevant as goes the old saying 'the markets can stay irrational longer than a trader can stay solvent'! For the time being I will remain day trading only with no biased direction, of course, because I don't know which direction so do not have an opinion, just simply trade what I see.
In the meantime, I wish you well and will keep watching.
Nowadays I hold only shares through spread betting, a lot more work but far more rewarding.
When I first got a broker (circa 1993) I remember buying 'this share and that' usually with information taken from 'tip sheets' and newspaper stories.
I would religiously read articles and follow prices - I saw individual shares go up and down (but mostly up) over a period of months only to find some five or six months later a massive drop back to square one, sometimes because of trading statements, often for no apparent reason at all.
I became more interested in charting, less in fundamentals and changed tactics.
I'm not trying to become a millionaire though it would be nice but as I'm early retired and living in France all this is more of a hobby that makes enough to live on and I haven't yet taken my private pension nor do I yet receive a state pension.
I now have a 'trading system' using software (sorry to those of you who are purists) and it serves me well however for the last few months I've limited myself to short-term spread betting trades.
Secondly, why not keep going? I have no idea on market direction, I know this because my quarterly earnings were far worse than they should be.
As the saying goes, 'if in doubt, get out and stay out'.
This is where I am at present, I have no idea on general market direction enough to feel comfortable trading it, this would lead only to irrational behaviour and bad trading decisions.
Many traders I know are short at these levels, including a few friends who I know are running some large short positions, holding up the fundamental economic flag which basically says we have built a house of cards, but this is irrelevant as goes the old saying 'the markets can stay irrational longer than a trader can stay solvent'! For the time being I will remain day trading only with no biased direction, of course, because I don't know which direction so do not have an opinion, just simply trade what I see.
In the meantime, I wish you well and will keep watching.