Part V of the Neophyte Trader: Slacking off to round up
By Alex Nuttall - Bio
The Mask
In order to put you off the trail that I did absolutely no trading, investing, changing or seeding of my account I will discuss the last segment of this Neophyte Trading.
Here is a blog I read this morning that is useful for anyone who wants to trade and learn from a pro:
$PWAV Powerwave Technologies NASDAQ:PWAV
PWAV blew up this week hitting $4.13 now sitting at $3.73. This is more valuable than when I sold it. I had 18 shares. I still think its a good pick but I am unable to invest anymore at this time. Since I like the company I will continue to watch them. I hope they do well.
$ORCL Oracle Corporation NASDAQ:ORCL
ORCL did a great job this week. It stands at $33.68. This is the highest ($33.71) it has been in 10 years. I am happy with this. Since I have two little shares. It is good for me. I'd like to get more, but I have to wait.
$HAIN The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. NASDAQ:HAIN
HAIN reached $31.25 and has dipped down to $30.88. If I was an investor with more cash and I liked this company I would see this as an opportunity to buy more stock. Allas I am tapped out, so I have to let my two little shares do their thing.
PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE
Using my favorite financial and trading tool Google Finance I can show you some facts, numbers and a pretty chart. Most importantly I can show it to me. Like I suggested last week: Useful Tools for Financial Management If you want to try trading use this or another tool and just punch in the numbers of what you want to invest and what companies you are interested in. You can name your portfolio "Play Rich" or something fun and prepare yourself for a new game where you just might no care if you get social security or not.
GOALS:
Ultimately my goal is to make my money work for me. However I have had a "Come to Jesus" meeting with my wife and my debt is something I have to fix. I have done quite a lot, but I have student loans (the Big expensive Pink Elephant in the Razzizle), credit card debt and we have a lovely mortgage. A lot of it is progress, but I can not take credit for it. My wife is such a smart financial person. She said I could do the trading, but we need to pay down our debt too. She is right.
So the goals are like this:
- I have to work another 20 years before I can consider the word "retire". I am 41.
- In the next two years I have to pay down to zero $15000 of debt.
- After that we will pay ahead aggressively on our mortgage to reduce interest. We bought our house at the hight of the
hosinghousing bubble. The good news is that we bought a tiny townhouse and my wife secured a decent mortgage not an ARM. - I will still invest but I have to make it at about $10 a week for seed cash. This week I added nothing.
- I will buy bulk purchases of stocks at about $200 because the trade commission is killing my profit since I am buy such small purchases. The people who handle the real purchases deserve to get paid, but I also deserve to earn on my investment.
THE END GAME
The strategy has changed a bit. My knowledge has increased. I am excited. I am proud that I have begun this. It would never be possible if it was not for the many folks who give up their wisdom and knowledge. I appreciate those folks so much. You can find them via: Twitter and Stocktwits.com.
I can not tell you how valuable twitter is. It is real time information.
Here is a great tool for learning investing: http://www.fool.com/how-to-invest/thirteen-steps/index.aspx? from the Motley Fool.
Here are some blogs I like: http://www.upsidetrader.com/ http://www.jamesaltucher.com/
I hope that some of this has been helpful. Thanks.