This thread is a great read, Well unfortunately my past year or 2 is a bit embarrasing-my parents had asked me to keep track of their stock for the day, CVI back when it was in the 2-3 cent range. Well stupidly, adventurous me using their westpac margin account of I think about 30 -40k-ended up with large amounts of CVI (about 1.75 million) I had accumulated by buying bits here and there lower and lower, selling bits higher and lower etc, during the day. But by the end of the day it had dropped quite a bit and I could't bring myself to take the loss. Obviously after the close I was stone cold petrified of being shot in the rear by the folks. I had almost totally wiped out their margin t+3 account. Im not proud of it, but I think may have even shed a tear in absolute horror. I did own up that night (or perhaps the parents suspecting something when they found my with my head on the keyboard staring blankly when they got home). Surprisingly, the old man was pretty cool and calm about it, the old lady however went totally off tap though. Anyway, I helped trade out of it and by 4 days later, (the shares actually went up a tiny bit) I sold it for a small loss, and paid them back with the bank a small fee for an extra day holding. Spine chilling stuff. Thats only a small portion though- but taught me I would never trade on margin again, and still haven't.
I had spent more than 1 year researching the ASX, TA, different companies, indexes, fundamentals, and the like before I ever stepped foot into the market. Then my worst mistake of all, opening a broker account with the ability to trade, and buying Cityview (yes back when they had millions in the bank, no debt, what seemed like good projects, and not alot of shares on issue). Back when they were 10/11 cents. Where I failed I realize now, was my due diligence research on the management background. Thus, my first flurry into the market using borrowed money too, with a high interest rate, hit the wall fast. Fortunately i have a better asset (my job) and was able to refinance, but it has taken it's toll on me heavily. A hard lesson -but I think I am better off now from what I have learnt and garnered on the way, and won't give up investing until I fully succeed. Even if that day is many years to come. Peace.
