Hi TRACYD, Not that it matters much, but are you male or female? Although your name suggests you are a female, the expression "Am I pissing in the wind" to me is generally a terminology usde by males. I get the impression that you, just like myself and countless of others, are thinking of share trading as an easy and quick way of getting rich. No doubt there are lots of people that have/still are making a profit/living out of share trading. There would likely be more that haven't, myself being a prime example. No matter how much research you do on a stock, one that you dismiss as not worth investing in, can turn around and gain 10/20/30 times in value, and by the same token, for any number of reasons, a stock that (ticks all the boxes) can in no time, fall dramatically in value. Do you intend to buy and hold, or day trade? Are you able to cope financially/mentally if you lose most, or possibly all your money? Do you have the time/patience to be consumed by your computer? Constantly checking SP and forums to see how your stocks are going will be a regular part of your daily activity. Invest in one stock, or several? That's something that only you can decide. A one only portfolio can make you or break you. Then you could have say 5 diversified ones, or 5 in the same sector. The chances of picking 5 winners? Not good. Even if 4 were good, you could still be behind where you started. (4 stocks @ 20% profit = $4,800 then one @ 80% loss = $200 for a grand total $5000 Then subtract 10 times your broker fee, what's your initial $5000 worth now? This could take a year or more, so take into account lost bank interest, and decide, was it all worth it? If you're in it for the long haul, 10 years, at a conservative interest rate of 5% your $5000 would be worth $8144.47 for a gain of 62.89% What % of share traders can say they've made that much on their investments? Maybe 10/20 percent of them? What I would do if I was starting again? Open an online trading account, NOT put any money in it, and use the resarch facilities provided by them, in conjunction with any other sources of info. I could find. Then in 12 months time actually start trading. At this time of year, some of the stocks are sold off as a tax loss, and you probably need to look at the market for a year to gauge whether there are (better) times of year to buy or sell. Don't buy or sell a stock based JUST on what you read on a forum. By all means read and analysze posts on forums, research the poster as well, as to the credibility and motivation behind their posts. Then when you're totally confused, go back and start all over again. Lastly, don't pay a lot of attention to anything I may ever say in regard to picking a good stock, as at the current moment I'm on nearly a 100% pick the losers expert.
