Doing homework

The first thing I did was look for good information. I had heard somewhere that while working with stocks (especially when you are trading stock using you own money) the key factor are your emotions. Second, in my case, I needed the knowledge,  I wanted to ‘talk the talk’ if I wanted to understand how I was going to be successful.

The first  book I read was “Jesse  Livermore – Reminiscences of a Stock Operator”, you can download it on Isohunt for free. It’s not a very good story but I kinda got the idea. I didn’t finish it by the way, Livermore talks about a stock market that existed fifty or sixty years ago.

The second thing I did was look up some useful information and ended up on Investopedia. Investopedia is probably the best website for newbies like me. The ‘free tools’ tabs offer an free downloadable book called: The-Complete-Guide-To-Day-Trading and when I’m writing this I have finished this for about 85%. Now, at this point I can say for certain I’m not going to be a day trader. I don’t have enough capital for that but moreover: I don’t have the knowledge. Do I want to be a day trader? I think I do.

From Investopedia I read a review about “How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market”. You can download that on Isohunt for free as well. The good thing about this book from Nicolas Darvas is that he explains his ‘box theory’. But I got to warn you: this book is not really representing the stock market as it is now (anno 2012). The reason that I mention it is because “How I made…” talks about how emotions can influence your stock trading. Plus it gives you a good idea how stock trading works in simple words. It works a little more complicated than written down in these books but are you looking for a simple explanation, than I would advise “How I made…” and “Reminiscences of a Stock Operator”. Want more details? Than read: The-Complete-Guide-To-Day-Trading.

Where am I now? I have opened a trial account on Questrade, this is free. I have heard from the security issues Questrade might have but given the small amount of money I’m going to learn the tricks of trade with I’m willing to take a chance. Questrade is cheap in trading fee’s ($4.95 – $9.95) and has a reasonably good platform.

I got a cheap subscription through MoneySense. If you live in Canada and you are a Rogers customer you can get MoneySense for $1.25/month. MoneySense is one of the best sources for ANY investor.

Also, I looked to a lot of video’s on YouTube. There is a lot of bullshit so you gotta be a bit picky. Stay focused and you’ll find what you are looking for.

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