Daytrading the stockmarket for fun

[kickinindian]

I trade 2 or 3 times a week and I just feel like I'm always breaking even or losing. How do you guys pick good stocks?

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[coldweatherblue]

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=1

Will probably have better info for you.

The general sentiment is that short term investing is very difficult to consistently beat "the market".

If you're just doing it for fun, like the thread title states, that's fine, consider the losses to be like going out to dinner or buying something for your car, and if you win, great.

I max a SEP IRA in a three fund portfolio (plus a little in few more for fun) and won't sell until I retire or die. I use BND/VXUS/VTI Vanguard ETFs due to the low cost ratio.

Was up 35% in 2 years before this year when the international market took a nosedive, now only ~28% which is still great as my retirement goals are based on a 6% annual return.

[MR E30 325is]

The general sentiment is that short term investing is very difficult to consistently beat "the market".

If you're just doing it for fun, like the thread title states, that's fine, consider the losses to be like going out to dinner or buying something for your car, and if you win, great.

Spot on. Though the term investing does not really apply to short term gains. I'd honestly refer to it as gambling (which may help some wrap their minds around this type of thing a bit better), as the behavior fits that definition more completely.

Only 4% of actively managed funds, aka funds that are overseen and directed by a 'professional' (term used loosely) every single day, ever beat the market.

So if almost everyone who does it on the day to day as their primary job can't outperform the market, someone who does it for 5 minutes on a Tuesday won't have much luck either.

If you treat it as fun, like a game, where cash is primarily lost, but you can sometimes pull off a win, then you are golden. This keeps it exciting and when you lose money you don't get too bummed out.

However, if you treat it as 'investing' for your future, where you must have positive returns over time, you're probably going to drive yourself bonkers. If that is your preferred investment strategy then simply get a self directed IRA and fill it with low cost index funds that mimic the market. Contribute the maximum you can afford and avoid worrying about it but once a year when tax time comes.

[kickinindian]

i have a 4%/4% max from my employer going and im only 26 so i feel like as far as my retirement ill be ok. I am getting a 20% of my yearly income bonus so i was thinking about thowing 500-1000 onto robin hood and getting some dividend stocks but going for some of the stocks i have not been able to afford just yet.

[MR E30 325is]

i have a 4%/4% max from my employer going and im only 26 so i feel like as far as my retirement ill be ok. I am getting a 20% of my yearly income bonus so i was thinking about thowing 500-1000 onto robin hood and getting some dividend stocks but going for some of the stocks i have not been able to afford just yet.

That's awesome. 4% match is good stuff.

Be careful in your planning though. Most financial planners agree that in order for someone to retire 'indefinitely' (i.e. live into your 90's without fear of running out of money) that you can only 'safely' use/withdraw 3% of your 'pile of cash' each year.

So, if you have 1 million dollars in an IRA, 1 million dollars, you can safely withdraw a mere 30,000 dollars per year to retire 'indefinitely'. 30k/year isn't even 3 grand a month. Which, to me, is very depressing to think about. Work and diligently save your entire life, just to attempt to safely retire on very little money. And that's if you manage to save 1 million dollars! And if the rules of the game don't change/get worse during the 40 years that you are working!

Moral of the story: If an IRA/401k is your sole retirement strategy, be far more diligent than you think. You have the benefit of time on your side, since you are 26, so fill that thing up as much as you can now (i.e. max out your yearly contribution) and let the effects of compounding work with/for you.

[Blake B]

As someone who works in financial planning, if your 401k is your main/only plan then you don't have a plan. The average 1MM IRA only last 7yrs. Everyone forgets about Uncle Sam. As you work you'll hope to continually increase your wages, thus increasing your tax bracket, and when you retire, you'll be at your highest and you don't want to take a "pay cut" when you retire ($3k/mo, hopefully you're making more at your full retirement age). Only put into your 401k up to the company match, then diversify. I specialize in income tax free retirement solutions. If you're not doing more than what your employer is offering you're not really doing much.

[Reichart12]

30k/year isn't even 3 grand a month. Which, to me, is very depressing to think about.

As someone who makes less than 30k/year as a phd student, I can confirm it is very depressing.

[Wschnitz]

I lost a good 20% last week cause other weed stonk (TLRY) brought down my real world weed stocks.

Hoping some of the Pharma Rally this week wont backfire.

My stable stock choice for this month is doing well though, Have 4 shares of AMC which gave me 1.55x4 dividend and are now rallying back up to where they were pre dividend so. I got that going for me.

Think ill back out of pharma and buy more AMC or look into another semi stable stock for October.

[Wschnitz]

Got Murdered this week. See dip on Wednesday, buys call for dirt cheap, thursday opens, everything shits down to -5% lmao.

Next green day im pulling out and using gains I have left on a game or two.

[E30SPDFRK]

IGC fucked me the past 2 days. I had bought it a few weeks ago at $1.53, then the daily volume got pumped to 80x the average in 1 day to over $6, so I got out before it dropped. It kept going up, however, and I got greedy, so I bought back in at $8.42, was feeling great when it got to the mid $14's, but now it's down around $5 and I missed the drop.

[Exodus_2pt0]

IGC was a trap. Literally no substance to that company. From equipment rental to weed stuff, to a cbd drink
All the while the CEO sells shares when it spikes then gets the same shares back for free.

I had a bad couple days but back on track today. Still up 40% overall after a month or so of trading. Amarin is turning out to be a huge winner for me.

[Todd Black 88]

I have been out of the game since the spring, but I had bought about 20k worth of Canopy growth back in November 2017 after I sold my M3 and had some spare cash after buying the M coupe. I sold it late spring, and payed off about half my mortgage.

Got lucky

[acolella76]

Yeah I got boned on IGC as well. Been doing pretty poorly so far this month but hopefully that will turn around

[Blackout]

Bump.
What are fellow r3v traders doing amid this buyback bubble?

[Chilezen]

I'm using the Stash app, and am considering switching.
I started investing about 5 months ago, just for fun, dipping my toe in the pool. I have just over $100 in there, and currently sitting on about $5 of returns.
But over those 5 months, the app charges a $1/month fee, so I haven't actually earned anything.
Thoughts on where else to put a $100?
Also I heard Apple is entering the financial world with their own credit card. I thought about putting some money in their stock.

I realize this isn't about daytrading, sorry