There are lots of good places to start grabbing yourself an education on the market.
1. HC - there are some very, very good posters on HC. Some posters have some excellent trading knowledge and others have some brilliant knowledge of specific industries - mining and oil companies etc.
2. I think there are some simple rules to investing that seem to work most of the time. E.g. don't have too much of your portfolio in small caps (~1 to 2%)- everyone looks for the big winner and sometimes it works. More often than not - it doesn't and the unwise and impatient end up with a loss and not much to show for their efforts and dollars.
If you scout around the HC site you will see many stocks that are similar to one that we are both aware of. Have a look at the most discussed today - normally the SP will be swinging wildly up or down and traders are hopping in and out like jack rabbits. Most discussed generally = good news or bad news - either way you might find an opportunity.
3. Fact is, the sexy stocks are really good fun but generally prove to be a hazard to one's financial health. I have been investing for 20+ years and the big 4 banks and some blue chip resource stocks have worked pretty well for me. Just got to hang on to them long enough. And I also set a 'stop loss' and 'take profit' (conditional order) on my best stocks. E.g. if I bought 5000 WBC units for $23.83 (Dec 2018) (cost $119,150) and today they closed at $29.00 then I am sitting on a paper profit of ~$25,850 (5000 x 29.00 - 5000 x 23.83). No tax calculations included.
I would then sell down 4000 units for $29.00 per unit - recouping ~$116,000 and taking very close to my original outlay out of the market and have 1000 units left for basically not cost. Park then proceeds in cash and wait for the inevitable downswing (and it happens) and then buy again. Or, look for another opportunity. And while my 'free carried' shares sit there I make sure that I am signed up to the DRP so I have profit working to make more profit. Compounding!
4. Set yourself a plan and stick to it. Play with some strategies using a watch list and see how you go. Patience and discipline - very hard to learn those two things as we are all impulsive creatures. Impulsivity. FOMO and greed normally drive the small and micro caps.
5. I don't believe in 'balanced' portfolios (many do and they swear by them and that's ok) but I reckon if I can pick WBC / ANZ or, something similar in the low 20's then it's an absolute no brainer. Just look at a 5 year chart and you will get a feel for the SP range. In January 2016 I bought a nice parcel (8500) of BHP at $15,00 - dead set no brainer. However, people on the BHP HC thread at the time were screeching about it going down below $10 and throwing out dire warnings to anyone that would listen. Who cares about the fears of others? I would have grabbed more. BHP at $15.00 what an absolute gift - absolute gift. Closed today at close to $41.00 - haven't sold a single share ... yet! Here's the link to the HC discussion. https://hotcopper.com.au/asx/bhp/discussion/page-82 There's was one thread titled "BHP $14.63 What Should I do" Hard to believe - yes?
Losses - there have been a few. TRS paper loss on the damn thing - haven't sold as I half my shares are free carried. But it's come a way down. SGH - less said about that thing the better. Did my research - looked good but didn't work, They bit off more than they could manage when they bought up a UK legal firm. It happens.
6. And research new things in the market - read lots (I avoid those stupid bloody broker reports). No one cares more about your cash than you - that much I do know. I bought a tidy parcel of NXT for my SMSF for what now seems very cheap (around the 1.35 - 1.45 mark from memory). Today they closed at $6.97 - my original cash was off the table some time ago. Why did I buy them? Because they were beginning to grab a good slice of market share in providing cloud based storage and services. I own a computer and I could see the move towards cloud based storage and it seemed like a reasonable risk. I researched a hell of a lot.
Buy good stock when others are crapping their pants and selling and take advantage of their greed when when they are buying. Buffet was right.
Can you predict the GFC and other events - not likely - but neither can many others. Don't let those 'rare events' put you off the market. If they do - then just park your cash in a term deposit at a bank or, your mortgage and you will sleep easier at night.
Anyway, that's some of what I try and do. Takes time to build a strategy and real discipline to stick to it. I have found that the real dollars come after time and a patient application of hard won knowledge.
Have I lost cash - yes! Dropped about 100k in the GFC. But back on the bike and haven't looked back. My SMSF looks healthy and I learned from the GFC to keep as much of my money off the table and try and get as much quality stock as I could 'free carried'. Pretty sure that's a common goal so nothing unusual.
Buffet had two rules. 1.Don't lose your capital. 2. And don't forget rule 1
I say, read, read and read some more and ignore noise from the gamblers in the micro caps.
